Fear of big cat on the prowl

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ANTLER VALLEY

Joined
Apr 9, 2009
Messages
1,020
Location
Carrollton, MO
Several months ago a county official was looking over my deer when I pulled up to do chores, and told me there had been a report of a "large, yellow cat" (mountain lion) and wanted me to keep an eye open for it. I have not seen it myself, but this week I lost 4 fawns, three being from the pen closest to the timber, and my absolute tamest doe scratched up (see pictures). She looked great before all this happened, now I'm pretty worried about her. I took the sheriff into the timber with me and we searched for carcasses and prints, but no luck on either. The fawns literlally have disappeared, though I did find one little patch of grass containing white belly/rump hair and one tiny chunk of hide attached to the hair, not far from the fence.



I stopped in at Bass Pro last night and bought a pair of new trail cameras-looking for advice on baiting to get some pictures, or any ideas on how to take this thing out if I can find it. I'm moving my Great Pyrenees pups down to the corner of the property where I think the fawns were swiped and maybe the scent of dog will keep the cat away, or at least push him to another part of the property where a larger deer can have a better chance of defending itself.



Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
 

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Keep your doggies safe please! Am so sorry to hear of your loss. I would consider taking pro-active measures against that kitty. (I am feeling guilty in saying so). Your doe is very brave. Can you get near her to apply a topical antibiotic? or give her a shot of Excede?
 
The dogs were hired to keep preditors and free-loaders at bay; however, they were doing more harm than good keeping the deer pretty worked up. Therefore, I moved them back out of the pen this afternoon and they will be living outside the pen. I do have a plan to get the cat if he exists. The doe got a dose of Draxxin yesterday and by the end of the week might switch to another antibiotic. She is showing improvement though.
 
Excede is a longer acting antibiotic and it targets skin infections. From my experience it worked great w/my doe's pressure sores on her leg (created by wearing a splint for 2 wks).
 
If you put a table spoon of Golden Malrin stuffed in a chicken breast, drenched in bacon grease, you can say bye-bye to the kitty-kitty!
 
Split-Hoof said:
If you put a table spoon of Golden Malrin stuffed in a chicken breast, drenched in bacon grease, you can say bye-bye to the kitty-kitty!
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I have considered something like that. I have nailed some nuisance dogs with milk and G-marlin. If I have a dead animal at work tomorrow (or when I do) I will be hanging a ham from a tree with a camera on it. The local game warden told me tonight that I had his blessing to oust the feline before calling hime. Rifle currrently in the truck, ready to go...I will also take a gallon of milk and cut the top 1/3 of the jug off to see what I can pull in there. I trailed the creek from one end of the block to the other, finding nothing but **** and deer tracks.
 
The electric fence is a great answer. It not only will keep cats, timber wolves, coyotes and domestic dogs and cats away, it will also keep rutting bucks from tearing up your fence from the outside. I found it works best to have one about a foot from the ground and one at about 4 feet up. the electric fencers are about $100 to 200 and the wire and insulators are fairly inexpensive. they make a plastic 6 inch stand off insulator that can be screwed to the post. If you have the lower one and there is a lot of vegetation you may need to spray a mix of round-up and 2-4D or use Tordon to kill the grass and weeds. I suppose if you have overhanging trees a cougar could jump in without climbing a post. A neighbor of mine had a bobcat kill and it was easy to see the claw marks in the post he climbed up to get in. Of course now he has electric and has not had any further attacks.
 
Also make sure you tier up the electric fence meaning the lower run keep closer to the fence, the 2nd run put out about 8-10 inches fruther away from the fence and so on. A wild animal will just forward and this way you are building a bridge above them and a great deterant in the first place.
 
2 more gone today, will be rounding up fencing equip tomorrow. I figure I have about a week before the cat is back. I did move my camera and put it on a gallon of fresh milk and a gutted pig on a rope; we'll see tomorrow. Attaching a map of the farm here, and the right side is north. The west side (top of picture) is along a county road, the south and east are bordered by timber. Does anyone think it is ncecessary to run wire around the entire thing? Approximately 3000' of perimeter. Who has a solar-powered fence? I don't have a lot of options if I have to run multiple fence chargers...
 

