More on the mountain lion

Today I chatted with Jim about the mountain lion that killed his wife's two miniature horses. The horses were fine that Saturday night as their grandkids had visited and were playing with the horses until dark. Debbie found her horses on Sunday morning when she went out to feed them. They were both in their pasture relatively close to the house. Neither Jim nor Debbie heard anything Saturday night.

The two horses were a bloody mess. They think the male horse put up a fight as it was really torn up. One of its legs was broken and almost off. Poor Debbie as she is heart broken.

A Fish and Wildlife official came out along with a guy and his tracking dog. The dog ran around my pasture and howled but couldn't pick up the mountain lion's scent. They gave up. Jim chained the horse carcasses to the fence posts and then called a couple of his buddies with mountain lion experience and they came over that night after 10 pm when they came back into town.

Between dark and his buddies arrival a mountain lion was back. They had four dogs and they chased the lion across the river where it went up a tree to escape the dogs. I am not sure if the tree was one of the scrubby trees along the river or if the lion made it to the ridge and the pine trees. The guys shot the lion and brought it back. From their arrival it took less than an hour.

Jim now is not so sure the lion shot was the one that killed his wife's horses. Two weeks later a neighbor who lives up on the ridge to the north a half mile to a mile away watched two mountain lions chase down a deer in her yard. It could have been those two lions that killed the horses and the lion that got shot merely took advantage of opportunity to feed on the dead horses the next night. Or maybe the three ran together and only one got caught in the darkness.

Lots of mountain lion activity in the Valley this Fall. Tonight I spoke with Sue Ann and she told me a couple days ago a neighbor's son in her subdivision in Columbia Falls surprised a mountain lion when he went outside the house. Sue Ann is not happy as this means she will now have to carry bear spray when she goes on walks in the woods near her place.

And since there may be two more mountain lions in my area I'll have to be careful if I am out in my pasture after dark.