Saturday, January 18, 2020

mountain lion attacks deer right next to my house

Strangely enough I'm 400 miles away from home when this happens though. My wife was walking her new Blue Merle Corgi puppy on a local road on a loop when she returned home to hear the deer that she feeds in a green belt near our house had been attacked by a mountain lion and our neighbor had witnessed it. Where I live we are in a pine, Oak and Redwood Forest many miles in all directions. There are also a few golf courses nearby and the deer often eat the grass on golf courses while golf balls are flying too. They even hang out on a driving range nearby and dodge balls because they would rather dodge golf balls than people. But, they really don't like Mountain lions at all. Also, the males this time or year you have to watch out for because they have horns and I have seen what they can do to a dog that gets too close to them off leash. One poor fellow who was a black Labrador had the flesh of his chest hanging and was running sideways a few years ago now with his 13 year old female human watcher hysterically crying running along after him. I asked if I could do anything for her and she said no. So, the dog sauntered sideways home with a foot of flesh hanging by his side from an encounter with a buck deer on a golf course. So, when you are around deer this time of year always leash your dogs or they could die from being gored on those horns. (Something to remember) male deer have horns and know just how to use them to defend themselves or their herds of deer, or families.

We have had a lot of sightings of mountain lions these past few years. Someone's motion sensor camera on the same block we are on shared a movie stream of one walking by at night which was over a 100 pound cat. Another neighbor on the block right down the street from us was eating breakfast only to look out her window and see a mountain lion walking by at about 7 am one morning.

But, this is the first time they attacked the deer my wife likes to feed in the Green belt next to our home. So, even though my wife didn't witness the attack she likely is going to be counting the deer she feeds if and when they ever return once again to the green belt. Also, no hunting is allowed within 10 to 20 miles of where we live and maybe not even then. So, the deer herds just grow and grow until they are eventually thinned out by wandering mountain lions which are their only real predators outside of wild dogs or dogs off leash big enough not to be killed by dear hooves or buck horns in season. If you have ever seen a deer fight with their hooves it is not a pretty sight. They look harmless but those hooves are also razor sharp for fighting if they are cornered. So, never corner a female deer with a fawn unless you want a quick trip to the hospital or morgue. They look tame but they are not.

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