BOULDER, Colo. (KDVR) — A Boulder family sat down with FOX31 after they witnessed a mountain lion snatch and ultimately kill their dog on a nightly walk.

Taulere and Arrone Appel said that their 10-pound dog, Bodhi, saved their lives.

“He was 10 pounds, he was our little baby,” said Taulere.

The Appels recalled the moments before the attack, saying that on July 25, around 9 p.m., they took Bodhi out for his nightly walk around the 2400 block of Balsam Avenue.

“It was dark, we had the flashlight,” Taulere said. “He was wrapped with the leash. We were on the sidewalk across the street, and we always walked that way. All of a sudden, it just appeared at where we were standing, and it just happened.”

The Appels said that within three minutes of the walk with Bodhi, this is when the mountain lion came out of nowhere.

“And then he when he grabbed him, he started pulling him away and I still had the leash,” Arrone said. “I was holding on to the leash, and I’m watching this and I’m yelling and he started running with him in his mouth. And I knew I couldn’t get too close because I’d be next.”

The Appels hope that the death of will teach others safety, especially since the mountain lion is still out in the community. 

“I think to honor him and the way he was that that’s important,” said Arrone. “And it’s important for me and Taulere because we don’t want anyone to have to go through this. We’re afraid for the children because if you put your baby out in your yard or something, you think you’re safe. I mean, we don’t want to scare people, but we want them to be aware.”

Kara Van Hoose with Colorado Parks and Wildlife made a statement to FOX31 after receiving the report of what happened:

“We also came up the next day trying to locate this lion and with the hopes of maybe getting a dart in it to tranquilize it and then relocate it,”said Kara Van Hoose, CPW’s Northeast Region public information officer. “The lion was in a an area that would have made it too difficult to get to and kind of not safe for that particular tranquilizer dart. So we are still monitoring and hoping that people will report sightings of this mountain lion to us so we can have another crack at relocation. “

Van Hoose also said that mountain lions are most active between dusk and dawn.

“If they learn that that (a dog) is an easy target for them, they can repeat that behavior,” Van Hoose said. “So mountain lions are big and powerful. It could be really a dog of any size. I’ve seen lions take down alpacas. You know, it’s it’s not necessarily matter of size is but of access. So if you do let your dog out at night just kind of into the backyard by itself, we really recommend that before doing that, you either leash the dog and take it with you or you make those sounds.”

The Boulder Police Department was the law enforcement agency that first reported the attack and told residents some tips for how to protect against mountain lions. Residents can also report sightings to CPW’s Denver office by calling 303-297-1192.