Rancher Kills Mountain Lion After It Attacks And Kills 800 lb Steer
BY Herschel Smith
4 years, 10 months ago
From a reader, this news.
According to a follow up article, mountain lions don’t usually come this far down to the prairie area of Redfield. However, the lion was a young male, and young male mountain lions are known to travel. In this case, one particular mountain lion did come down from their normal hunting area, and he found himself a nice big 800lb meal.
As the lion wandered onto the property and attacked the steer, a livestock operator spotted him. Unfortunately, this livestock operator was not armed while he was out feeding the animals. To the lion, he was just another piece of meat on the range.
Fortunately, a neighboring rancher spotted the lion and recognized the danger the animal posed. This beast could have taken down multiple cattle costing thousands of dollars in damages. It could have also taken out the livestock operator.
Bet he’ll carry a gun in the future. As for me, I think I’d prefer to have a long gun in these circumstances. For those who don’t live in South Dakota, there’s always Coyotes, so there is always reason to carry, whether on the city streets from two-legged threats or in your yard or ranch from four-legged threats.
On February 13, 2020 at 8:30 am, Fred said:
“According to a follow up article, mountain lions don’t usually come this far down to the prairie area of Redfield.” – Correction; lions usually aren’t SEEN this far down…
At least this isn’t mainstream; ‘Officials Said’ blather but it goes to far. That the lion saw the ranch hand as just another piece of meat I’ve no doubt but lions don’t go on indiscriminate killing sprees killing multiple animals. They are lone hunters, personal safety while attaining sufficiency in diet is what they do. They are not like K9s. Over weeks or months the animal may well have come back over and over if that’s what the writer meant.
Young males, especially in the spring when mama runs them off to start another litter, do roam far afield in search of new hunting grounds that won’t run them afoul of the established males in the area. But it’s not spring (2/4/20). Lack of suitable food, perhaps, or growing total numbers with overall range expansion could be the case. Last I heard they have an annual hunt in SD.