Mountain Lion at the Sons place.

[Fredx10sen]

My Son in Pinetop AZ. had a scary experience Saturday the first (his birthday). He stepped out to let his dog out and was confronted with a huge male mountain lion in his backyard. The lion who was after a kitten jumped over the fence then jumped back over into the yard not showing any fear of my Son or the dog. Son grabbed up his Dalmatian Dog and quickly went inside. When the lion jumped over, he got caught up in an old abandoned barbed wire fence next to the new fence and was now trapped. My Son called Fish & Game and they asked if he was sure it was a mountain lion. He said they get a lot of false calls. Son said he was POSITIVE! They showed up and got with-in 15 feet before the lion showed any fear of them. Fish & Game tranquilized the lion. He was a BIG healthy lion and barley fit into the huge dog container they had brought. Son is 6’-2” and said that the lion would have been as tall as him standing. Really scary because my two very young grandsons play in that fenced backyard. He has also had a bear on the front porch in the past. My Son said it made for a very exciting birthday. Scares the **** out of me for little ones. He is very aware of his surroundings and said he will be even more alert in the future. Soooo glad the it turned out OK!

[Blammer]

Wow~ that's incredible. He was lucky. Hope fish and game take it FAR far FAR away.

[Doc Highwall]

I bet he does not ever forget this birthday.

[JeffinNZ]

In stark contrast to Boerrancher who had to get rid of his goats because mountain lions were taking them and Fish and Game people would do nothing.

[ShooterAZ]

A couple of years back there was a lady walking her small dog on a leash on one of the urban trails here in the Flagstaff city limits. A mountain lion snatched the dog right off the leash and took off with it. The lion was later tracked down and destroyed. A bear was killed because it had absolutely no fear of humans, and kept coming back to loot chicken coops. One thing that has happened in the last few years, a lot of habitat has been burned up in the huge wildfires we have had. This has made it more difficult for some predators to find food. Pets make for an easy snack.

[Fredx10sen]

I bet he does not ever forget this birthday.

Ya he was pretty excited when I talked to him on the phone.

[Fredx10sen]

A couple of years back there was a lady walking her small dog on a leash on one of the urban trails here in the Flagstaff city limits. A mountain lion snatched the dog right off the leash and took off with it. The lion was later tracked down and destroyed. A bear was killed because it had absolutely no fear of humans, and kept coming back to loot chicken coops. One thing that has happened in the last few years, a lot of habitat has been burned up in the huge wildfires we have had. This has made it more difficult for some predators to find food. Pets make for an easy snack.

Yep they are something to keep an eye out for. That's for sure!! He knows that he lives in their forest.

[GRUMPA]

I know we have 1 around here, everytime I decrease the local coyote population the remains vanish and all we see are some rather impressive prints in the dirt. Have yet to see it actually and more than likely never will. We never see drag marks of any kind just foot prints.

I don't live all that far from Pinetop, but every now and then people come up with missing small livestock that we just think coyotes are the main reason.

[missionary5155]

Good evening
My mom & sister live on the outskirts of Sho Low and have had visits from bears in the neighbors yard but so far no big cats as best they know.
Mike in ILL.

[firefly1957]

Is he in a neighborhood or isolated from other homes? Just curious about the area and being a male you are saying it was hunting a cat correct?

[Fredx10sen]

Is he in a neighborhood or isolated from other homes? Just curious about the area and being a male you are saying it was hunting a cat correct?

He's pretty much in the forest, surrounded with trees. He fly fishes alot and is always on the lookout for critters. I believe the lion had already eaten the house cat and was after the kitten. I sure hope they deposit the lion far away from my son and his family. He does have neighbors around him as well.

[MtGun44]

I assume that a handgun will be standard equipment for ANY trips out of the house now.
Also, that an armed guard will be posted anytime the little kitty treats (children) are outside
playing. He better take this seriously, because you can be certain that the predators do,
food is life or death to them and killing is something they expect to do every single day.
May not succeed every day, but they wake up in the morning looking for something to kill.

Bill

[Junior1942]

+1 to what Bill said.

[WILCO]

+1 to what Bill said.

Ditto for me.

[Boz330]

Not sure taking the cat far away will work all that well. Cats have a unigue talent for finding their way home from impressive distances. The 3 Ss would have been a better option. An animal that can drag down and kill a full grown elk is nothing to trifle with.

Bob

[WILCO]

The 3 Ss would have been a better option.

I agree with that statement too.

