By Michael Howell
It took a while to figure it out, but a few horse owners in the area of Illinois Bench northeast of Stevensville are now convinced that their horses were the victims of a mountain lion attack in two separate incidents last month.
Calvin Peterson, who lives on Burro Lane, about a quarter mile or less from Illinois Bench, said that he penned up a few horses on a 3-acre lot one evening at the beginning of June. But when he went to turn them out in the morning one of the mares was hurting and looked all beat up and scratched up.
“I assumed it was beat up by the other horses,” said Peterson. He treated the injured horse for the cuts and abrasions but the animal didn’t heal. Instead one of the cuts had begun to abcess and become very infected. He took the horse to a local vet on Ambrose Road for further treatment.
“The vet took a look at the horse and said its injuries, including puncture wounds and scratches, showed all the classic signs of a mountain lion attack,” said Peterson.
About ten days later a neighbor of Peterson’s, Laura Grover, put a mare and two geldings in a round corral about a quarter of a mile from her house because she planned to saddle them up and take them for a ride in the morning. But when she went out the next morning the mare was in bad shape, obviously hurting and covered with slices and gouges all over her body. The two young geldings were fine.
Grover went ahead and took the three horses to the planned riding event and began treating the injured mare.
“Then it dawned upon me that these were claw marks and bites,” said Grover. Then she remembered how the dogs in the area had been barking exceptionally loudly and long the previous night.
Grover contacted FWP Warden Doug Johnson. She said Johnson confirmed that the injuries looked like the marks of a mountain lion attack. State trapper Bart Morris also responded. Grover said that Johnson told her that if she saw the mountain lion again she should shoot it. He advised her to notify her neighbors and tell them the same thing.
Grover has been keeping her horses closer to home since the incident to better monitor them. She has not seen any sign of the mountain lion since then, but continues to monitor.
Both horses are recovering. Peterson said that the lion may be a young lion that is just learning. He jumps on the back of the animals and claws and bites but does not know enough yet to go for the neck. Peterson hopes the lion is stopped before he learns that trick.