SALIDA, Colo. - In a scene reminiscent of a horror film, an apparently malnourished mountain lion trapped a mother and her two young children inside their Chaffee County home, killed one dog and wounded several others before being tranquilized by wildlife officers.
The incident started around 4 p.m. Thursday when the young cougar chased a small dog, one of five at the home, through a doggie door, authorities said.
Michelle Bese and her two children, ages two and five, were inside the home at the time. The two-year old was asleep in a bedroom while Michelle and the five-year old were sitting at a kitchen table.
Bese told authorities that, at first, she couldn't tell if the animal was a coyote or mountain lion until another dog confronted it. She immediately grabbed her five-year old and ran into a back bedroom where the other child was sleeping, and then called 911.
Chaffee County Sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene and helped Bese and her children escape through a window as they tried to coax the mountain lion out of the home through the front and rear doors.
"I looked in a bedroom window and could see a dog which I believed to be dead," said Division of Wildlife area manager Jim Aragon. "The lion was in the same room, so I pounded on the window and side of the house in an attempt to get the lion to leave through one of the open doors."
Eventually, Aragon and wildlife officer Kim Woodruff, along with Chaffee County Sherriff's deputy Rod Lane, entered the home through the back bedroom window. They found the cougar in a room directly across the hall.
"We cracked the door open wide enough to see the lion and were able to shoot it with a tranquilizer dart," Aragon said.
Authorities located four of the five dogs, including a Jack Russell Terrier and four Shih-Tzus, and transported them to a vet clinic with various wounds from their encounter with the mountain lion. A fifth dog was found hiding in the home.
One dog eventually died. Two others were seriously injured.
The cougar was later euthanized.
The young male lion, believed to be about a year and half old, only weighed about 40 pounds whereas a healthy lion should be around 60 pounds.
Its remains will be sent to a DOW lab in Fort Collins for analysis. (From the DOW: Living with Wildlife in Lion Country)
The incident started around 4 p.m. Thursday when the young cougar chased a small dog, one of five at the home, through a doggie door, authorities said.
Michelle Bese and her two children, ages two and five, were inside the home at the time. The two-year old was asleep in a bedroom while Michelle and the five-year old were sitting at a kitchen table.
Bese told authorities that, at first, she couldn't tell if the animal was a coyote or mountain lion until another dog confronted it. She immediately grabbed her five-year old and ran into a back bedroom where the other child was sleeping, and then called 911.
Chaffee County Sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene and helped Bese and her children escape through a window as they tried to coax the mountain lion out of the home through the front and rear doors.
"I looked in a bedroom window and could see a dog which I believed to be dead," said Division of Wildlife area manager Jim Aragon. "The lion was in the same room, so I pounded on the window and side of the house in an attempt to get the lion to leave through one of the open doors."
Eventually, Aragon and wildlife officer Kim Woodruff, along with Chaffee County Sherriff's deputy Rod Lane, entered the home through the back bedroom window. They found the cougar in a room directly across the hall.
"We cracked the door open wide enough to see the lion and were able to shoot it with a tranquilizer dart," Aragon said.
Authorities located four of the five dogs, including a Jack Russell Terrier and four Shih-Tzus, and transported them to a vet clinic with various wounds from their encounter with the mountain lion. A fifth dog was found hiding in the home.
One dog eventually died. Two others were seriously injured.
The cougar was later euthanized.
The young male lion, believed to be about a year and half old, only weighed about 40 pounds whereas a healthy lion should be around 60 pounds.
Its remains will be sent to a DOW lab in Fort Collins for analysis. (From the DOW: Living with Wildlife in Lion Country)