[Fredx10sen]

I assume that a handgun will be standard equipment for ANY trips out of the house now.
Also, that an armed guard will be posted anytime the little kitty treats (children) are outside
playing. He better take this seriously, because you can be certain that the predators do,
food is life or death to them and killing is something they expect to do every single day.
May not succeed every day, but they wake up in the morning looking for something to kill.

Bill

He's doesn't go anywhere without his Sig 40 on him although he will probably let the dog out with it in hand from now on.

[Fredx10sen]

Not sure taking the cat far away will work all that well. Cats have a unigue talent for finding their way home from impressive distances. The 3 Ss would have been a better option. An animal that can drag down and kill a full grown elk is nothing to trifle with.

Bob

Sorry too say but I think your right on the SSS, might have been a better solution in the long run.

[rr2241tx]

People unwilling to defend their status atop of the food chain are: prey.

[blackthorn]

There was a Cougar sighting about 15 Kilometers from our house day before yesterday. We live on the egde of forested land but the cat was right in town, very close to an elementry school. A lady spoted it around 8:30 AM as she sat on her back porch having her morning coffee. Her house is less than a mile from forested land. She called Fish-Wildlife but it was long gone before they got there. There is a warning out for that area. We get deer, coyotes, a bob cat and black bears in our yard from time to time but no sign of a cougar so far. That is not to say they don't come, just that we have never seen one.

[MtGun44]

Mtn lions are getting very comfortable with people. A friend worked with a researcher in
FLA a few years back, radio tracking collared 'Florida panthers' (same as cougar, mtn lion, etc).

The found one sleeping during the day in a small (10 foot diam) palmetto patch in the
front yard of a house on the edge of a development in central Fla.

They tracked it along a fence line behind a row of houses under construction. No one that
they talked to had seen the cat, but it walked right through the neighborhood and was
apparently not scared of people.

The good news is that they rarely attack large adults, but small adults and children are
more attactive, as are pets and such.

Bill

[popper]

Brother from Tuscon sent me pics yesterday of a LARGE bobcat and kittens drinking from his bird bath, then taking a nap. Mom was standing on back legs, drinking from the pan ~4' high. Kittens just jumped up on it. Reminded me of a few tent-trailer camping trips near Red River. Stepped outside to drain the water tank (was supposed to get to 10F) heard a very deep growl and stepped inside. Other trip I had a .380, forgot to take the trash from under the camper and put in steel dump. Stayed up that nite while the cougar licked the inside of the empty cans in MY trash. It kept bumping the bottom of the bed, wife was really perturbed. Footprints were ~ 3" dia.

[fcvan]

The house in Colorado Springs is on the west side, about a mile from the foothills of Pikes Peak. Residential, but lots of green belt area. For the past 4 years there have been mule deer in the back yard pretty much 10 months out of the year. Last fall, there was a big cat on the back patio waiting for a snack to wander by. Although the wife now has a .44 SBH, back then I recommended the 12ga with buck or slugs. This past spring, we got new neighbors who put up corral fencing with field fence wire. Now they have several dogs, and we have no more mule deer. I still worry about the cat because dogs can be good cat food, and the recent fire has rearranged the local habitat. I always have a gun on me but would still prefer a 12ga over a handgun. Frank

[Just Duke]

Mountain Lion in Camp Wood Arizona S&W 629 The article is HERE (http://50caliberforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=thetrophyroom&action=display&thread=2900)

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/balls172/Hunts/IMG_1497.jpg

[bowfin]

Are those dogs Walkers?

[Just Duke]

Are those dogs Walkers?

That's not me and not sure who the dogs belong to.

[Boz330]

Mtn lions are getting very comfortable with people. A friend worked with a researcher in
FLA a few years back, radio tracking collared 'Florida panthers' (same as cougar, mtn lion, etc).

The found one sleeping during the day in a small (10 foot diam) palmetto patch in the
front yard of a house on the edge of a development in central Fla.

They tracked it along a fence line behind a row of houses under construction. No one that
they talked to had seen the cat, but it walked right through the neighborhood and was
apparently not scared of people.

The good news is that they rarely attack large adults, but small adults and children are
more attactive, as are pets and such.

Bill

I spent 10 years guiding in NM lion country and never saw a cat. But the aftermath was evident everywhere, elk and mule deer both. They (lions) were hunted in the area I guided in so that was probably a factor. Two of the guides I worked with had run ins with lions though. One accidentally stumbled on a fresh elk kill and the lion made it known whose meat it was. The other was a guide and bow hunter stalking a bull with cows when a lion literally almost hit him trying to get to a cow. Kinda broke up the stalk.

