A hunter killed an adult male mountain lion after the animal reportedly attacked and “partially consumed a domestic dog at a residence a few miles south of Cascade, Idaho.”
The attack occurred late on Friday, Jan. 3, Idaho Fish and Game Regional Communications Manager Evin Oneale reports.
“The following morning, remains of the shepherd mix were found cached behind the owner’s residence by a neighbor, who alerted the homeowner and called the Valley County Sheriff’s Office,” Oneale adds. “Fish and Game officers Marshall Haynes and Chris Rowley responded to the incident, together with a houndsman and a local hunter with a valid mountain lion tag.”
“Early in the investigation, a lion was spooked from a day bed a short distance from the cached dog. Hounds quickly treed the lion, which was then killed by the hunter.”
Fish and Game officials examined the mountain lion in the field and found “nothing unusual.” They did notice porcupine quills in the mountain lions muzzle, but Oneale says mountain lions frequently target porcupines as prey.
“The incident comes just days after a dog was attacked and killed by a lion on New Year’s Eve at a residence along Callendar Road east of Highway 55,” Oneale adds. “That home is about a mile from the January 3rd attack site, and the lion or lions responsible for that attack were never found. It is unclear whether the two attacks were carried out by the same lion.”
“Mountain lions are common along the timbered edges of Long Valley, but rarely seen. They are content to live their lives in the shadows and generally avoid people. In the rare instance where a lion chooses to target domestic pets as a food source, the risk to human safety is heightened, a situation that Idaho Fish and Game takes very seriously.”
Idaho Fish and Game provides further information about mountain lions: