Anyone with horses had to cope with a cougar in the area?

Question

We're buying a property that has a cougar in residence. This is a big place with plenty of deer, but still, we have livestock.

Ranch has been vacant for many years, will he simply move out when it becomes active again?

If not, what can I do for precautions to keep the peace between him and us? And don't say shoot him, not going to happen unless he's attacking in my barnyard. Anyone co-existing with a big cat??? :) All suggestions welcome. (Except shooting him... LOL)

Answer 1

You can have fish and wildlife come and relocate him, they will tranquilize him and take him somewhere safe away from people. We had a lynx in our back trees, he would even watch us get on the bus and stuff, but he never bothered our dogs and they never bothered it, and it eventually just moved away. We didn't have livestock though.

Answer 2

if it starts bothering you and your family just tell your parents to call animal control they can help

Answer 3

Actually, we have had a problem with Mt. Lions where I live.  And they are beautiful to see.  As well as the bobcats down the road.  

Being a little nervous for my horses, I bought a big German Shepherd, and did not get him neutered, and with the help from my first dog a female Collie/Chow mix, we have not had problems with coyotes, bobcats, mt. lions, or bears.  The dogs bark, and scare them away.  No animal wants to work that hard for it's food.  I definately recommend a big dog, outside where all the wild animals can smell him.  haha.

Hope this helps you.

Answer 4

I wouldn't like it. Especially if you have foals, and calf's running the pasture at night night. Night is when Cats love to hunt, they sleep most of the day.

Where we once lived, we had a mountain lion cat in the neighbor hood, and, you could see him watching us during the day on a large rock, but when he started watching my than five year old Son. It was time to move.

I just don't think it's a good idea.

It makes me wonder why the other people have left.

Answer 5

Unfortunately, we have a large panther.  He killed two 550# llamas one night.  It was horrible.  I called wildlife and there was no assistance for us.  They asked me if I got a "picture" so they could identify him.  Morons!!!  There is no type of deterrent as far as I can find.  I have an over the top electric fence around my property to help with wildlife but they just jump clear.  We have had some small animals - mostly cats - go missing but the llamas were the only large animal effected so far.  This is a wild animal, there is no establishment of boundries or peace.  If he is hungry, he will seek food.  We have destroyed the natural habitat of these animals so now we have them in our back yard.  It is terrible for them and dangerous for us and our families.  After the deaths of the llamas, we were all very afraid and apprehensive and helpless.  Good luck to you.

Answer 6

I live in an area with cougar, bob cats, coyotes and bears they've never been a problem, however about 40 miles away there was a gal who got mauled by a bear because of a 37,000 acre wild fire.  

When my horses were on the Central  California Coast back a few years ago, we had a cougar who came through the back part of our stable steering clear of people and horses.  But that's as close as he got or that any one of them have gotten to any of my livestock.

Where I'm at now, there are bob cat and the owner of the facility killed one after it mauled about 1/2 her chickens and geese.  (She shot it).  She's heard rumors about a cougar being close (Across the highway.), but has never seen one on her property.

I believe that as long as they can hunt their natural prey, they should leave your livestock and such alone.  Just don't give them anything easy to grab and run off with.

Answer 7

Yes I have...

They are all over our area.  I've watched one cross my driveway while I was driving up to the house.

I do recommend large dogs for the yard or porch.  We have found that a single dog gets more 'scared' and will hide as opposed to having a 'pack' mentality and facing danger when there are at least two of them.  Intact males are the best.

Cougars love kitty cats.  Icky...but true.  If you have them...put 'cat' doors in your sheds and outbuildings, garage, house, where ever... for escape routes.  We just cut small squares in the buildings...no doors or flaps on them.

Bring young or small livestock in before dusk.  Turn out when sun is up.  We had one stalk a mare and young foal.  We actually turned the garage into a stall until the foal was weaned.  The cougar moved his 'stalking' to about 30 yards behind the garage...right next to the house.

If we heard the dogs sound off...we would go outside and shoot into the air in the direction the dogs were looking.  Spotlighting too.

