The Cougar...

I was coming into Hidden Springs from the back way yesterday when I saw an Ada County Deputy and a few people standing down one of the paths looking up into the trees. Hmmmmmmmm. Last year it was a bear but I'm thinking there's probably a cougar treed. So, I ran home to get my camera and my son. Just as I was running in the door I get a call from my friend Casey saying she and her husband (who happens to be the same Game Warden that Adam did his ride along with about a month ago) were on their way up to possibly dart the cat. So, out the door we ran - without the camera.

So we sat, in tick infested grass listening to the Deputy ask people to take a few pictures and move off because we didn't want to scare the cat any further. But I was a Game Warden's daughter, waiting for my Game Warden friend to get there - so I pretended he wasn't talking to me. Pretty soon Matt and Casey and their 4-year-old (bait) daughter showed up and Casey and I sat in the tick infested grass until I decided I must have my camera so I ran back home.


After another Game Warden friend and 2 biologists arrived and after much discussion, they decided the cat was a very young one and mama was still probably near. Their only options were to dart it and take it to a zoo (booooo), destroy it (BOOOOOOOO!), or leave it alone and hope it would come down during the night and leave the area. They knew that if they tranquilized it and relocated it that it would most likely be killed by a larger male.





We had left earlier but Casey reported that the announcement was made to the crowd as to the options and that the that they had decided to leave the cat alone for the night and see if it would go away. Our wonderful Hidden Springs residents cheered! I was really happy to hear that and hope that this morning he/she has moved away.

It was an awesome way to spend 3 hours on a Sunday and I love the fact that we had the opportunity to see this beautiful animal.