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Mike, thanks. I'm probably going to try that tomorrow, will be anxious to get down to get the SD card out of that camera and see what the pig looks like. The only thing that might hurt me is if the cat is running a big circle like a rutting buck and I miss him on his route tonight. I don't know much about cats-or even if this is a cat situation. I have not found any proof that this is what is going on, but I know that fawns don't slip under a gate and disappear when they're used to being with their mother and other penmates. Does anyone else have any experience with big cats? I've heard they fly solo for the most part, but do they keep a tight core area, or do they travel much? Mostly nights (I'm pretty sure) but any daytime activities? Do they sleep in trees, or just eat their prey there?
 
Always very interested in info on trapping big cats. Are you wishing to trap this cat or simply remove it? My experience in S. Tx. with cats, (large bobcats, cougars) is they are very difficult to trap with a intentional set. Better odds if you set traps random in a circle around a curiosity bait. A simple chicken feather tyed to a thread and allowed to blow in the wind will attract a cat from a great distance, and that cat is concentrating on the feather, not the ground. Most cats have not had any bad experiences from this type of set and do not expect danger. A free meal to a cat is always questionable and they spend great time looking for and digging up traps set. Wish you luck, this animal will test your trapping skills and the stakes are high for both of you.
 
Checked bait/camera; not much to say. Something drank 2" of milk out of a gallon jug but I have no pictures to see what it was. The pig was unscathed, save the flies and butterflies. I'm at a loss, still no solid proof that it was a cat of any kind. No tracks, no scratched up fence posts or trees, I'm very frustrated. What really gets me is that the deer are as calm as ever; however, they usually bed in the choring area whereas they had been at the opposite ends of the pens. Purchased the fencing supplies today and going out to string up some Goucho barbed wire and the solar panel and battery are sitting in the sunlight, charging. It hurts! Whatever it is, it's picking off the fawns, the best I have. I will be combining my two pens of does and fawns, giving them the run of 4 pens, hopefully they will find a better place to lay at night and also have more room to escape if it comes to it again. Oh yeah, the doe that was injured (Goofey Blue) is showing great improvement, though still lame on a front foot. Whatever the preditor is...the deer seem to be as calm as ever, and I'm confused as ever.
 
ANTLER VALLEY said:
Mike, thanks. I'm probably going to try that tomorrow, will be anxious to get down to get the SD card out of that camera and see what the pig looks like. The only thing that might hurt me is if the cat is running a big circle like a rutting buck and I miss him on his route tonight. I don't know much about cats-or even if this is a cat situation. I have not found any proof that this is what is going on, but I know that fawns don't slip under a gate and disappear when they're used to being with their mother and other penmates. Does anyone else have any experience with big cats? I've heard they fly solo for the most part, but do they keep a tight core area, or do they travel much? Mostly nights (I'm pretty sure) but any daytime activities? Do they sleep in trees, or just eat their prey there?
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Male cougars have alot bigger territory than the she lion, like 50 miles I am told, but I never knew cougars to be indigenous to your area, so if it is in fact a cougar, then it's a pet turned loose or escaped, and the naturalness of it's habits cannot be counted on. And I believe your thinking of leopards when you wondering about the eating of their prey in the trees. So sorry to hear of your dilema. Could it be a dog or coyote ? They are extremely cunning and if your fence is like most/mine, they could easily squeeze/crawl under the fence between the posts. My fence is tight, and my posts are 18 to 22 feet apart, and I can squeeze under the fence myself, and I'm 6' 2'' 250lbs. I thought about a big boar ****, but if they are disappearing 2 at a time it kinda rules that out. Thought also about an eagle, but man one would think that would be way too much for an eagle to handle, (the fawn I had in my arms yesterday was a handful for me), and again, the 2 at a time does not fit there either. Too bad you couldn't get your hands on a road kill deer or fawn that you could use for bait for your traps/camera/GUN!!! Best of luck and keep us posted!! You got me real curious, but if it isn't a cougar, I'm guessing coyotes. They would be likely to carry them off just like what's been happening.
 