Motion spotlights are good.  The sesitivity can be set to go off when something larger than a dog or coyote crosses in front of it.  They don't care for those.

Do not go walking about at night without dogs or by yourselves.

A donkey is a wonderful investment.  They have no tolerance for coyotes or cougars...but you will need to watch your own dogs around them.  They don't seem to differentiate between dogs and coyotes.  I've never had trouble with full grown and healthy horses.  But have had an attack on an aged mare.  [She might have been laying down to sleep...no one knows...but she was able to escape with relatively minor injuries from tooth and claws.]

This is going to sound weird...but have your husband urinate around the property.  Yours won't work...ha ha..if you wanted to squat around your property!!  It's the testosterone in male urine that 'marks' territory lines.  My husband does it...and I don't have any that come into the yard...that we've been able to detect.  Sounds funny...but it works.  Hunters use it to 'protect' deer kills when they can't move all the meat at one time.  Or survivalists use it to surround their sleeping areas.  One more reason for intact male dogs who 'mark' their territory.

Be aware and learn to look for signs that he is in your area.  Males can have a 100-200 mile radius territory.  Will be a smaller area when there are several cougars in the area.  If you have a natural water source...pay attention to where the cougar may be coming to drink.  Avoid that spot when alone and do not remain in a crouched position for periods of time.  That body language seems to 'urge' cougars to attack.  Think of it...you are 'small' and appear to have a back like a small deer or the like.  And if you're not aware...I have heard that is the position that many people are in, when they are jumped.

If you see him watching you...GET BIG!  Arms up and waving, yelling in an aggressive tone.  Use your shirt [no time for modesty here] and hold it between your upraised arms.  Look as big and aggressive as possible.  And hold your ground facing the cat.  Back away slowly and carefully.  You don't want to fall down.  DO NOT turn and run.  You will trigger the 'prey drive'.  Back away and continue to be big and mean until he leaves or you can safely get out of the way. DO NOT RUN AWAY while he is looking.

Personally...we carry guns.  I know you don't want that...but if things go wrong...the bullets will stop them long before my yelling and being big will.  We do prefer to drive them off...but are prepared if one won't.

Sorry for the 'novel.'  We deal with this all the time....

Answer 8

I worked at a ranch that had cougers, bears etc. and there never was a problem with the horses or cattle. They did have two large dogs and made sure not to put sick or injured animals alone in a pasture away from the barn. If in a group or near humans they just don't seem to bother, unless it's a major drought and there's no more prey..

Answer 9

No i don't really have any experence with them. I don't think he'll move out because he'll know he has easy food. Track his area when the livestock arent there( because he'll want to get closer to them) see where his perimiter is and put electric fencing around it

Answer 10

If you have full grown horses, he probably won't bother them. Make sure you have a safe run in area for your horses where they can run to if they are frightened. If you have foals, keep them in close. Especially at night. You can get a donkey, they are known for keeping predators away. A few years ago, during the drought, some cougars crossed the Missouri River and attacked livestock. One had an encounter with our horses. It must have gone after our boss mare's foal. It must have had a fight on its hands. The mare must have come out on top. We found her with a huge bite taken out of her upper leg and she had deep scratches down her back and hind quarters. Our vet said it had to have been a cougar. She looked terrible but she survived and today you can't tell it ever happened. The cougar didn't get her foal either. The cougar picked the meanest mare we have to attack.

Answer 11

We have the same problem with Mountain lions. I recommend bringing your animals up towards the house at night. And also, donkeys will keep practically anything away, from coyotes to large cats. Currently we have a rehab mt. lion that lives on the back 40 in the woods. We make sure that his creek never runs dry so he has plenty of water, also, the local dairies have been a big help in supplying us with their dead cattle. It saves them money and assures that the cat won't be running after any of my stock.

Answer 12

you can buy a big dog first but if that doesnt work thank you need to relocate if you have kids cause were i live many kids have died cause of them but if he comes back and you do have kids i would start thinking HARD about shooting him