Mountain Lion Invades Home

By Miss Cellania in Animals & Pets on Mar 10, 2010 at 11:51 am

Michelle Bese of Salida, Colorado was sitting at the table with her five-year-old while her other child slept in another room. One her five dogs came in through the dog door and was followed by a cougar! Bese grabbed her son and hid in the bedroom where the two-year-old was and called 911. Sheriff’s deputies helped the family escape through a window.

“I looked in a bedroom window and could see a dog which I believed to be dead,” said Division of Wildlife area manager Jim Aragon. “The lion was in the same room, so I pounded on the window and side of the house in an attempt to get the lion to leave through one of the open doors.”

Eventually, Aragon and wildlife officer Kim Woodruff, along with Chaffee County Sherriff’s deputy Rod Lane, entered the home through the back bedroom window. They found the cougar in a room directly across the hall.

“We cracked the door open wide enough to see the lion and were able to shoot it with a tranquilizer dart,” Aragon said.

One dog died from injuries and two dogs lost one eye each. The cougar, believed to be starving, was euthanized. Link -via Arbroath

Tags: cougar, dogs, mountain lion

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Dru
Mar 10th, 2010 at 11:58 am
First these cougars go after young guys in bars and maul them there, now they have taking to going after dogs in peoples homes! Don't these cougars have any shame!
Trish
Mar 10th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Wildlife officers gone wrong.
Gauldar
Mar 10th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
“The lion was in the same room, so I pounded on the window and side of the house in an attempt to get the lion to leave through one of the open doors.”

That won't even work against racoons.
totalfailure
Mar 10th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
why kill the cougar for doing what nature intended? they should have fed him and sent him off to the wilderness
Lea
Mar 10th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
He was starving because he couldn't find food in the wild probably. A cornered, starving animal like that would be very hard to even trap and take to a rehab facility. He would lash out and be unmanageable, unfortunately. It's not that easy to just "feed him and send him off". It would be great though if there WERE facilities to help rehabilitate animals and then place them in areas where they had plenty of food and space. *in a perfect world...(then we wouldn't need those places, would we?)*
This is a sad story all around. I'm glad the family is safe.
Zarquat
Mar 10th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
it is just me or does this woman look like she just stepped off the set of Big Love?
Persephone
Mar 10th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Why the h**l would you have a dog door big enough to let wildlife through when you live in the sticks? I grew up out in the foothills of the Sierras. No dog doors or similar openings of any kind. We really didn't have to worry about cougars, but there were raccoons and rattlesnakes and who knows what else might want to find a warm place or easy food.

Once again, a wild animal died because there are too many stupid humans.
LisaL
Mar 10th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
Poor mountain lion
Yes it's sad that one of the dogs died and 2 others were injured, but the lion was just doing what nature intended.
Wish they could've at least tried helping the poor thing instead of just killing it.
Ashley
Mar 10th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
They DID help it. It was dying a slow and painful death of starvation.
Cola
Mar 10th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
Persephone, I'm sure the dogs were around the same size as the cougar, and even if they were slightly smaller, cougars are pretty flexible.

It is sad that the animal had to be euthanized, but people come first, and a dangerous animal that isn't afraid of people can't be set free. The real problem is habitat. If people didn't feel the need to sprawl, it wouldn't be so bad. But I'm not going to blame these people for what happened to them.
Kaine
Mar 10th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
You people are nuts! Poor cougar?! Would you say the same if it got hold of one of the children? As for starving? No. Carnivores go after the easiest prey and unfortunately for us that prey is found within our cities and towns. I (unlike most of you) live near cougars and can tell you with absolute certainty that they will kill you if they get the chance. We have open season on them here in ND, and every single one that i see will be promptly shot!
LK
Mar 11th, 2010 at 1:29 am
How do 2 dogs lose one eye each? Why an eye? I mean, the cougar must not be that hungry if it goes after an eye instead of a leg.
Henri
Mar 11th, 2010 at 1:38 am
Why is it that when the cougar kills a pet people say it is just doing what nature intended but when the mother gets help to protect her children she is "violating" the natural way?

It is sad that the animal died but as a species, saving our kind is more of an imperative than biodiversity
LisaL
Mar 11th, 2010 at 2:39 am
Sigh... I know I know... still don't like it though.
Dani
Mar 11th, 2010 at 5:22 am
Looks like no one really read the article. These were small, toy dogs. I'm surprised some of them are even alive - yet alone, surprised that one died of injuries and not 'cause the mountain lion ate it!

Either way, sad story all around.
AntDude
Mar 11th, 2010 at 11:23 am
Was the cougar looking for Kim Bauer?
Zaulankris
Mar 17th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
+1 for Persephone

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