Cougar attack

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I just got off the phone to a neighbour (about 3 miles away) who called to warn me that my nearest neighbour (about 1/2 mile down the road) was recently attacked by a cougar

. Apparently she was taking care of a friends dog and it started to make a fuss so she stepped outside to see what was up and there was a cougar attacking the dog. She (brave and foolish) tried to save the dog by grabbing it by the tail and dragging it backward into her house and the cougar took exception to loosing its prey and turned on her. She ended up with claw marks on her chest and face that had to be closed up with stitches. Her son (adult) was in the process of cleaning his shotgun and rushed to shoot the cat but it was already on the retreat and when he fired the shot hit it in the butt. They tried to track it and followed it until it crossed the road onto the back corner of my farm where they lost it in the heavy bush. Then this caller says he was reading the local paper and there is an article in todays paper about a neighbour about a mile down the road from him (so about 4 miles from me) who had a cougar attack his dog Sunday night. He too took a shot at it and only wounded it (come ON people, the first rule of firing at any animal is never leave them wounded ) Anyway, he got up yesterday morning and it was back in his yard, crouched behind his car so he finally finished it. The game dept. measured it and it was 7 feet from nose to tail and about 150lbs, skinny. I pray it was the same cat and not one of a pair. Good grief, my weanlings would be easy pickings for a big cat and I don't own a gun (we have some really useful gun laws here in Canada that make it as hard for a farmer to own a gun as someone in the city...just in case you didn't catch that it was sarcasm, I am not a fan of the gun legislation in this country)

I am officially worried and not sure what the heck I'll do if it comes around. I can't possibly watch and protect all my horses anyway. (I can hope it prefers beef to horse meat but....)

 

[Miniv]

That's scary.........

Obviously the cougar was hungry and willing to take chances by getting so close to humans. Just hope the cougar that was put down was the same one that attacked your neighbor. It probably was.

On a positive note, cougars do live and hunt on their own. They are solitary except when they breed. Other than that they have their own hunting territories, so it's likely that it was the same cat.

 

[Keri]

Scary!!! We had a cougar attack a small dog not too far from my house. The bear river bottoms are close and its perfect grounds for them to stay at. But they've been trying to track this animal for about 3 years and still no luck. Haven't heard about this last attack and if they got it (have to ask hubby). But I get worried because my ponies could be easy pickings. Good thing we have guns to take care of it with if its ever near my property. Told hubby he'll have to arrest me becuase if I see it even in the field behind us, I'll shoot it (hubby is the game warden and you can't legally shoot it unless its posing a threat to your livestock).

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Scary!!! We had a cougar attack a small dog not too far from my house. The bear river bottoms are close and its perfect grounds for them to stay at. But they've been trying to track this animal for about 3 years and still no luck. Haven't heard about this last attack and if they got it (have to ask hubby). But I get worried because my ponies could be easy pickings. Good thing we have guns to take care of it with if its ever near my property. Told hubby he'll have to arrest me becuase if I see it even in the field behind us, I'll shoot it (hubby is the game warden and you can't legally shoot it unless its posing a threat to your livestock).

Well in my opinion an argument can be made that if you SEE it and its on your property it 'poses a threat' to your livestock. At least you have the option of shooting it. I'd have to borrow a rifle from someone and its been so long since I handled one I probably would end up shooting one of my horses instead of the cat.

MiniV, thank you, that is actually good to know (cougars do live and hunt on their own. They are solitary except when they breed. Other than that they have their own hunting territories, so it's likely that it was the same cat.). I have lived in the country all my life (most of it in this area) but don't know a lot about cougars. They have been pretty rare around here until these last few years. The deer population keeps growing and that is bringing the animals that prey on them too.

 

[BannerBrat]

[SIZE=12pt]Oh Wow how scary!

[/SIZE]

I have nothing but respect for them,

hopefully it is the same cat.

 

[Keri]

Well, the feild behind our property isn't ours. And unless its stalking or causing distress to your animals, you can't shoot it (unless it is actually on your property). Its the law, but I would have a hard time following it.

