Celebrity mountain lion P-22 hides under L.A. house, refuses to leave

He’s the most famous mountain lion in Los Angeles, but like all celebrities, P-22 is looking for some privacy away from the prying eyes of the public.

Unfortunately, he's found it in the crawl space under a home in the Los Feliz area, the Los Angeles Times reports. The lion was discovered at about noon on Monday, homeowner Jason Archinaco said, when a man installing a security system came across him under the house and turned "white as a ghost." A Department of Fish and Wildlife official waited until it was dark to try to rouse P-22 from his hiding spot, but as of late Monday night, nothing has worked — he's shot tennis balls, poked P-22, and fired a bean bag at the big cat, to no avail.

P-22 is at least 5 years old, and became a local media sensation when he was found roaming in the hills of Griffith Park after leaving the Santa Monica Mountains and (miraculously) crossing the 405 and 101 freeways; he gained international fame after National Geographic printed photos of him shot at night in front of the Hollywood sign. Archinaco moved to Los Angeles two years ago, and is impressed by the number of news vans, helicopters, and fire trucks that came out for his uninvited guest. "Now we have a celebrity living under our house," he said.

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