Almost scared of my own yard...

[TrialandError]

I know exactly how you feel. I had this huge bear stroll through my yard 9:00am one morning as I was outside working on my coop. Wasn't scared of me at all.

I also know there are panthers out in the woods and my property isn't cleared so when the wind blows and I'm outside I jump. Also doesn't help I saw another pile of bear poo today.

 

[Bridebeliever]

Don't lock up the barking dog and definitely take it out with you whenever you go outside! Realize the way that these "big cats" are hunted is with DOGS. Even a small dog can tree a mountain lion! (Or scare it out of your yard!) The more your dog is out there barking the less likely this kitty is to stick around!

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Oh don't worry, Lakota will not be locked up, he's the best deterrent there is. Trial and Error, that is absolutely terrifying. Luckily no bears here, but I'm mostly scared of the hunters shooting crazily behind our house. They take multiple shots at flying birds just a few feet away from our property. It is truly scary sometimes and I'm always worried for our five year old's safety. I'm hoping to get a petition signed to keep the hunters off the golf course on weekends, or at least have a limit of birds they can shoot set. They leave dead animals floating carelessly in the water....maybe they'll scare off the lion!

 

[21hens-incharge]

Oh don't worry, Lakota will not be locked up, he's the best deterrent there is. Trial and Error, that is absolutely terrifying. Luckily no bears here, but I'm mostly scared of the hunters shooting crazily behind our house. They take multiple shots at flying birds just a few feet away from our property. It is truly scary sometimes and I'm always worried for our five year old's safety. I'm hoping to get a petition signed to keep the hunters off the golf course on weekends, or at least have a limit of birds they can shoot set. They leave dead animals floating carelessly in the water....maybe they'll scare off the lion!

More likely the cat is feeding on what floats to shore that they left on the water. I wonder what it will target once hunting season is over????
To me it sounds like the behavior of an elderly or sick cat. I would be making that call to the game wardens to have them look into things a bit.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Why does it seem like a sick cat? I did find eaten carcasses of the coots that are hunted by the lake, but I suspected coyotes. Now I'm not so sure. Target season doesn't end for a while here, in fact, hunters are around all year. I am wondering if the hunters have a license to shoot a mountain lion if they saw one.

 

[21hens-incharge]

To me it seems like a sick or elderly cat because healthy cats tend to head away from people and hunt on their own. Sick ones or elderly ones will tend to go where food is much easier to get. The birds on the shore would be very easy to get.

Could just be a really smart one that figured out it is easier to get free food that way and is brave instead of desperate. I would still alert the proper authorities so they could figure out what is going on BEFORE someone gets a bad surprise heading to their car after dark.

I think a predator license has to be applied for or the animal has to be in the act of attacking to be shot without a permit. (At least around here it is that way.)

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Well, the cat has been around for a while, it didn't come during hunting season. I think it is simply taking advantage of the food left on the shore. I've studied animal behavior patterns in the nearby fauna and have noticed that despite the many trash cans left out at night, the raccoons who share our property with us tend to catch crayfish and birds instead of digging through the garbage. They still do occasionally, but they aren't sick. I mean, why would a lion chase after live prey when they could so easily find it dead and ready for them to eat? At the moment, I am thinking that this cat is a bobcat, not a mountain lion, for several reasons. They have been seen around here, and after seeing the paw prints, they actually look much smaller then what I expected. I spotted some in the sand trap recently, near the half eaten carcass of a coot bird. I am notifying everyone in the neighborhood and possibly calling the HOA to tell them of the threat. For now I am keeping a close eye on my yard, animals, and family.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Well, we haven't had any more sightings of the cat as far as I know, but my dog was very edgy and growling often at the thick bushes yesterday....

 

[bluema]

That's scary. The largest wild predator I have to worry about is coyotes, responsible for many missing cats around our neighborhood. I feel safe though with dog out there with me who's bigger than coyotes.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

I wish that was our only problem....but no, we have to have MOUNTAIN LIONS...great...