Late Thursday night my husband grabbed his farm coat and disappeared out the door without explanation. An hour later he returned and explained he thought he’d seen a car trying to spotlight deer on our dirt road. That didn’t make any sense because with all the snow you can’t turn your headlights off the road without getting stuck. So he’d gone out to investigate.
It was his brother Matt trying to find the mountain lion he’d seen standing alongside the bridge as he drove home. Nate and Matt tracked the cougar up and down the creek but never saw her again.
Saturday Nate wanted to see if he could find any fresh tracks so off we went. However, we didn’t find anything fresher than Thursday’s tracks. I was quite surprised to see her trails and how close she’s been to us though.
It shouldn’t be surprising since about this same time last year, during another full moon, she snatched Matt’s dog out of collar and leash for a midnight meal. We don’t tie dogs up outside anymore.
We’re pretty sure two of our other dogs met her one early spring night a couple of years ago as well. (They weren’t tied up.)
Here you can see where she easily jumped the fence and continued on her way. I’m just glad mountain lions are nocturnal creatures.
oh my.
but quite scary just the same. I’d be afraid to go outside.
Your brother gets wind of this and he will be there in 2 seconds!
Oh, that gave me chills. Be careful!
I tagged you on my blog, and you can do whatever you want with it!
Palmer would have loved it!!! I can’t wait to write him
Hey sis, need me to come down there and take care of that cat? By the look of the track in the pic it looks to be a young lion. Has it messed with the livestock yet?
Tamara & Krista, It’s only scary at night. Along the creek.
Annika–Where is he?
Robert–Oh. There you are. Still home? We think that track is a cub from last year. There aren’t any sheep on the pasture this time of year and the neighbor’s long horns are gone. So not yet this year, though I’d like to say yes, yes, yes! Do you have a license to shoot or chase?
We had some chasers come last year and chase her 20 miles north. That worked for a couple of weeks. That chasing business is kind of a joke.
Karen–Yeah, Palmer missed out. We’ll have to show him the pictures.
What is spotlighting deer?
L.A. In this example spotlighting deer is using your headlights to find deer, scope them out for the hunting season, watch the herd, etc.
There is another version, but that’s not what I was talking about here.
I’m pleased to announce that the mountain lion is no longer a problem. Big thanks to some brothers-in-law.
Man, this is so amazing to me. I love to hear about your life. Maybe one day I will move down there. Okay really, that’s not going to happen so I’ll just see you do it.
@Janine, Thanks for stopping by. It is a little crazy around here at times.