Posted on 03/06/2010 5:32:06 AM PST by JoeProBono
Salida, CO - Fox31 KDVR reports of a dramatic mountain lion encounter on Thursday afternoon in Chaffee County.
Around 4 pm, a malnourished mountain lion chased a small dog into the home of Michele Bese and her two young children. The lion entered the home through a doggie door leading to the outside yard.
When the lion first entered the home, Michele was unable to tell if it was a coyote or a mountain lion. She made the mountain lion determination after one of her 5 dogs confronted the animal.
Michele was able to secure her children in a bedroom and dial 911. Deputies arrived to the house and were able to get Michele and her children out through a window.
Meanwhile, officials attempted to lure the mountain lion out of the home. When the lion would not leave, wildlife authorities shot it with a tranquilizer gun.
A search of the house turned up 4 of the 5 family dogs. Those 4 dogs were transported to a veterinary clinic where one died from wounds sustained from the mountain lion encounter. Two other dog suffered serious injuries. A secondary search of the family home turned up the 5th dog who had been hiding.
Authorities eventually ended up euthanizing the mountain lion. The young male weighed only 40 lbs, significantly under the 60 lbs that a lion of his age should weigh. Perhaps his hunger is what lead him to make such a bold move into a house full of people and dogs.
Pet owners in rural areas, or those living in developments which border greenbelts or other forested lands should take note from this traumatic story. Housing developments are spilling over into wildlife areas, pushing the animals into smaller and smaller spaces. Human/wildlife encounters are on the rise.
A local Western Washington news station reported just this morning about the high number of coyotes in the greater Seattle area. Encounters with the coyotes are on the rise. Several stories have also been reported in the past year about the increase of raccoons in neighborhood yards.
As the line between natural, wildlife areas continues to blur with residential housing areas, pet owners will need to become more vigilant. Cats and small dogs left unattended in yards are easy prey to a hungry coyote, mountain lion, or even raccoon.
Dog-doors are wonderful for allowing in/out privileges to pets, but owners should be aware that wildlife can enter the home too. You can purchase electronic dog-doors that open only for your pet(s) who are fitted with a special collar.
"We"? You got a mouse in your pocket?....:^D
It goes after my dogs, it dies and I don't care how "sacred" it is to somebody.
Shoot, shovel, shut up.
The end.
[and I hope one of those bleeding heart idjits tests it for rabies]
Well now Lady we aren’t like most people nowadays. We don’t call 911. Most idiots reach for the phone instead of a gun. They’ve been programed to think the phone means safety and a gun is dangerous.
We don’t bury the dead either. We have a family of vultures nearby. They sun themselves on our silo. :-)
You don’t know why the mountain lion was malnourished? It’s BUSH’s fault. And the end of winter. Makes sense to me.
Doggie doors are a two-way deal. Our dog got stuck in one, leaving the scene of the crime after he sneaked into the neighbors porch to eat the cat food. I found him — head and one leg out, howling to the moon.
Solution: Larger dogs.
Or: Smaller doggie doors
Global warming. Global warming explains everything. Actually, early spring may be the hardest time for predators, the winter has thinned the prey population and they haven't started recovering yet. The surviving mountain lions will all be fat in September.
After it was poured and the guys were smoothing it, out from the doggie door came the family pooch. It ran all through the wet cement and then back into the house, being covered with concrete.
“Are the wolves eating up all its prey?”
Change that to Coyotes...and BINGO! You win the full covered card!
My friend had a doggie door that operated from a magnet on the dog’s collar to keep the other critters out. But...the dog got out in the middle of the night and got sprayed by a skunk. The dog went back into the house and jumped into bed with him.
There is a Mossberg 12 guage right next to my bedside table. I gave it a good tuneup just last week.
I’m giving my dog a gun.
They claim they are not east of the Mississippi, they are wrong.
I saw one in the open in West Virginia.
I would say that that is impractical for expense and maintenance reasons. My alternative suggestion would be for Airedales which have been used for hunting Mountain Lions and other such. The larger strains can get males of 50-60 pound sizes and that could have made 'Mr Big Cat' (40 odd pounds) unhappy. PLUS they are great family dogs!
With three large dogs, the smallest of which is 95 pounds, we’ve considered installing a doggie door, until we realized that other animals like coyotes and our neighbor’s cats could also enter. We do have a six foot chain link fence, but it’s not foolproof.
They had been killing cats, dogs, eating garbage, roadkill deer, as a means of survival. A few months later the local police department set up a killing corridor where they shot them with rifles in a narrow clearing which they had to cross to get to the housing in the area.
A smile to my face and a lump in my heart. S/he is ready to play - looks a lot different when ready to attack! Thanks MUCHO!
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