Yahoo Finance Sherman the Border Collie Survives Terrifying Mountain Lion Attack Inside California Home: Watch!
KRON 4
Sherman the border collie has survived a terrifying mountain lion attack at its home in Sonoma County, California.
Owner Rebecca Kracker shared a video to Facebook of the vicious attack, telling the story of how the family pet was dragged out of its home by the neck late last month when the wild cat suddenly struck.
"I yelled and had my other two large dogs next to me barking and growling, yet our presence and noise did not phase the mountain lion," Kracker wrote about the attack, which began at 5:55 p.m. on the night of Nov. 28.
Initially, Kracker heard her dog yelp and growl from another room. When she found her pet, she wrote that she thought he was "convulsing" and having a seizure, before rushing to his aid and discovering the mountain lion.
"I had the thought process that I needed to close the door between us as, at this point, we were about 2 feet from the mountain lion with no barrier between us," added Kracker in her Facebook post.
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After calling her cousin and beginning to film the event, Kracker called her neighbor who brought over a gun and took a shot at the cat — but missed.
"It did make the mountain lion run off… as did Sherman!," wrote Kracker. "We were stunned to see him immediately jump to his feet and run off, confused."
"My neighbor followed the direction of the mountain lion, and I corralled my dog back into the safety of my house, where I examined him for certain injuries. Miraculously he was not wounded except for a small wound on his lip. He was shocky and barely responsive for several hours, but every time I checked on him, he would wag his tail to let me know he was okay."
This mountain lion entered a house in Sonoma County
and dragged a dog by its neck into the backyard. Amazingly, the dog survived. (Video courtesy Ron Crane) pic.twitter.com/xSuqR6fWXm— Amy Larson (@AmyLarson25) December 7, 2022
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Kracker then met with California Fish and Wildlife, who confirmed they were within their legal right to do what they did. She also wrote that the department advised her to take her dogs out as infrequently as possible.
It turned out to be good advice: around 8:30 p.m. that same night, Kracker wrote that the lion appeared in the backyard on her neighbor's side of the fence when she took the dogs outside, thinking the coast was clear.
Her family saw the cat again around 9:45 pm, she added, when they finally left her house. The following day, the mountain lion reportedly killed two goats on the property before it was euthanized by state wildlife biologists, per KRON.
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Audubon Canyon Ranch noted that the euthanized lion displayed uncommon behavior and was "unusually old" — a P1 female cougar who was about 16 years old. KRON reported that the animal was collared and tracked by ACR's Living with Lions project for eight years.
"Clearly, something was wrong with P1," wrote the project's principal investigator Dr. Quinton Martins. "She was very old for a mountain lion which may have led to issues related to aging including tooth wear, slowed responses, weakened senses and possibly other health issues. In recent weeks, she was more willing to put herself near human activity with people having frequent sightings of her, as well as feeding almost exclusively on livestock, all of which is very unusual behavior."
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The project will continue to track mountain lion movements in the area and assist residents as they coexist with the cats, per KRON.
Neighbor Ron Crane told the station that it "could have easily have been a kid" that the lion killed, given that their primary source of food in California is deer and "the deer are dwindling."
"I'm 49, and when I was in high school, there were no sightings," Crane added. "The [cougar] population was not as big as it is now."
Thankfully, Sherman the dog did not suffer any serious wounds in the attack, per KRON.