I just talked to hubby and they did kill that cougar that was in our area. It was younger, but had a bum leg. So that's good. I hope that was the last one in our area. They are pretty scary since they can attack and kill so fast!

 

[Maxi'sMinis]

That is so scary. Do you all remember the cougar or mountain lion that killed those people along a bike path in Cali? That just freaked me out. The one lady biker was saved by her friend that wouldn't let go of her leg so the cat couldn't pull her away. The cat had her in its mouth by her head. It was a miracle that she lived. I love the cats but when they get a taste of domestic or become sick or injured they hunt for the easiest prey.

 

[AppyLover2]

I'm the first to admit that I know absolutely nothing about cougars, but if the first one was shot in the butt with a shotgun I'd think it would be pretty easy to tell if it was the same one. Definitely a scary situation.....sure glad we don't see them around here.

 

[HGFarm]

My X hunted mountain lions for many years. They are very afraid of people and even more afraid of dogs and can actually be scared to death by dogs. However, this sounds like a very old, injured or sick cat.

We had the same thing happen here many years ago. A friend had an old Australian Shepard that was half blind and deaf and would sleep on the front porch at the door (sliding glass door). She was taken by a lion one day and after tracking the lion, discovered the same thing - very thin and old. It could no longer catch deer and other things it would normally have eaten and had to go for something that was not so quick and was more easily accessible. It was missing a couple of teeth, due to age, and would have eventually starved to death, so them putting it down quickly (NOT just wounding it!!!!) was probably a blessing and apparently the old dog never knew what hit her either. I felt sorry for the dog but sorry for the cat too. I dont like to hear of anything starving and suffering til it dies. I know this is Mother Nature, but for the cat to have to come in to grab a dog and fight for it... that's sad.

And I would NEVER use a shotgun on an animal like that- nor would I when a dog or person is 'in the way' either. Depending on the shot being used and the distance from him to the cat, he may not have even hit it, or may have pelted it, but nothing that was going to really damage the cat. He is lucky he didnt make it even angrier being hungry and all, cause depending on what kind of shotgun it is, that may have been his only shell in it! Dont think I would want to take on a very hungry and ticked off wounded kitty of that size with my bare hands.........

 

[Minimor]

Cougars appear to be losing their fear of people; there have been reports of young ones going after dogs and people in various areas as well. I remember reading the account of an older fellow who was attacked from behind while out walking one day--I don't remember just where he was though--he fought with the cat & killed it with a pocket knife--not an easy kill and he got very badly injured before the cat died. Then more recently there was a high school boy, training for cross country running, and he was killed not all that far from the school--his fellow students saw him jog past the school each lap, then he failed to appear on his next lap--they finally found his mauled body & determined that it was a cougar attack--that was BC but I don't remember which town--the article that described that incident quoted wildlife officials as saying that the cougars in general do not have the fear of people that they once had. Oh yeah, and then there was the lady who was out riding with her daughters & had to fight off a cat that attacked the one child and her horse--the children went for help, but by the time someone got back to the woman she was dead--she'd fought barehanded with that cat for a long time--that was also in BC...what a lonely, desperate death that poor woman suffered.

Our big kitty hasn't been around here in a long time--or at least not that we know of. There is one (at least) in the general area, but it's been staying away from this neighborhood, and that's a good thing. The one that used to come around here regularly & eye our Morgans--made them into basketcases!--did attack horses in the area, but never actually went for one of ours. Ours were always in around the barnyard, under the yard light, at night, and they were wary, so the cat wouldn't have gotten them by surprise. Now I shudder to think of that cat coming around here, since we have all these little horses that would be such easy prey. We'd be doing chores & that cat would sit just outside the reach of the yard light and watch--when our dog noticed & barked, it would give a yowl & retreat. Creepy!

Here in Manitoba the cougar is a protected species and we are not allowed to shoot it even if it is bothering our livestock. A bear that is bothering livestock can be shot, but not a cougar...somehow I don't think that would stop most people--I suspect most farmers would shoot it anyway, and just forget to mention it to anyone!

 

[dangerranger]

Just rember the three SSS! Shoot, Shovel, and most important [ at least in CA] Shutup!

