Cat Stuck in Tree - Big Cat

[Willowdared]

Cat stuck in a tree, but this one is a biggie



By Elena Gaona
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 31, 2007
Sheriff's Deputy Eric Christiansen was working the morning shift when he got the call: A mountain lion was stuck in a tree outside Vista. Four dogs, including two yapping rat terriers, had the cat surrounded and wouldn't back away.

“Given it's a mountainous area,” Christiansen said, “I believed it could be real.”

Soon he was staring at an adult mountain lion, probably 125 pounds or so, sitting in the slim branches of a young oak. Christiansen said the big cat looked a little scared.

“It was beautiful, like something from Animal Planet,” Christiansen said.

Surrounding the cougar were Art and Liz Nelson's four faithful dogs: Oso, a big and furry 5-year-old German shepherd; Paco, a 2-year-old Weimaraner; and the rat terriers, Lena, 5, and Sandy, 14.

The ruckus started at 4 a.m. Wednesday, waking Art Nelson, a 77-year-old retired teacher, and his wife, Liz, 68. The couple live in a ranch house on four acres off Little Gopher Canyon Road, just south of Bonsall and just north of Vista. They've lived there the 34 years of their marriage and have seen animals from coyotes to rattlesnakes. They thought they heard a mountain lion once but had never seen one.

Art Nelson figured the dogs must be howling at a raccoon or some other nocturnal creature, so he stayed in bed. The barking, though, continued.

At daylight he headed to the backyard. The dogs were barking up a tree on a steep hillside behind his house.

“My Lord, what's this?” Art Nelson said when he saw the mountain lion, which swatted at the dogs when they jumped toward the branches.

He ran inside to get his wife. But she was on the phone with authorities. Fearing for her grandchildren, she wanted the cat off her property.

Instead of removing the mountain lion, authorities gave the couple a lecture: The cat is in its home, too, with habitats that range up to 150 square miles. It was likely looking to drink from the creek on their property or, the couple fear, looking to make a meal out of one of their small dogs.

The California Department of Fish and Game receives calls about once a week to report sightings of mountain lions, spokesman Harry Morse said. The cats are only killed if wardens believe they pose a threat to the public.

When the dogs stepped away from the tree to check out the visiting deputy, the cougar jumped down and slipped through the family's fence.

“He ran in full glory,” Art Nelson said.

[lewisipso]

Yikes.

[gozling]

see... that is what happens when they take away the game of TAG in cougar school....

goes from a wild killer cat to a friggin pussy.

[Ducky]

Mountain lions are very reclusive and tend to stay as far from people as they can. There's a much higher chance of being struck by lightning than attacked by a mountain lion, but as people are taking over more and more of the mountain lions range, encounters are increasing.

Lesson is, if you move into their range, expect to see them every so often.

[Willowdared]

We have had some interesting problems in these parts related to Mountain Lions....people have been known to find cubs and raise them as pets. Then, when they get too big, they dump them.

We've had a couple rescues of cougars that wanted to be near people, because that's all they know.

We are also in a very long-term drought, following a devistating wildfire a couple years ago....no food - no water.

[Jackalope]

Cougars are a menace. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot it if I ever saw one. I can't believe the "authorities" wouldn't do anything about a cougar coming that close to someone's house.