Mountain lion in the area

[secuono]

How many of you, with sheep or goats, have dealt with mountain lions seen in your area or personally on your property & stalking?

Someone posted that one was seen nearby a few days ago.

Live-in fox has been stealing dog & cat food the last month or so. LGD doesn't seem to care much. Fox poops all over. So, I wonder if my dog would bother to notice the cat...

It's not like he's attached to the sheep, none of them ever were. IDK how you get a dog to follow sheep all over the land w/o physically tying it to a sheep! They do nothing but sleep anyway...Maybe GP is the wrong breed, sure is too hairy.

Anyway, any alternatives to keep the big cat away?


Do not recommend donkeys nor llamas. Never going to happen.

 

[Baymule]

A year ago, a cougar was in my neighborhood. It killed 5 goats less than a mile away. That lady had donkeys for guards. I’m sure the donkeys told the goats, “I don’t have to be faster than the cougar, I just have to be faster than you!”

We had at that time, 2 Great Pyrenees, 1 Great Dane/Labrador and 1 Anatolian/Great Pyrenees cross. The cougar was on property next to us screaming late one night, all our dogs were going nuts. Another night it was close to the back of our property, the dogs were barking like crazy. The cougar was in our area for several weeks. It did not come on our property. I put the Sheep up nightly in a lot with a lean to roof. It is not secure against predators, but it makes it easier for the dogs to guard.

We also have heavy coyote presence, they have come up to the fence, but never come in.

The Anatolian cross is bonded to the Sheep, the Pyrenees are not. I had the Pyrenees before I got sheep. We now have an Anatolian pup that the Anatolian cross is training.

 

[River Buffaloes]

The Livestock Guardian Dogs are no use for us. They can perhaps chase away the jackals, but tigers and leopards are a different story altogether. Luckily for us tigers tend to stay in the reserve, once in a while young males tend to wander off and loose their way, then a big search is organised and the young males are captured and relocated in a different forest. They sometimes kill an occasional cow or buffalo who graze in the reserve. I have lost two cows and one buffalo to tigers so far, but I have seen them perhaps only ten or so times.

The leopards do come in the village, but they go mostly after dogs. They leave the goats and take the dog. The dogs don't even see them coming. There are more leopards than tigers here, but I have seen them only twice, she was a young female.

 

[Baymule]

@River Buffaloes you do have some bigger cats than our cougars. Cougars here have been known to kill the LGD's and they also eat dogs. The LGD's biggest defense is loud barking to warn away predators. If a predator is injured in a fight, it cannot hunt and will go hungry, if not starve, depending on the severity of it's wounds. This is usually enough to make the predator move on to easier pickings where it doesn't have to fight to secure a meal.

So far, the only predator that has come over the fence was a bobcat. We were gone and had the dogs in pastures up to the sheep barn on 3 sides. The Great Dane/Labrador cross was left in the yard, on the 4th side of the sheep barn. At 8 PM a neighbor texted us and said that our dogs were raising a ruckus and he walked to the fence to see what was the cause, saw nothing and went back to his house. At 10 PM, another neighbor drove over to see what the dogs were barking at, saw nothing and went home. At 1:30 AM, yet another neighbor heard the dogs having a barking fit and he drove over to see about it. He stepped out of his truck at our front gate with a headlamp on and saw our Great Dane/Labrador cross had a bobcat cornered against our stock trailer. The dog, distracted, turned his head to the gate, the bobcat saw his chance and ran. The dog chased him to the fence. We had a 3 day old lamb that would have made a tasty meal for the bobcat, but our dogs were on the job.

 

[River Buffaloes]

@River Buffaloes you do have some bigger cats than our cougars. Cougars here have been known to kill the LGD's and they also eat dogs. The LGD's biggest defense is loud barking to warn away predators. If a predator is injured in a fight, it cannot hunt and will go hungry, if not starve, depending on the severity of it's wounds. This is usually enough to make the predator move on to easier pickings where it doesn't have to fight to secure a meal.

