Here's another mountain lion story out of the Rapid City Journal/Kevin Woster, this time from Johnson Siding, in Pennington County.
Mountain lion kills beloved terrier
JOHNSON SIDING -- With eyes full of tears, Andrea Johnson stood on her back deck Tuesday morning and pointed at the rocky hillside where she last saw her dog, Abby, clamped tight in the jaws of a mountain lion.
"I was in shock. I was screaming, ‘No! No! No!'" Johnson said in a rising voice. "And the lion just looked at me. It still had my dog in its mouth. It wasn't a bit scared. It just looked at me. Then, it turned and walked up the hill."The mountain lion disappeared up the dark slope behind Johnson's rural home, taking with it her 7½-pound Jack Russell terrier and a sense of security that might never completely return.
I've been reading this book about this guy in California that spent years trying to see a cougar in the wild. I'm sorry about the Ladies poor Jack Russell, but to see a mountain lion like that! Wow. Its likely to work out badly for the cat as for the dog.
Johnson ran into the house and dialed 911. Sheriff's deputies and a state trooper responded, as did state Game, Fish & Parks Department officers, including regional supervisor Mike Kintigh of Rapid City. Kintigh said Tuesday that after an interview with Johnson, he knew the lion needed to be found and killed.
"We considered that a very close encounter," Kintigh said. "Killing a pet that close to people justified that lion being removed."
GF&P policy is to remove lions that frequent residential areas, threaten humans or kill pets or livestock. The agency also is working on a lion management plan, a process that will include discussion of whether South Dakota should have a limited lion season of some kind.
"Removal" is what we call a euphemism.
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