Mountain lion?

Question

Okay,

My horse was out in a pasture with two other horses for about a week. We were going to put them in pasture during the day, and bring them into stalls during the night, but we didn't have stalls available at that time so we just kept them in the pasture.

There have been mountain lions sighted in the area, and supposedly all the animals are coming down from the woods (our ranch has woods behind it, and the trail leads from our ranch to other ranches and roads is surrounded in trees) to go to the trail. Our pasture was right on top of the hill right next to the trail (you could open the gate from the pasture and you'd be on the trail), so anyway, I came out to ride my horse and she had these marks on her chest on her body. They were in a perfect claw mark, and everyone who has looked at it has said that it was probably a mountain lion.) I guess she could be mistaken for a deer in the dark, because she is a bay and is *very* fine-boned. Continued in additional details.

Answer 1

if you have barb wire it could been that and she would have tumbled over the mountian lion and would have deep gashes

Answer 2

Do you give your horse vaccinations regularly? if you give the standared 5 way or 6 way it includes tetanus and your horse should be covered.  I would watch it and see if it shows signs of infection: redness, swelling, fever.  I would clean it thoroughly and put a topical antibacterial agent on it and keep an eye on it before I called the vet.  It I would think if it were a mountain lion there would be more damage than just a claw mark - like teeth marks or worse.  Chances are it is scratches from either a fence, other horses rather than a mountain lion.

Answer 3

just make sure she has all her vaccs up to date most importanlt rabies!

even though rabies is only transfered by saliva and not a claw mark... but stil make sure her vaccs are up to date

and make sure it's not infected!

thats a little scary.. haha the horses taking on the mountain lions

but why would she just have one claw mark?

Answer 4

we had a scare yesterday about a lion (not a mountain lion but an African lion) being loose in my area.three families said they saw it so all the ranchers were on high alert sitting in their pickups in the pasture with their high powered rifles and long range binoculars,helicopters flying overhead and enough law enforcement it looked like a convetion but no African lion was found (middle of the high prairie,no trees).as for your horse you should probably have someone give it an antibiotic shot and update the other shots to be on the safe side.when you live by the woods you assume certain risks involving livestock and wildlife.more than likely the mountain lion wont be back due to the injuries it probably recieved but you need to alert the department of wildlife in your area so they have a record of the attack and may be able to relocate the mountain lion.due to the drought and encroachment on their territory a lot of wildlife have been searching for easier eats.

Answer 5

could be, better safe than sorry, call the vet , and keep it cleaned out in the mean time, good luck

Answer 6

Feline scratches tend to get infected easily.  The possibility of the other horses scratches could have been result of defending her.  I would have a vet check out your horse just to be on the safe side.  Afraid that there might be bacteria under the skin and left untreated your horse will have a bad infection.

Answer 7

ya, sounds like a mountine lion. i think u should get a vet incase of some damage that u cant see on the inside

Answer 8

I think Jeff, Kevin, and most of the others here are correct- this was indeed a lion attack, and you are very lucky your mare wasn't killed by the lion. Mountain lions are one of the 3 main predators of horses in the wild- and they are the reason why horses evolved with long manes. Their favorite hunting technique is one which involves ambush- they love to jump off something, like a tree, a large boulder, or a cliff, and since you mention that your property is on the top of a wooded hill, there were undoubtedly plenty of places in those woods for the lion to hide. When a lion jumps like that, its intention is to land on the horse's back, and kill the animal by biting through the spinal cord at the top of the skull, near the ears or poll. Horses evolved long manes which have no nerves in them for protection against this- the hair comes away easily, and because there are no nerves, the horse feels no pain and can react defensively by bucking, running, and rearing to get the lion off. All the lion usually gets in most cases is a mouthful of horsehair and a good sharp kick for her trouble ( most of the lions which live closest to people are usually females, and more often than not, they have cubs which must be fed) and she doesn't get to enjoy much of a meal.

As far as caring for your mare goes, the thing to remember about claw marks is that they get infected and fester easily- which is why you need to keep that mark thoroughly clean and covered with a topical antibiotic- and why you need to make sure your mare is current on her tetanus and rabies shots. Also, from now on, you need to keep your horses inside at night- mountain lions' preferred hunting time is during the night or in the very early morning. Lastly, I agree with what a couple of the others said in that you need to alert the wildlife authorities in your area about a possible lion attack, and let your neighbors know about this as well, so they can be on the alert and protect their stock. If you or your neighbors have dogs ( and what ranch owner doesn't?) then you need to keep THEM inside at night too, so they don't get killed by a marauding lion.

Good luck to you, and I hope your mare heals up well.

Answer 9

Coming from northern Nevada, there are plenty of mountain lions. I live in south Texas now and we have one that roams our bottom pasture. I have had to deal with these ornery cats a few times. Luckily we have not had them go after a full grown horse of ours(We have been lucky).

As a rule mountain lions will not go after a horse. But with any rule they can be broken, especially with animal. And it does sound like a lion attack. I don't think the lion miss took your horse for a deer. Unless you have some monster sized deer around you, deer will weigh about 500lbs less than a horse on average, even the big ones. What possibly happened is the lion was either young or starving. A mountain lion are not dumb animals(normally), they don't like loosing any hide to get a meal, and a horse can put up quite a fight.

I have personally seen a herd mare from a mustang herd kill a lion in the wild(we where lucky, while we watched the migrations). I would call animal control or your local forestry service to deal with the lion. And try to keep you horse close by the barn for a while, and get your horse checked by a vet quick because the wounds will get infected quickly.

Luck its not a good thing to deal with.

Answer 10

If it was a mountain liion it was not a case of mistaken identity the lion went after horse flesh.  

A lion attack tends to be distinct.  The cat generally leaps on the horses back so claw marks on the chest would start low and be torn towards the whithers.  Since the claws are hooked the deep end of the tear if the claw caught would be towards the whithers.  Of course if the claw did not catch ond hold then both ends may be shallow.

You can get a tetanus shot for them.  But if I remember it needs to be given within 24 hours for maximum effectiveness.

What the standard 5 or 6 way has depends on what 5 or 6 way you get.  Make sure it has tetanus.  One more thing to check is to check on local rabies levels.  This is the time of year that rabies cases often spike.

EDIT

One more thing.  Cats have 4 toes on each foot (except for those domestic breeds which have 5 and 6) so four parallel claw marks.  And yes you need to alert the authorities to a possible lion attack.  It is not unheard of that a lion that is hungry enough to take on a horse to become hungry enough to take on a human.  This is especially true in California and other areas where hunting them is not allowed.