At first, Nicole Leslie乌鸦传媒檚 husband thought it was a stray cat checking things out in their east Maple Ridge backyard.

Only when it hopped up on the back fence of their Albion home Sunday did he realize it was a bit bigger than a house cat.

Nicole didn乌鸦传媒檛 waste any time and grabbed her camera and got a picture of it standing on the top of the fence.

Her husband got some cellphone video, too, of some heart-warming seconds of the mother cat carefully walking on top of the fence, followed by a kitten just moments later.

乌鸦传媒淚 grabbed my camera and ran to the front porch and caught it just in time there. She paused and was quite curious about me and the camera. She calmly turned around and hopped down after that.乌鸦传媒�

Her neighbours have a critter cam and have said bobcats are regular visitors. But until Sunday, Nicole had never seen them.

Nicole, who lives on Kimola Drive, has seen many wildlife visitors this year, including a crane, beaver, bear, raccoons and a salamander.

乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檝e had a crane, right in the yard, in the grass. It乌鸦传媒檚 because of a pond behind us. We get all kinds of stuff. It乌鸦传媒檚 pretty neat to see out there.乌鸦传媒�

She said there seems to be lots of small animals in the area as a food source.

乌鸦传媒淭hey乌鸦传媒檙e very well fed. They look super healthy. You don乌鸦传媒檛 think they乌鸦传媒檙e going to be in such a residential area, but there sure seems to be a lot out there.乌鸦传媒�

She initially put the photos on to the Albion Neighbours Facebook group, drawing comments of 乌鸦传媒淏eautiful. Amazing picture,乌鸦传媒� and 乌鸦传媒淪o cool.乌鸦传媒�

Conservation officer Todd Hunter said there乌鸦传媒檚 a healthy population of bobcats in Metro Vancouver. The bobcats will hunt rabbits, which hide in blackberry bushes, as well as squirrels, rats and mice.

乌鸦传媒淚n Metro Vancouver, we乌鸦传媒檝e received, in the last two years, more call volumes come in with sightings of bobcats around homes.乌鸦传媒�

Hunter cautioned people not to feed wildlife of any kind.

He asked people to be careful to not leave any type of food outdoors that can attract rats or mice or racoons, which in turn can attract predators, such as bobcats, cougars or bears.

People have to do everything they can to remove any kind of food outside their homes and make sure they don乌鸦传媒檛 leave their small dogs or cats outside.

乌鸦传媒淭he cougars, they乌鸦传媒檙e preying on the raccoons more.乌鸦传媒�

Two reports have come in during October and November of cougars killing racoons from North Vancouver to Maple Ridge.

乌鸦传媒淚f you乌鸦传媒檝e got animals coming to your property because of food 乌鸦传媒� you can bring in other animals.乌鸦传媒�

Bears can also hunt deer.

乌鸦传媒淭hose bears have been noted to prey on deer, right in people乌鸦传媒檚 yards.乌鸦传媒�

There have been several reports of that happening in North Vancouver and in the Belcarra and Anmore areas of Port Moody.

乌鸦传媒淭hey乌鸦传媒檙e [bears] omnivoires, they乌鸦传媒檒l eat anything. They乌鸦传媒檙e known to take down game and feed off them, and they will. That乌鸦传媒檚 why they乌鸦传媒檙e dangerous. They乌鸦传媒檙e fast. They may be fat, but they乌鸦传媒檙e fast.乌鸦传媒�

Hunter said people should respect wildlife and don乌鸦传媒檛 get too close.

乌鸦传媒淭hat乌鸦传媒檚 what keeps them wild. Enjoy them at a distance and give them their space.乌鸦传媒�

Last month, a reader sent in a photo of a calmly watching hikers pass by on a trail in UBC Research Forest.