Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Big cat

We had some excitement yesterday afternoon, that kept DH occupied for awhile.  First we heard one of neighbors dogs letting out his big howl. Then we heard a bunch of dogs barking off in the distance. DH went outside and the sound was coming from the state land across the road. Kind of a woodsy area with a big cliff. Bark bark bark! Neighbor came outside too. They determined it was still cat hunting season, so it must be someone with dogs that treed a mountain lion. Non-stop barking and howling for like 15 minutes by then.  DH decided to drive his quad over on the trail road to the cliff and see if he could see it.

Turns out it was two hunters with hound dogs. DH was down by their truck watching/waiting. Heard two shots. Figured they got it. Then like 5 or 10 minutes later heard like 4 more shots. DH texted me that apparently the cat only got injured with one of the first two shots (ugh). Dogs went on chase again and treed it. Then the hunter shot it down. Apparently he wasn't a very good shot! When they got it back to their truck, DH (and by now our neighbor had gone over on his quad, too, because he wanted to see it) texted me pics of it. Awww.... poor cat. Then I was kind of sad for it, but dang, those things are pretty big. Must be the tracks Dh saw over there a couple weeks ago, as big as his boots next to it.

DH texted the lady who lives down the road about a mile - she had seen a mountain lion on her back deck several months ago, so she was relieved that it was taken care of. The hunter guys said it was very healthy and could tell it had been eating good. There are lots of deer and elk around here, that's for sure. And they said they saw wolf tracks too up there. I guess they are allowed to hunt so many mountain lions per season, to keep the population under control. They guy said it was 30 in our county and 16 have been killed so far. DH could never kill one, but he said it was interesting to watch the dogs at work. Certainly a different way of life, from where we came from!

DD had a bunch of (not usual) snow Sunday night. She and DF made it into work yesterday, though in her office most people just worked from home. She had been told she can't work from home until she's been there 6 months (it's been like 4). But, this morning her boss told everyone to work from home, because still lots of snow and ice on the roads (no snow plows there, they just have to wait for it to warm up and melt, which is usually a day or two). She's happy to get to work from home today, though her DF had to drive in, as his job isn't a work from home type of job.

                   

12 comments:

  1. Mountain lions and wolves? Wow! For a city dweller like I am, this is scary. Please be careful. I guess your dogs will alert you in case some of those wild creatures are around. As for DD, how does she like her new job?

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    1. it's definitely something to get used to, haha. Lots of wildlife around here, that's for sure. We see elk and deer tracks in the snow on our property all most every morning, as they apparently come thru to go down the river bank to drink. The mountain lion has been spotted a few times since Fall. DD likes her new job so far. Took a bit longer to get the swing of it than she liked. She sure does like the extra money, benefits and more holidays, that's for sure.

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  2. Oh, I feel sorry for the mountain lion, even if it is necessary to hunt them to keep the population under control. We have mountain lions here, too, in certain areas, and they occasionally go into people's yards, but, they are protected.

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    1. we feel sorry for it too. One of our friends, who is hunts alot says he wouldn't have shot a female (even though so many are allowed) because she most likely has cubs....that made us feel really sad to think there might be some cubs now with no momma.

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    1. it's is a bit unnerving to know they are so close, but from what these knowledgeable folks around here say, they want as little to do with us as we with them. One of the guys that worked on our house pretty much has spent his life outdoors and hunting. He lives in pretty remote area and said in all his years outdoors he's only seen a mountain lion twice, even though lots are out there.

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  4. I'm probably the minority, but I love hearing about all the wildlife! Does your dh have a trail cam? If not, that might be a gift idea. It would be interesting to see what critters come on your property.

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    1. He does not have a trailcam and yes, he wants one! LOL. I'm sure there are all kind of wildlife that we don't know is out there. I find learning about the wildlife around here kind of interesting. Like the cats are the only thing they can hunt using dogs, I guess. DH and I are in the minority about wolves, that's for sure! We think they are amazing. Most people absolutely hate them.

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  5. I am petrified of mountain lions. There's at least one in our neighborhood but I have never personally seen it. We see an average of 3 black bears a week, when they are not hibernating. I can live with that. The BIG kitty kats? No way!!

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    1. It is eerie that they are out there but so rarely seen. Just watching us! Our neighbor said he clipped a bear on his way to work a couple months ago, but no one has seen any bears around here at all. Mostly we just see deer and wild turkeys.

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    2. I'm more scared of hitting an elk or deer while driving, especially at night! They just stand right in the dang road or right along side. We almost hit one the other night coming home from dinner.

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    3. Yes! My husband hit a deer in broad daylight. Or the deer hit him. :0)
      My husband was ok,but a lot of damage to the truck. We have tons of wild turkeys too.
      Wildlife can be exciting.

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