Is There a Real Lion Roaming the Streets of Milwaukee? Once You See the Video, You Might Not Think That’s a Crazy Question

A video and a footprint. That's all it took to spark a viral story with its own Twitter handle and hashtag.

Meet the "Milwaukee Lion."

A Milwaukee resident took grainy cellphone video of what appears to be a large cat, like a mountain lion, roaming a neighborhood street earlier this week. (Image source: WISN-TV)

Here's a zoomed in look. (Image source: WISN-TV)

"I got the call from the neighbor saying ‘Hey Kelly, don’t go in your backyard. It’s a big animal back there and it looks like a lion," Kelly Brooks told WITI-TV.

Then he watched this video shot by his neighbor — check it out in WISN-TV's report:

"I’m like that’s a lion, lion! Not like a play lion — like a lion, lion," Brooks said.

"I was afraid to move," Annie Nolan, who believes she might have seen the lion, told WKOW-TV. "I was sitting there and I couldn't move. I thought, 'What am I looking at?'"

According to WITI, local police received at least two calls — one Monday and one Tuesday — from people reporting lion sightings.

Police searched the areas around the reported sightings and did not find a large cat.

Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn told WITI the department is "treating it seriously."

Both the Milwaukee Zoo and city's public museum said their live and stuffed cats, respectively, were accounted for.

The possibility of the animal being a mountain lion is not out of the question, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources told WITI. WISN noted that previous mountain lion sightings in the city occurred a couple of years ago.

Flynn told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that if anyone sees something that looks like a large, lion-like cat to call the department.

"But I don't want a general sense of panic out there either, because we have not had a sighting since [Tuesday morning,]" he added.

Here's a look at some of the fun @MilwaukeeLion is having on Twitter:

i should get a decent portrait done i look like sasquatch in that video footage https://t.co/QEg6EzeFlF

— Milwaukee Lion (@milwaukee_lion) July 22, 2015

that's the best footage tho I look like Bigfoot for pete's sake https://t.co/cdSL4CoWzC

— Milwaukee Lion (@milwaukee_lion) July 22, 2015

IDK I may go down to Bradford Beach to see if there are any giraffes or gazelles or curly fries https://t.co/tf55o0PlaL

— Milwaukee Lion (@milwaukee_lion) July 22, 2015

Tell them not to sing circle of life I'm really tired of that thank you https://t.co/oyRXO5uWSJ

— Milwaukee Lion (@milwaukee_lion) July 22, 2015

Eat one villager and you NEVER regain your reputation #vegannow https://t.co/dwDDDk2BsR

— Milwaukee Lion (@milwaukee_lion) July 22, 2015

i have small feet ok https://t.co/omiFvE352p

— Milwaukee Lion (@milwaukee_lion) July 21, 2015

.@EastMKETurkeys oh hey guys want to meet up

— Milwaukee Lion (@milwaukee_lion) July 21, 2015

This wouldn't be the first time Milwaukee had a run-in with a wild animal go viral. There's apparently a wild turkey living in the city's east side.

(H/T: Daily Mail)