Jacob Todd said he was smoking a cigarette on his apartment’s deck Friday night when he heard a “shrill shriek” across Grand Avenue in St. Paul.

Under a street light in the Pier 1 Imports parking lot, Todd said, he saw a mountain lion with a house cat in its mouth about 10:30 p.m.

St. Paul police searched the area around the 700 block of Grand Avenue but did not spot the animal, a police report said. Very few reported sightings “are actually verifiable,” Minnesota Department of Natural Resources spokesman Chris Niskanen said in an email.

Todd said the animal was about 50 yards away and then went into the alley behind the Oriental Rug Gallery shop; he estimated police searched the area for 45 minutes.

“It was awesome,” said Abby Marcus, who said she was on the deck and also spotted the mountain lion.

Todd said it was unmistakable, and he cites previous mountain lion sightings during an eight-month stint as a search-and-rescue worker in southern Idaho. Todd said he confirmed what he saw with Internet images and estimated the mountain lion’s weight at about 65 pounds.

A typical mountain lion weighs 136 pounds, according to National Geographic magazine.

The Minnesota DNR said there have been 14 sightings of mountain lions, also referred to as cougars, in Minnesota since 2007. There is no consistent pattern of sightings, but most are in the northern half of the state, the DNR said.

“Although some cougar sightings in Minnesota are accurately identified, many observations from trail cameras and tracks turn out to be cases of mistaken identity. Bobcats, house cats, coyotes, wolves, fishers and light-colored dogs have all been mistaken as cougars.”

“Evidence might suggest the animal’s prevalence is increasing,” but more “verified cougar observations indicate that cougar occurrences in Minnesota is a result of transient animals” from the western areas of North and South Dakota, the DNR said.

In 2011, a mountain lion made a cross-continental journey that included the Twin Cities and ended when it was killed on a Connecticut highway outside New York City. And in 2002, Bloomington police shot and killed a 100-pound mountain lion after walkers spotted it on a popular trail in the Minnesota River Valley.

The DNR said human encounters with cougars are extremely rare, with a person 1,000 times more likely to be struck by lightning, Niskanen said.

The DNR suggests that if someone encounters a cougar, he or she should face the animal, raise arms to appear larger and then speak loudly and firmly because this is an affront to the animal’s hunting preferences. The animals will likely avoid confrontation, Niskanen said.

Cougars are protected species and should not be killed, and any sightings should be reported to a DNR conservation officer for a confirmation investigation, the DNR said.

After helping a customer Monday morning, Pier 1 Imports employee Roxy Klein was startled by what might have been in the adjacent parking lot less than 48 hours before.

“Yikes,” Klein said. “Wow. I’ve seen a mouse out there, but wow. It’s kind of scary because we are here after dark.”

Andy Greder can be reached at 651-228-5262.