Sure, they can be ferocious predators, but sometimes a mountain lion appears as docile as a common house cat.

The latter happened in the Los Altos Hills Tuesday morning, when Cody, an 85-pound German shepherd, chased a trespassing mountain lion into a tree in his owners' backyard.

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A state scientist arrived on the scene and watched the big cat until it eventually climbed down from the tree some hours later.

"The dog didn't know what he was chasing," Janice Mackey, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Fish and Game, told SFGate. "He probably thought it was another dog until it climbed the tree."

According to NBC Bay Area, mountain lions have a tendency to run away from dogs -- they tend to think they are humans. Mackey told SFGate that despite their reputation, the creatures are actually "scaredy-cats." "They're solitary, they prefer to be on their own," she added.

Scaredy cats they may be, but mountain lions are no strangers to the peninsula. Last fall, Half Moon Bay residents were panicked when the mauled remains of farm animals were found strewn across a road, leading many to believe a mountain lion was on the loose in the community.

NBC Bay Area captured exclusive footage of the Los Altos lion perched in the tree. Take a look below (warning: adorable alert!):