A man in Moose Jaw got a surprise early Monday morning after a doorbell camera recorded a cougar walking across his front yard.

Casey Reid was working a late shift and was sitting down to eat his lunch when, just after midnight, his phone told him something was moving in front of his house.

When he saw the picture of a cougar, he immediately called his girlfriend and told her to keep their dog inside.

“I grew up hunting a bit so I appreciated the sighting,” Reid said.

“She did not.”

According to Reid, there have been several cougar sightings in Moose Jaw over the past few years, but mainly along walking and biking trails — never this far inside the city.

“The city has its eyes open now,” he said.

“So if the cougar didn’t leave town before sunrise, someone is bound to see it.”

He hopes conservation officers are able to find the cougar, tranquilize it and get it safely away from people.

People in the city are asked to not approach the animal or attempt to scare it off.

Anyone who spots the cougar is asked to call Moose Jaw police.