Mountain lion...IN THE COOP!

[Goldenlaced_keeper]

Well last night I was visiting my brother in Ketchum Idaho. He has 6 chickens. I keep some but they are still young. Well I went out to tend to them like I always do and I noticed right away 5 of them were huddled on the other side of the yard... OUTSIDE THE COOP AND RUN. They almost seemed to be telling me "help! It's awful!" One of them is a spazzstic australorp that will never allow touch. But they all came to me including to spazz with fear in there eyes begging to be picked up. So this is when I noticed feathers and a patch missing on one of them. And still one chicken was missing. I went to the coop peeked in and was face to face with a full grown cougar and the missing chicken in its mouth. The lion backed up and dropped the body then hissed. I slammed the coop door and ran in grabbed a gun and my brother and said THERES A LION IN THE COOP!!!! he said you sure it's not a bob cat!? I was sure. Well we called 911 and asked if we could shoot it because we were very shook up considering my 2 year old nephew plays out back alone all the time. They said no your in a neighborhood and unless your life is in danger don't discharge a fire arm. Fish and game came out and said they would relocate. Found out this morning they euthanized it. It made the local news and we have gotten death threats now from Facebook. People saying "wow over a chicken" and all kinds of hurtful stuff. Truthfully that could have been Rosie the dog or even my little nephew. If I'm honest yes I care about my chickens and my brothers chickens more than the damn lion. But these people need to calm down.... thoughts?

 

[aart]

But these people need to calm down.... thoughts?

Ignore them, anything else will only fan the fires.

 

[Hayden Goseek]

Ignore them, anything else will only fan the fires.

True, I probably would have shot and started digging.
Next time call 811 instead of 911.

 

[Goldenlaced_keeper]

Here's some pics and the culprit

 

[nuthatched]

What exactly do you want us to do? Validation of some sort? Report the 'death threats' to the police, that's what they're for.
I would not have bothered to call 911, but I'm glad the lion was delt with and no longer a threat.
be thankful it was just a chicken and not a child or a pet.

 

[Goldenlaced_keeper]

I'm wondering if I should feel bad about this mountain lion I guess. But mostly I wanted to share the story.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Well last night I was visiting my brother in Ketchum Idaho. He has 6 chickens. I keep some but they are still young. Well I went out to tend to them like I always do and I noticed right away 5 of them were huddled on the other side of the yard... OUTSIDE THE COOP AND RUN. They almost seemed to be telling me "help! It's awful!" One of them is a spazzstic australorp that will never allow touch. But they all came to me including to spazz with fear in there eyes begging to be picked up. So this is when I noticed feathers and a patch missing on one of them. And still one chicken was missing. I went to the coop peeked in and was face to face with a full grown cougar and the missing chicken in its mouth. The lion backed up and dropped the body then hissed. I slammed the coop door and ran in grabbed a gun and my brother and said THERES A LION IN THE COOP!!!! he said you sure it's not a bob cat!? I was sure. Well we called 911 and asked if we could shoot it because we were very shook up considering my 2 year old nephew plays out back alone all the time. They said no your in a neighborhood and unless your life is in danger don't discharge a fire arm. Fish and game came out and said they would relocate. Found out this morning they euthanized it. It made the local news and we have gotten death threats now from Facebook. People saying "wow over a chicken" and all kinds of hurtful stuff. Truthfully that could have been Rosie the dog or even my little nephew. If I'm honest yes I care about my chickens and my brothers chickens more than the damn lion. But these people need to calm down.... thoughts?

That's insane, you did nothing wrong. Not at all.

 

[BelovedBirds]

I'm wondering if I should feel bad about this mountain lion I guess. But mostly I wanted to share the story.

You shouldn't. You didn't do anything wrong.
It is sad for the lion, but you protected your animals and your family and that's the best thing, the only thing, you can do

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

They lion was killing when it got killed. Don't pity it. It took a life just as fast as its life got taken. Live by the sword die by the sword.
And ignore the morons on FB.

 

[FunClucks]

Unfriend on FB and make your profile private. Otherwise, don't respond. No one's business but yours. It wasn't their back yard, their chickens that were attacked, or their kid that could have gone outside to play with that mountain lion right there.

Glad your family is safe. You called the authorities and did as directed. They euthanized, not you - it was a professional judgement they made for the safety of the public. Next time it could have been a person that was attacked. That the lion had no fear of people enough to approach and kill chickens inside the coop so close to people shows that it was already a danger to people.