Cougar in the Wild

This weekend the little Mountain Lion went on her first park adventure with my crew.  It was a disaster.  I forgot that Puma's are wild things and aren't meant to be in captivity.  Cougar said it was the moment she had been waiting for.  Within 30 seconds of being let free she managed to find something and run around with it.  I thought it was a stick.  I was wrong.  The Mountain Lion found her first catch, although since she is still a cub it was already dispatched for her.  Squirrel?  Gopher?  Something decently sized at least.  And Cougar was not going to let anyone near her prize.

The other dogs were good.  They all listened and stopped chasing the crazed wild lion and pretty much stood frozen, stunned at her bravery.

Pleading with the lion didn't help, nor did giving the other dogs treats.  We almost got her cornered in some thicker brush but alas she scrambled just inches out of reach.  It took her quite a while to down her large find as we watched helplessly.  I kinda figured she would just lick her lips and we would resume our walk together.  But with the taste of blood she realized that didn't need us humans after all and the cub just sauntered away.

Luckily Adam was along so he could stay put with the good dogs.  And after I realized she wasn't coming back for nothing and was completely oblivious to all my recall tricks, I took after her.  She exited the park completely and while my mind was picturing her being run over by a car, I was also grateful that a lion in suburbia would be easily recognized and could perhaps be tempted to come visit.  I lost track of her as I stood in the driveway of the direction she went and then I luckily surprised her as she came around one of the cars and ran straight into my feet, cursing her bad luck.

Since we had really just arrived at the park and it was too hot to leave the wild creature in the car, I reluctantly snapped her leash back on and proceeded to drag her around on our walk.  Cougar got to watch the other dogs frolic but I'm pretty sure she didn't regret her decision one bit.

Sunday we visited a smaller park and this time she donned the long line of shame.  And she needed it, at first.  While I did not use the long line to ever reel her in, her first few recalls she tried to strain at the end of the line.  And then she realized she really liked cookies after all.

Slowly she earned a bit of freedom in being allowed to drag her long line.  

And really she redeemed herself on day 2.  Of course it helped that she didn't find any tasty snacks on our walk this time.

And now we need to work on that stay too.