Sandridge Whitetails said:
Male cougars have alot bigger territory than the she lion, like 50 miles I am told, but I never knew cougars to be indigenous to your area, so if it is in fact a cougar, then it's a pet turned loose or escaped, and the naturalness of it's habits cannot be counted on. And I believe your thinking of leopards when you wondering about the eating of their prey in the trees. So sorry to hear of your dilema. Could it be a dog or coyote ? They are extremely cunning and if your fence is like most/mine, they could easily squeeze/crawl under the fence between the posts. My fence is tight, and my posts are 18 to 22 feet apart, and I can squeeze under the fence myself, and I'm 6' 2'' 250lbs. I thought about a big boar ****, but if they are disappearing 2 at a time it kinda rules that out. Thought also about an eagle, but man one would think that would be way too much for an eagle to handle, (the fawn I had in my arms yesterday was a handful for me), and again, the 2 at a time does not fit there either. Too bad you couldn't get your hands on a road kill deer or fawn that you could use for bait for your traps/camera/GUN!!! Best of luck and keep us posted!! You got me real curious, but if it isn't a cougar, I'm guessing coyotes. They would be likely to carry them off just like what's been happening.
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Thanks for your thoughts on it. First of all, let me say that I was incorrect-those two fawns thought to be missing two days ago I found yesterday while doing chores. I thought I had walked the pens thoroughly but apparently they either swung around me or laid low enough that I didn't see them (it was just about dark).



As for what you were saying about lions not being indigenous-there was a mountain lion killed by a car north of KC about 5 or 6 years ago, last year there was one killed by a cattle farmer near Hardin, MO, and another this year in Linn County, MO. To my knowledge there have been 4 sightings of cats in my county this year alone, all being from some pretty credible reputations. South of the river in the next county over, a farmer was losing his calves and was finding them 8-10' off the ground and spread over the limbs of trees.



I don't think a **** would have scratched up the doe like she was. By the way, she's on her way to a full recovery now. I really don't think that an eagle is to blame, because I don't see them around here unless it is winter time, and they're much closer to the river (usually). Here is a link on youtube where an eagle takes down a fawn. It isn't the video I was looking for-there is another one somewhere on there that shows witness to an eagle actually picking a fawn up off the ground two or three times before it is finally able to take flight.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adfk_RSndb4
 
ANTLER VALLEY said:
Thanks for your thoughts on it. First of all, let me say that I was incorrect-those two fawns thought to be missing two days ago I found yesterday while doing chores. I thought I had walked the pens thoroughly but apparently they either swung around me or laid low enough that I didn't see them (it was just about dark).



As for what you were saying about lions not being indigenous-there was a mountain lion killed by a car north of KC about 5 or 6 years ago, last year there was one killed by a cattle farmer near Hardin, MO, and another this year in Linn County, MO. To my knowledge there have been 4 sightings of cats in my county this year alone, all being from some pretty credible reputations. South of the river in the next county over, a farmer was losing his calves and was finding them 8-10' off the ground and spread over the limbs of trees.



I don't think a **** would have scratched up the doe like she was. By the way, she's on her way to a full recovery now. I really don't think that an eagle is to blame, because I don't see them around here unless it is winter time, and they're much closer to the river (usually). Here is a link on youtube where an eagle takes down a fawn. It isn't the video I was looking for-there is another one somewhere on there that shows witness to an eagle actually picking a fawn up off the ground two or three times before it is finally able to take flight.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adfk_RSndb4
Click to expand...



Yeah, I forgot all about the doe getting scratched up. I didn't watch the video, but does the eagle take one as old and big as what yours are at this time of year?
 

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