This happened 7 miles west of my farm!

Kind of makes you want to move back to the safety of the big city I bet..


mikell

 

I don't think any guard dog is going to stand much of a chance against a mountain lion. A bobcat yes.

 

They are actually a LOT of places. I live in the Ozarks and there was one quite close to the house on Monday. The government downplays or downright lies about their existence.

 

So, freak right out about it whydontcha. I live in Mountain Lion Paradise, Northern Idaho. Critters galore, even five kids, yet no attacks in all these years. Add all my neighbors and their visiting kin...all with no problems from the evil Mountain Lion!

A couple of my kids have been lucky enough to have seen a Mountain Lion in the wild, and the rest wish they had. As old in the tooth as I am, working in the woods daily for years, I have only had the gift of a couple Mountain Lion glimpses. Yet, at least one is shot here on my place at least once a year.

Their presence here is welcome, even with the livestock that have never been bothered. This was once all their land...we have chosen to occupy it with our critters.

There is no reason to be fearful. Learn to live with and respect their presence. Your ego will be much more peaceful with your acceptance.

 

And on the other hand, it's heartbreaking as hell to watch and listen to 50 ewes run around bawling their heads off looking for their baby lambs the mountain lions carry off.
We lost over 50% of our lamb crop last year. I don't mind sharing the land with other creatures, but I'm afraid if I catch sight of another mountain lion it's dead.

 

Arm thyself

 

..............There are a Limited number of wild creature's in the Us and Alaska that are survivors in my opinion and should be accorded special treatment in some way or another . They are ..........Coyete , Cougar\Puma\mountain lion , Grizzly Bear , Timber Wolf , Moose , Elk , Buffalo , etc. The coyete will survive on its own initiative and probablly needs NO special recognition which means I shouldn't have included it in the first Place.
.............These special creatures are the Very Essence of what The American WEST was , is and should Continue TOO be as far as the "Freedom " to Discover what's over the Next Mountain. They must be preserved along with the 200 Million plus acres of National Park land That Teddy Roosevelt signed into Existence just before he left office. I also Understand that lions must NOT be Allowed to destroy the herds of vulnerable animals like sheep and goats. They must be either moved and\or shot when necessary.
.............If, we allow the force of economic development to pave, cement , cultivate every undeveloped acre of land we possess the MYSTERY and Sense of AWE that you get when you visit places like YellowStone , Glacier, etc. will simply be destroyed. This cannot be allowed to happen.......fordy....

 

I've lived in peace with the predators all my life without any problems. I never considered doing it without a dog or two, though. I teach my kids when they are very young not to make cat food noises and never go out without a dog.

It's a shame this young cat had to be killed. He was striking out to find his own territory and got lost and confused. I am an advocate for running the cats with dogs to train them to stay out of populated areas and to fear dogs. Alas, it has been outlawed and now only "The State" has that right.

 

I was listening to the Derry Brownfield show this morning, and he was talking about that, or some other very similar occurance. The guest he had on had some (conspiracy) theories on how it got so far away from it's natural habitat. I didn't catch all of it though.

 

Mountain lions have about a 70 mile range so you will rarely see your resident cat. Once in a while, you will see his markings he leaves as he passes through. It was very important to us mountain folk that there was enough food in the way of rabbits, rockchucks and grouse out there so the cats wouldn't need to take the risks going for domesticated food.

I always lived in the areas where the problem bears were relocated to. I thoroughly supported the houndsmen who trained the bears to avoid houses and dogs. I had a mama bear that lived on my property that these guys trained their pups on. She was a joy to watch her playing with her cubs. She never threatened us at all.

 

I think a pair of LGD's would do the trick, one I'm no so sure of. My husband has a mad passionate affair (hehe) with German Shepherds, and so we don't keep LGD's (not a good mix). However, we've always walked our land, most especially the borders with them every few days and in the past that kept away the predators, even the coyotes.

Both of our males are dead now and the 3 females scent does not deter the predators at all. Or perhaps for years we were just lucky. All I know is that in the last year and half our valley, which consists of 4 families in about 2000 acres has seen a huge upsurge in predators. I hear my neighbor out shooting it seems like ALL the time now.

Jim and I saw a bobcat right up on the road last week during the day, we've had racoons visit us in the front yard in broad daylight, and while we know the mountain lion that ate our farm last year is dead, the neighbor spotted another one this year.

I'd much rather see the gorgeous creatures roam free. I don't even mind sharing an occasional lamb or something from our garden for them to eat. My livlihood being wiped out so they can survive though is pushing the limits of my compassion for their survival.

We have tons of deer that keep us entertained while napping with their babies right off the front fenceline. Same with wild turkey. They occasionally take a bite or two from our orchard, but again, I don't mind sharing and we'd never shoot them unless we were starving ourselves. However, if they decided to eat the entire orchard, you can bet they'd be going in our freezer.

 

We had a bear come onto the property, poop on our front porch, and eat one of my goats. Never did catch it, though. I wouldn't worry too much.

 

That's a bit too close for comfort. It happens around here and our neighbor shot at a black one about 8 yrs ago, before we moved here. It happens every year here, somewhere around us and we are between two rivers and far enough out in the sticks they could hide well. I guess civilization has just encroached too far in on them. The ones born wild will attack livestock, they just look at it as food.
What concerns me though are the people that try to raise them as pets. In Oklahoma you can have exotic animals as pets w/o having to have a license for them - VERY STUPID. At times, some have escaped and I truly believe some people have turned them loose because they could no longer feed them when they got too big. Not good when they don't know how to hunt in the wild, it means they will go towards town.
We actually have small Zoo's here that rescue these type of exotic pets that people can/won't care for any longer, I sure hope that wasn't the case where you are April.

 

April,
If you're looking for a breed that is trained to detect predators, you might consider an Akita. I had a friend who owned two and he said they were first trained to hunt bears. There pretty big, beautiful, but look intimidating when you're first around them. He kept his in an apartment of all things!!
Vickie