A Sonoma County family said a mountain lion killed two animals on their property and then attacked their dog.
The big cat was caught on camera by Rebecca Kracker the Monday after Thanksgiving at her home in a more rural part of Santa Rosa.
She said she heard one of her dogs, Sherman, cry out then saw the mountain lion dragging Sherman away.
“I think I started with absolute shock, never thought that would happen,” she Kracker. “Then panic, going ‘what do I do?’”
She first called her cousin, who fired a gun that scared away the mountain lion. Then they retrieved the dog who, surprisingly, was not seriously hurt.
But, they say, the mountain lion kept coming back.
“And she stood up and hissed and growled, again, and threatened us, so we went back inside the rest of the night,” said Kracker.
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During that time, she said the mountain lion killed two goats in their barn.
Kracker said State Fish And Wildlife gave her guidance, and a local animal group Living With Lions told her it has been tracking this 16-year-old lion.
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They also said while the older cat was still strong, it had lost most of its teeth.
Two days later, a trapper connected with the wildlife agency came and killed the lion.
Kracker said she felt sad about it.
“I feel like I was protecting the community by putting this animal out of her misery,” she said. “She was not fit to live in the wild anymore without teeth.”
Living With Lions agreed. It said on its Facebook post that while sad, “lethal removal” was the “right course of action”, pointing out the lion’s age as well as declining health accounted for its unusual behavior of feeding exclusively on livestock and putting herself near humans.