Bob

[375RUGER]

I think lion season is year round in AZ. No need for the SSS, just keep a tag handy.

[KCSO]

No transporting the cat to elsewhere is an overnight solution, the cat will be home overnight. There was a reason our ancestors got rid of most of the cats in populated areas and we will realize it as soon a a couple kids get eaten. It's unfortunate but there are some animals that don't mix well with our current high population. Introducing and protecting these critters means we will either havve to start getting rid of them again or they will start getting rid of us.
Maybe we could teach them to recognise and eat only their friends the Peta folks.

[lkeppinger]

Our Governor, Rick Perry was out jogging with his dog near Austin, when a coyote tried to get the dog. Rick just pulled his Keltec .380 and shot the coyote... end of story. Keltec did make a model in his honor.

[Mal Paso]

One of my neighbors, a lady in her 80s was taking an afternoon nap. She woke up to find the neighbors dog halfway under her bed, after her cat, again. She rolled up a paper and gave the dog a good swat on the butt. The dog backed out and turned out to be a mountain lion. Her husband heard the commotion and entered the room. The cat tried to get out through a mirror shattering it. After a few tense minutes it found it's way out the way it came in. It had broken through a glass and wood panel door that had seen better days, they think it was after their house cat. A month later it got trapped in a chicken coop and F&G dispatched it. Once mountain lions start hanging around people it doesn't get better.

My closest face to face was about 40'. Unarmed, checking the water tank, she had high ground and there was no cover. I stood still facing her and watching 'till she got bored and moved off. She never looked directly at me, like I was of no concern or interest.

[EDK]

As a history buff, I visited the north end of THE HOLE IN THE WALL near Kaycee WY several times while going to the Quigley shoot. (A friend who lives near Buffalo WY told me a few mountain lion stories like those above.) It's isolated and VERY low traffic on a week day. I started walking in...you need an ATV or high ground clearance preferably four wheel drive vehicle to go further....and as I went over the ridge and down towards the river realized that.

1. Hadn't seen anything but sheep and distant ranch houses for many miles.
2. No cell phone service.
3. No one knew where I was at the time.
4. Heart condition...more pills than your grandma.

I turned around, went back to the car, enjoyed the view and solitude in a safer spot awhile, put the 44 VAQUERO (poor choice for defense, but it's what was with me....getting custom stag grips from my friend....in the trunk and headed on down the road.

I've heard what sounded to be a mountain lion HERE at home...30 miles south and a bit west of the GATEWAY ARCH in Saint Louis MO...and there have been trail cam pictures as well as sightings in various locations. The cats follow the Missouri or Mississippi rivers from wherever. Habitat is reduced and people move in= recipe for confrontations.

:redneck::cbpour::guntootsmiley:

[Dennis Eugene]

Had a dog turn and growl at me in my own yard as I tried to run him off once,buried him minutes later. There's no way that cat would still be walking around. Dennis

[Just Duke]

As a history buff, I visited the north end of THE HOLE IN THE WALL near Kaycee WY several times while going to the Quigley shoot. (A friend who lives near Buffalo WY told me a few mountain lion stories like those above.) It's isolated and VERY low traffic on a week day. I started walking in...you need an ATV or high ground clearance preferably four wheel drive vehicle to go further....and as I went over the ridge and down towards the river realized that.

1. Hadn't seen anything but sheep and distant ranch houses for many miles.
2. No cell phone service.
3. No one knew where I was at the time.
4. Heart condition...more pills than your grandma.

I turned around, went back to the car, enjoyed the view and solitude in a safer spot awhile, put the 44 VAQUERO (poor choice for defense, but it's what was with me....getting custom stag grips from my friend....in the trunk and headed on down the road.

I've heard what sounded to be a mountain lion HERE at home...30 miles south and a bit west of the GATEWAY ARCH in Saint Louis MO...and there have been trail cam pictures as well as sightings in various locations. The cats follow the Missouri or Mississippi rivers from wherever. Habitat is reduced and people move in= recipe for confrontations.

:redneck::cbpour::guntootsmiley:

Would that be the Farmington area? Kinda rocky so I think there would be some caves to make a den in.
We had one in our neighborhood in the West Hills in Portland and one I heard a lot on the back side of Mt. Hood around Dufur. I could surely understand the Dufer area as the deer graze on the miles of wheat fields and head into the back of Mt Hood at night making it a real nice free buffet for any cat.