Local Pet Killed By Mountain Lion

Another local pet has fallen prey to a mountain lion, the second attack within a week on pets in the Swan Valley area.

Officials believe the same mountain lion and its two young cubs are responsible for both attacks.

The most recent happened just a few houses down from where the attack happened on Friday.In this latest case, the dog was let out for just a few minutes at night to go to the bathroom. The family took all the right precautions but unfortunately it was a matter of bad timing, authorities said.

The cats have been spotted quite a bit recently lounging on decks and near the river.

They are not shy and since they have become accustomed to being around humans, Idaho Fish and Game has hired Hound Hunters to track the cats and, depending on the situation, they will either dart and relocate, or have to put the animals down.

But it won’t be an easy job.

“Officers are investigating what is going on, but cats are very hard to work because they spend most of their time out at night moving around,” said Gregg Losinski, Regional Wildlife Conservation Education.

“It’s just something we have to do when animals have shown that they’re not afraid of people or have become have become habitual to food that is related to humans,” said Losinski.

One of the big concerns for folks in Swan Valley is a school in the same area where the cougars have been spotted.

Officials said the cats aren’t interested in humans, and, in fact, they are afraid of them.

Pets are a different story.

In order to protect your pets, especially smalls dogs, when you let them out at night make sure you stay with them, leave the light on and make noise to let the mountain lions know you’re there.