TripleDeuce660
Active member
I took the dog out running at night to a spot I go to all the time here in southern CA. Its right on the edge of the city with houses around it but backs up to a huge area of wilderness. I have seen a cougar not far from there many years ago and there are always coyote.
So it had just rained and was cold, very rare around here so I had to get my dog out for some of the best scent conditions of the year. She had circled a few rabbits. There was a long check so I called her back and we walked down into a gully where I always run the dog its loaded with rabbit. Its about 100 yards across and flat on the bottom and the walls of the gully are about 25 feet high. The brush is VERY thick.
I walk out to the middle of the flat area and point to the thick stuff and tell the dog to hunt rabbit. She gets to my feet and picks up a scent and starts baying. She gets into a big bush about 20 yards away . Suddenly I hear this horrible sound. I didn't know if it was the dog being attacked or I thought maybe she caught the rabbit and the rabbit way crying. The dog immediately comes running back to me still baying but tail down. I still dont' know whats going on at this point. I look the dog over with a flashlight she seems ok.
I start to walk with the dog to the other side of the gully and head back to the truck. I get about 10 feet and I see eyes on the ridge looking at us. They are all lit up with the flash light. For about 5 minutes I scream and yell. It just keeps looking and I can tell its a cat the way it blinks and turns its head. I only have a 3.5" gerber pocket knife you can't carry a gun at this spot. I leash the dog and get the knife out. I start looking for rocks but no rocks around. I slowly back up keeping an eye on it till i find rocks. I get all the rocks i can carry and start walking tward it throwing the rocks and screaming. It comes down out of the small tree on the hill, slowly and relaxed it crosses infront of me and goes into the thick brush. I walk up the ridge going past the tree it had been in.I pass through the heavy line of brush along the ridge and into an open meadow. Walking backwards looking to the line of brush back tward the gully I get about 25 yards and think everything is ok it must have gone away. Then maybe 25 yards to the left from the line of brush there are the eyes again! Its stalking us! after watching it for a while longer I walk backwards about 1 mile to the truck looking for the eyes!
When I got home I found 2 puncture wounds in the dogs kneck from fangs ! they are about 2 inches apart. One of the fangs almost went through the dogs eye, the eyelid has a cut on it. looks like it had the dogs head in its mouth. The mouth must have been open about 5-6 inches to get its eye and the back of the kneck at the same time. The eyes of the predator seemed pretty far apart about 4 inches. I thought it might be a person I screamed "if your a person say something i'm going to start throwing rocks." So it was a pretty big animal. I never could see it but it appeared to be about 3 feet tall when it crossed infront of me. The cougars I have seen in the past where only slightly taller then that.
I think the dog maybe was running it and was on the cats scent not a rabbit. That will teach her to run trash! Or all that baying is like a predator call maybe it had been stalking us! Oh yeah the dog had a bell on too. She probably got it in the face because she was sniffing it.
It was definently sitting in a small tree.I think it knew to sit in that tree because its right on the trail out of the gully and it was going to pounce on us when we walked out. I bet alot of animals run out on that trail. I guess it was either a huge bobcat or small baby cougar. I go to this spot all the time never had a problem. Wish it was legal to carry a gun there. I would of shot it for sure. When it crossed the road it acted just like the three times I have seen cougars. All three times they cross the road infront of me while looking at me and they just walk calm and collected since they are the top predator I guess they have no fear.
gave the dog amoxicillin and shaved her neck to see whats goin on . There could be more wounds but I can't see them.
Even 5 minutes from metro area of los angeles you never know! Wish we had concealed carry here. That cat would of got 200 grains of 10 mm@1300fps right between the eyes.
can't believe the dog got away so I tend to thing it was a bobcat. A cougar probably would have eaten it. Then again 3 feet tall is probably a cougar and the distance between the fangs says big mouth.
I will try to post a picture of the dog later.
So it had just rained and was cold, very rare around here so I had to get my dog out for some of the best scent conditions of the year. She had circled a few rabbits. There was a long check so I called her back and we walked down into a gully where I always run the dog its loaded with rabbit. Its about 100 yards across and flat on the bottom and the walls of the gully are about 25 feet high. The brush is VERY thick.
I walk out to the middle of the flat area and point to the thick stuff and tell the dog to hunt rabbit. She gets to my feet and picks up a scent and starts baying. She gets into a big bush about 20 yards away . Suddenly I hear this horrible sound. I didn't know if it was the dog being attacked or I thought maybe she caught the rabbit and the rabbit way crying. The dog immediately comes running back to me still baying but tail down. I still dont' know whats going on at this point. I look the dog over with a flashlight she seems ok.
I start to walk with the dog to the other side of the gully and head back to the truck. I get about 10 feet and I see eyes on the ridge looking at us. They are all lit up with the flash light. For about 5 minutes I scream and yell. It just keeps looking and I can tell its a cat the way it blinks and turns its head. I only have a 3.5" gerber pocket knife you can't carry a gun at this spot. I leash the dog and get the knife out. I start looking for rocks but no rocks around. I slowly back up keeping an eye on it till i find rocks. I get all the rocks i can carry and start walking tward it throwing the rocks and screaming. It comes down out of the small tree on the hill, slowly and relaxed it crosses infront of me and goes into the thick brush. I walk up the ridge going past the tree it had been in.I pass through the heavy line of brush along the ridge and into an open meadow. Walking backwards looking to the line of brush back tward the gully I get about 25 yards and think everything is ok it must have gone away. Then maybe 25 yards to the left from the line of brush there are the eyes again! Its stalking us! after watching it for a while longer I walk backwards about 1 mile to the truck looking for the eyes!
When I got home I found 2 puncture wounds in the dogs kneck from fangs ! they are about 2 inches apart. One of the fangs almost went through the dogs eye, the eyelid has a cut on it. looks like it had the dogs head in its mouth. The mouth must have been open about 5-6 inches to get its eye and the back of the kneck at the same time. The eyes of the predator seemed pretty far apart about 4 inches. I thought it might be a person I screamed "if your a person say something i'm going to start throwing rocks." So it was a pretty big animal. I never could see it but it appeared to be about 3 feet tall when it crossed infront of me. The cougars I have seen in the past where only slightly taller then that.
I think the dog maybe was running it and was on the cats scent not a rabbit. That will teach her to run trash! Or all that baying is like a predator call maybe it had been stalking us! Oh yeah the dog had a bell on too. She probably got it in the face because she was sniffing it.
It was definently sitting in a small tree.I think it knew to sit in that tree because its right on the trail out of the gully and it was going to pounce on us when we walked out. I bet alot of animals run out on that trail. I guess it was either a huge bobcat or small baby cougar. I go to this spot all the time never had a problem. Wish it was legal to carry a gun there. I would of shot it for sure. When it crossed the road it acted just like the three times I have seen cougars. All three times they cross the road infront of me while looking at me and they just walk calm and collected since they are the top predator I guess they have no fear.
gave the dog amoxicillin and shaved her neck to see whats goin on . There could be more wounds but I can't see them.
Even 5 minutes from metro area of los angeles you never know! Wish we had concealed carry here. That cat would of got 200 grains of 10 mm@1300fps right between the eyes.
can't believe the dog got away so I tend to thing it was a bobcat. A cougar probably would have eaten it. Then again 3 feet tall is probably a cougar and the distance between the fangs says big mouth.
I will try to post a picture of the dog later.