So far, the only predator that has come over the fence was a bobcat. We were gone and had the dogs in pastures up to the sheep barn on 3 sides. The Great Dane/Labrador cross was left in the yard, on the 4th side of the sheep barn. At 8 PM a neighbor texted us and said that our dogs were raising a ruckus and he walked to the fence to see what was the cause, saw nothing and went back to his house. At 10 PM, another neighbor drove over to see what the dogs were barking at, saw nothing and went home. At 1:30 AM, yet another neighbor heard the dogs having a barking fit and he drove over to see about it. He stepped out of his truck at our front gate with a headlamp on and saw our Great Dane/Labrador cross had a bobcat cornered against our stock trailer. The dog, distracted, turned his head to the gate, the bobcat saw his chance and ran. The dog chased him to the fence. We had a 3 day old lamb that would have made a tasty meal for the bobcat, but our dogs were on the job.

Sometimes in the middle of the night all the stray dogs just start barking and making a rukus, then we just know that they have seen 'something'.

However I would suggest that the best option is to build a strong and secure shelter for animals to spend their nights. Great outdoors is a dangerous place for a herd of defenseless and vulnerable animal like goats and sheep.

In India tribes are allowed to live in forests if they were living there before that forest was declared a 'wildlife sanctuary', 'national park' or a 'nature reserve'. If a person gets married to someone who is allowed to live in such forests, he/she is allowed to live with his/her spouse. But they are not allowed to dig foundations more than 3 feet deep, they are not allowed to build houses more than two storeys, they are not allowed to use concrete, they are not allowed to use steel. Some of these tribes are herders and live with some very dangerous animals. Like Maldhari tribe who lives in and around Gir National Park. Gir is literally overflowing with lions. The tribals make a circular enclosure entirely made of acacia branches stacked in a pile with a ''gate'' also made from acacia. They have to be very when they remove the gate. It's 100% lion proof.

 

[thistlebloom]

Mountain lions are careful to move around unseen, so they are probably more present than you are aware of. We begin to notice their presence when they kill livestock. Around here they are pretty much a constant we live with.
For the most part they haven't targeted livestock, at least not so much that you hear about it frequently. We had one that the neighbors took a picture of lying in their driveway about 5 years ago, and two years ago another neighbor saw tracks in the snow behind their barn.
We did have one that attacked some Boer goats in a pasture several months ago. I think the best defense against a cat would be like River Buffaloes suggested, locking them in a barn at night, and getting a better LGD that will bond with them.

We also have wolves, coyotes and black and grizzly bear, but other than the coyotes they also don't advertise their presence. Maybe because we also have a large population of hunters?

 

[Baymule]

I think if I lived in India in one of those parks, under those strict building rules, surrounded by lions, I would feel like cat food. LOL

 

[MoreAU]

We had some sort of bobcat or cougar around here last winter. I know it tried to take some sheep because of the gashes that formed an abscess on Harry's neck. Harry is a young Pyrenees, barely a year old then, when he fought & ran it off. It didn't get a meal so I don't think it has returned. Back then I had 2 Pyrenees in the night pen with the sheep. I lost my older Pyrenees Gracie, a sweet girl, to cancer this week. I hope it doesn't come back and realize there's a half the barking that there use to be, but I have no doubt that if it does Harry will do his best to drive it off again.

 

[Mini Horses]

So sorry about Gracie. But, Harry sure sounds up to the task!

Maybe a partner would be good for him to train and be back up.

Here, we don't have the "big" cats. Although I have personally seen one bobcat, maybe 10 yrs ago. The neighbor says he has gotten one on his critter cam -- so at least one around....maybe more. Do have coyote -- being thinned out -- and the Great Dismal Swamp is about 30 miles from me. There is a decent group of black bear there on the park. Occasionally a couple wander this way but, not too often. I've only see 2 in 20 yrs and both were at check in stations. Both young males. Closest was taken about 10 miles out, toward the GDS area. Not really wanting any to visit me!

Fox are my most frequent predator. They love a good chicken dinner! Found an obvious active den a couple yrs back behind my farm. Neighbor cleared that out!

 

[secuono]

I've been looking on n off the last year for another LGD. FB has made it difficult, though.
Need hip/elbow tested parents, for the love of sanity it must be short haired, any color, any LGD breed mixes or pure, prefers to stick to stock/not hide in barn or run off to chase, male, living with sheep/goats full time on lots of land, not registered & 3-4mo old. Possibly a little older.