Mountain lions and your dog

Mountain lions and your dog

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
If you've got your favorite hunting dog, watch out. I was talking with Fish and Game Officer Terry Thompson about a rash of dog killings by mountain lions recently and wondered why that would happen? From personal experience, I know that mountain lions can be very cagey and will even go after a human prey, but dogs, particularly hunting dogs who are aware of nature and its challenges.

“Wildlife is opportunistic. And I would say definitely mountain lions are an opportunistic predator. A couple of these dogs were not small by any means, in the 70 pound plus range. But if a cat just happens to be in proximity, the dog presents itself. Beyond that, none of these were witnessed in terms of the actual attack itself. So it would be conjecture on my part to try to characterize that interaction. You know, of was it strictly an ambush or did the dog pursue the cat? I can't say. It's really hard to say why they're taking dogs other than it's just an opportunity to potentially go after food. Mountain lions don't know when the next meal is coming, so something presents itself. It may take that opportunity. So keep that hunting dog hunting, as opposed to being hunted.

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