News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Chelsea Antilla with Asea, who was mauled by a cougar last week.
Asea is healing from wounds inflicted by a cougar.
When the Antilla family returned to their home in Crossroads from an outing on Saturday, August 9, they knew something was wrong. Their horses were agitated and appeared injured.
Panels on their steel corral were knocked out of place. Tikki, a 12-year-old Arab Standard Mix was running back and forth with a cut on her face. Asea, a docile 12-year-old Morgan Pinto was shaking and had wounds on the right side of the rump and on a leg.
It didn't take long for the Antillas to conclude that a cougar had attacked the horses.
Their equestrian friends had reported cougar sign in the area and Bill Antilla heard a cougar kill a deer in the sideyard of their log home about two weeks before.
"It took it a good 15-20 seconds to kill it," he said. "The cry of the deer was intense for a long period of time."
A vet came out to medicate the horses with antibiotics and U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services investigators visited late last week to confirm the attack. They reportedly found bedding areas and cougar tracks in the area.
It was too long after the attack to attempt to trap the cat, investigators said, but they will return immediately if there is another sighting in the area.
The Antillas speculate that the cat may be a young male, not too experienced in hunting. Deer are cougars' primary prey, but attacks on horses and mules in the area are not unheard of.
Chelsea Antilla said that Tikki probably put up a fight.
"She's hot-blooded, so I'm sure she kicked a bunch," she said.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
Reader Comments(0)