 

[Laura]

Just rember the three SSS! Shoot, Shovel, and most important [ at least in CA] Shutup!

Ditto here. I know a lot of people were offended when I said that if our black bear came back, I felt like it would have to be tranked and transported or shot. I got a LOT of flack on that, but after seeing it pace the fenceline just behind the house, keeping on track with the 30" and 31" geldings milling around in the pen and then jumping IN the pen and starting towards them, I *really* don't think he wanted to play with them

I'm very glad he hasn't (to my knowledge) come back. he was beautiful and scary as heck!

SSS is your best option sometimes if an animal (wild or domestic) is a threat.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

And I would NEVER use a shotgun on an animal like that- n

I agree its a shame that any animal has to suffer and in some cases it is a favour to them to destroy them, but I REALLY agree with this statement. I was shocked to think anyone would use a shotgun fro anything except game birds (not too crazy about it for that either, not really a rifle I see as particularly useful) I expect he had it at hand and didn't think before using it

(some people do make gun control sound reasonable)

I found out last night that the woman who was clawed actually grabbed the CAT by the tail to try to pull it off the dog, not the dog by the tail to drag it away from the cat. YIKES

What kind of nut job does something like that? I mean talk about not thinking before you act. No wonder she got clawed, my house cat would probably react the same way!

A quick edit to add, SSS is a standard for most farmers. As sad as it is sometimes its the only reasonable option.

 

[AppyLover2]

She sounds to me like a nut job who loved her dog but, oh man, you're right about reacting before thinking. I'd imagine given the opportunity to do it again......she'd pass.

 

[minih]

Apparently she was taking care of a friends dog and it started to make a fuss so she stepped outside to see what was up and there was a cougar attacking the dog. She (brave and foolish) tried to save the dog by grabbing it by the tail and dragging it backward into her house and the cougar took exception to loosing its prey and turned on her.

Maybe I missed something, but I have to ask, did she save the dog?

 

[user 488]

REIGNMAKER MINIATURES

Seems like nobody knows how this topic got locked

. So our apologies. Must be a glitch somewhere. Thanks for sending us a REPORT POST on this. So sorry.........Carry on

Carol

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Thanks Vertical Limit.

As long as I/we haven't been doing something that wasn't allowed then I'm happy .

minih, I don't know for sure but as far as I am aware the dog survived the encounter as well. No one seems to be positive on that but when I ask anyone if the dog survived they all say " As far as I know"

AppyLover2, LOL, you pretty much hit the nail on the head . She's a bit of a loon but as I understand it it was not HER dog but rather a friends who had left it in her care while they went away for Christmas. Boy they owe her big time I think.

 

[CKC]

Wow, that's pretty scary.

I wanted to comment on the woman that made the decision on how to help her friends dog.

I can tell you from personal experience.... when your adrenaline is pumping and your in rescue mode you aren't always thinking about how you are going to save you just do it.

When it came to my miniatures... the first year we lived in our home they were attacked by a large white german shepherd. I was asleep and was woken up by total chaos outside. I ran out with my pj's on, jumped a 4 1/2 ft fence and grabbed the dog. After it was all over I realized this dog had chased them for some time and it was the end. He had exhausted them and cornered them. There were hoof prints everywhere in every direction. All I knew was I needed to save my horses. I didn't think about a dangerous dog or maybe it could be rabid. I only thought about saving my horses. Didn't matter how. I believe it's true that you could lift a car if needed to save someone pinned under it. Sitting back and looking at what I did..... sure seemed crazy to go after a dog and risk my own life(my husband sure thinks so), but there was no time to think something had to be done.

Kim

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

CKC I absolutely agree with you. I know she acted with out thinking and just knew the dog was in danger and needed help. And I know I might do the very same thing but afterwards in the calm light of day, I'd still think it was a scary crazy thing to do. Just as shooting at a big cat with a shot gun is not the most sensible course of action but when the adrenaline is pumping we often don't think as we do when we are calm. So don't think I'm saying I think less of my neighbour for her actions I just think she was very lucky to have escaped more serious harm. (In fact if it was MY dog I'd be sooo grateful that she would risk so much for my friend)