crazy idea but with so many exotics in Texas any chance it's not a mountain lion but some african cat escaped ??? I'd go with the cheap game camera,, get some pics and let the fish and game boys capture it

My thought for BIG cats,wolves and bears control.

Have 3 Hunters. First one with a Benelli M4 loaded with RUBBER buck. Tag teamed with 2 hunters with REAL buck shot.

Now this team locate every damn Cat,Wolf and Bear and unload the Benelli full of RUBBER buck on the animal. If that doesnt make the animal flee then the other two take the animal out. I'm pretty sure that all of the educated creatures will avoid any contact with people!

That takes time though..... I bet bill doesn't wanna wait too long, this thing is HUNTING in his yard. Not just hanging out, but actively hunting.

My wife is fairly certain it was a mountain lion, my mom also saw it this morning as well. They both said that it was solid tan with a black ring at the tip of it's tail. They said the tail was about as big around as your wrist.

Both times the cat was seen, it was hunting at about 10-10:30am. Coming out of the brush line into the wide open field after squirrel. What was weird about today is that you hear life going on around you (people mowing/weed eating their yards) and this thing is coming out to hunt.

As much as I hate to do it, I think that I will have to lure this thing out and shoot it. The 12ga buck shot will probably be the safest round to use in this area (I would only be shooting at about 25yds so I don't want anything that will carry to far with much knock down power)

And I haven't heard any coyotes in the area for a few weeks as well... also the Javelina haven't been coming into the yard for about the same amount of time. Now that I think about it, the skunk that had been plaguing me hasn't made himself known in a while...

Sounds like a "dude hold my beer, watch this" moment in the making.

In all sincerity, please don't we like you and would miss having you around.

Sounds like it's depleting the area of food sources.

If it's down to squirrels now it'll probably move on fairly soon.

Or move on to more domesticated sources....

Aka the neighbors kiddos...

lol thanks, I think for our safety probably the best thing to do is just shoot it. My wife said that the cat was big enough to definitely kill her and/or my mother. She said that she would not be letting the girls walk down the road to the bus stop in the mornings any longer.


I will tell you what is really strange about all of this and I have goosebumps on my arms as I am typing this.... I have not even spoken about this to my wife.

We moved up here from the valley about July of last year... I did not know about this property or how it looked before moving here...

I know that sometime prior to us moving I had posted about a cougar encounter that I had at the state park here. Around March or April I had one of those premonition type dreams that really shake you up and can remember them fairly well...

Well to make a long story short, I had dreamed that I was walking down a caliche road next to a lake and that out of nowhere jumped a large cat at me. The cat didn't grab onto me or anything, it just went to my left side and sat down and watched me. A second cat jumped from the same area as the first and took hold of me on the right side of my neck. I remember grabbing this cat by the mouth and pushing him back while he clawed onto me. I remember screaming for help at the top of my lungs. I woke up in a sweat and was traumatized from the dream even though I know it was not real... What was eerie though is that I moved to a lake, my house is on a caliche road and we are surrounded by brush line... gulp!....

So, if you trap this cat, where do you plan on releasing it? Do you know how big of a range they have? Let it go ten miles form your place and it'll probably show right back up.

If you do shoot this one, it won't permanently solve your problem. The other animals will move back and then since this territory is now open, another cat may move in.

As SM said, it'll probably move on shortly. We have them around here as well as bobcats. You learn to live with them . :)

I've been tracked by one once. That is scary! Northern Cali, in the desert, hunting for arrowheads. There was virtually no brush for it to hide in and I have no idea how long it was tracking us, but we were sifting through dirt under an overhang at some sandstone formation and when I moved back out into the open, I saw the cat above us. Having them turn back and stare at you is nothing. Means they know you are there and most likely will leave you alone. :)

If I capture it, I would probably hold it for the game wardens to deal with.

Yep, I agree with this as well...


Hey Dave, Check your PM's here in a minute.

Responded.

There was another time when I was a teen and my best friend at the time were playing in the one of the canyons in the Santa Monica Mtns. where we lived (still do). It was Spring and the stream was flowing. We came across a mother and two cubs. Fortunately she didn't seem to care about us, but we got pretty close. Cool creatures. My dad had a friend that had one as pet for many years. Raised from a cub. As it grew, fewer people could be around it, until it was only him. It was let out on a room from time to time, but as an adult, it obliterated all the furniture in the room. He finally had to give the cat up to a sanctuary.

Animals in dreams are thought to represent instincts. Innate drives you have. Our innate drives sometimes victimize us.

This kitty has perhaps made lunch out of the available cats and dogs in the area. This is a very efficient predator. I am surprised it is allowing itself to be seen.

Nice work, Dave. :)

Thanks, but sadly, the cat will probably have to be dispatched. In Cali, the cats are protected, though not endangered and are plentiful, but if they come into contact with people on a regular basis, they are shot by DFG. They feel that once it has been in close contact, the cat will no longer fear humans and may cause problems, as well, the cats that do hang around people are usually diseased. Normal mountain lions really do stay away from people. There have been only 6 fatalities in Cali, since about 1890 and only 16(14?) reported attacks. Texas has a hunting season for the big cats.

:(

We've had "Kitty" move into our backyard. I believe "she" (smaller size) is an escapee from the local large cat rescue, the state said it was a larger domesticated cat.

Kitty has no fear of humans. She walked not 50 yards from me and our brave Belgian (she ran back for the house at top flight speed) and watched me the entire trip. I had pictures somewhere. Anyway, she has tracks that are about 3" X 3 1/2". I've tracked her, she has tracked me.

All the stray dogs are gone! Coyotes do NOT come around anymore. The Bobcats are still coming through but there are no squirrels, rabbits, skunks, possums but we saw the first coon in over year last weekend.

If the cat is not bothering you, why bother it? Unless this cat was released from private ownership it likely wants nothing to do with you. Of course, I do carry a .45 when I am out and about just in case Kitty decides to change our living arrangement agreeement.

I'm not sure where in Texas you are, but a coworker who lives near Kerrville came to work a couple of years ago with a picture of a mountain lion looking at him through his back door. I grew up in the hill country and don't remember there being any of those even 10-15 years ago.

Maybe he was just being bullied by the other cougars so he moved closer to your neighborhood. Show some compassion Bill. :)

We've got lots of cougars in our neighborhood. They tend to go after the younger guys and pretty much leave me alone. ;)