Posted on 05/29/2006 2:18:59 PM PDT by george76
A mountain lion prowling around for easy meals has been scaring a...family ever since it killed one of the family's cats two weeks ago.
About 2:30 a.m. ...Carrie Ann Warner heard noises outside that she assumed came from raccoons ...
As the house had no windows on that side, she opened the door a little, a piece of firewood in one hand. One of her cats scooted out the door, right into the clutches of a mountain lion not 2 feet from her.
Warner threw the firewood and hit the animal in the head as it carried off her cat.
Since then, they've frequently seen or heard two mountain lions — one "sub-adult" and one adult — at all times of the day and night, but only the younger one seems to be the troublemaker.
"I'm scare out of my mind,"...
Warner slammed the door on the big cat's head, then slammed it again in its face.
The Warners, who have lived in the area for 11 years, have a 6-year-old son, and they fear for his safety, as well as for the safety of the other children in the neighborhood.
Her son no longer plays outside.
"I'm worried I can't move fast enough to protect my son," she said...
After her first cat provided the mountain lion with an easy meal, it has seen the second cat lounging on her son's windowsill, and has stuck around to see if it will get lucky again, Division of Wildlife... Todd Schmidt,...
The Warners did not borrow a shotgun like they told Schmidt they would do. Carrie Ann said she and her husband didn't have money to buy one.
The lion continued to menace them. Once it "slammed into" a wire enclosure that they built so they could safely sit outside, ...
(Excerpt) Read more at canyoncourier.com ...
These people sound like idiots. They didn't do anything the animal officer told them to do.
A mountain lion prowling around for easy meals has been scaring a...family ever since it killed one of the family's cats two weeks ago.
...One of her cats scooted out the door, right into the clutches of a mountain lion not 2 feet from her.
Stop feeding it!
These people are idiots. They haven't done anything necessary to protect themselves.
Here kitty kitty....
Waiting to see if it's a threat to humans is stupid! That's when it's too late.
Once an animal starts hanging around an area, as if it's a feeding ground, you've got to move it, or shoot it.
We lost a calf four days ago to a couple of stray dogs. We had seen them on our property a week earlier, and shot at them, but missed because it was night. Still, that didn't deter them. They came back and started to attack one of the calves. This time, the neighbor's border collie ran them off. At the time, we suspected the dogs, but hadn't seen them so we weren't sure. The vet thought the injuries might be from a large cat. So, our ranch foreman slept outside to keep watch because it's very difficult to keep a cat out of the fences. Nothing showed up for two nights. Then, in the morning, the dogs got in and went after all three calves. Two are hurt badly, and one we had to put down due to it's severe injuries. We caught up with the dogs and shot them. There's no getting between a wild animal and it's perceived meal. Once those dogs had tasted blood on our property, they weren't going anywhere until they got what they were after, or were killed. It's almost like these animals obsess. The cat either has to be tranquilized and physically moved far far away, or shot dead. Otherwise there are going to be irreverible consequences.
"..she opened the door a little, a piece of firewood in one hand."
Dumbaxx. I live in town, and if it's after dark, I don't open the door without Mr. Glock in hand. Not ideal for mountain lion (my favorite cat, at a distance) but I suspect that by employing the "empty the magazine" school of thought it would have done more good than a piece of frickin wood.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.