Never smile at a Pyooma.

No wait,
That's a crocodile.

Bait the kitty and put a 5.56 right through its noggin. I wouldn't hesitate to do that.

Re: “Mountain Lion Advice”

“If called by a panther, don't anther.”
—Ogden Nash

quote:

...me waiting outside with him every day

This would be the only solution, as far as I'm concerned, if I were in this situation. With my AR-15, of course.

I wouldn't want him out there alone, especially if it's dark. Cat might not do anything, but it will at least be watching.

I have em on my place. I've caught them at night with the flashlight too close and watching me. Different kinda creepy when those eyes beam back at you. The side by side kind attached to a head that moves like a predator. This last time I had to yell more than a couple times to chase em out. Bold.

Also, if you kill one, another will be along to claim the territory. Maybe a day, maybe a week, maybe a year.

Tony.

I wouldn't chance something happening to my son standing there. For $100 you could buy something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Outdoor...-1719301073489&psc=1

You could also get a Rhodesian Ridgeback and let him walk the kid down the driveway.

Not helpful, but I couldn’t resist…

https://twitter.com/okwildlife...hFLOaasEEtVzHC7wSxnw

Has anyone in the neighborhood called Game and Fish to report the cat killing the alpacas? Good place to start. AzGFD is quite helpful in catch and relocate of dangerous lions, maybe Colorado is similar.

Thanks for all the great advice. A few comments on points that were made.

Driving him isn't really an option. It's 25 minutes round trip, and although I work from home, I start at 7:00. School starts at 7:25....He's on the bus for just under 1 hour. I work Mon - Thurs, 10 hour days, so I have Friday off. I do take him to school on Friday.

I like the schools in our rural area. While home schooling has some appeal, I also want to have a comfortable retirement. My wife and I both work from home and we sock away a ton of money for retirement and 529 accounts for both kids. I'm not sacrificing my retirement to home-school.

The owners did call Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) and they used the leg of one of the alpacas for bait in a trap. I have not heard about the outcome of that yet.

The area at the end of my driveway is clear from brush/undergrowth. It is pretty wide open...with pine trees spaced pretty far apart.

In a stroke of luck to me, the idiots at the school board are swapping the early high/middle school start & end times with the elementary schools starting in the fall. My boys are 1 year apart, so next year both will be in middle school, and the bus will come about 7:30 or so, which will be light out all year. I'll only have this issue for the next 6 weeks or so, then it's not a problem (for me) anymore.

Due to this problem being temporary, I am going to go with driving the car to the end of the driveway, 300 feet. My wife got a 2022 4Runner last year, so I think I'll back the car to the garage and teach him to drive it. He drives our riding lawn mower and cuts the grass on our 2.5 acres. He's also been to the go-cart track several time. I think he'll be fine.

Thanks for the ideas!

Sounds like a good plan. Meantime, stay in CPW’s ear, they have dedicated large predator biologists and there shouldn’t be anything more important for them to do than trap that lion out of there. Complete aside, do you still have your ‘67 GTO? I think they’re probably the most beautiful car of the entire muscle car era.

Who would ever take advice from a mountain lion?

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
Complete aside, do you still have your ‘67 GTO? I think they’re probably the most beautiful car of the entire muscle car era.

Hey TMats! Yes, I still do. I bought it in 1988 when I was a freshman in high school. My dad and I did a full frame off restoration. I drive it in the Spring and Summer, mostly taking my kids back and forth to sports practice and school. This picture is from about 2006, before I moved to the hills, but it's still the same.

I agree with the most beautiful muscle car, but I may be a little biased.

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
Who would ever take advice from a mountain lion?

I could also mount my WML to my newly acquired SP2022 as protection, but I only have 1 mag for it.

This picture is from 6 or 7 years ago??? 2 houses down. The bus driver took this. Just out of sight is the dead mule deer. It was blood stained snow, quite gruesome looking. We had just got about 12' of snow that night.

One hour on the bus. That is horrible. I have lived in rural areas and it was never that long. Feel for the kid. Is he the first picked up in the morning and the last dropped off at night?

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
Who would ever take advice from a mountain lion?

I could also mount my WML to my newly acquired SP2022 as protection, but I only have 1 mag for it.

This picture is from 6 or 7 years ago??? 2 houses down. The bus driver took this. Just out of sight is the dead mule deer. It was blood stained snow, quite gruesome looking. We had just got about 12' of snow that night.

Cats are cats, just pspspspsps it and it’ll follow you home.

ETA: extra mag is in the USPS abyss at this point. I hope you see it soon lol.

The car (and growing awareness) is the perfect short term answer.

Longer term, a Great Pyrenees, Anatolian, or a cross would be the bomb. We got 109 goats around fifteen years ago. Lost half to a mountain lion within a month, the last ten overnight in a small (~5 acre) pen with 7’ deer fence all the way around. The lions (multiple) are still around. We occasionally see them and more frequently see deer they’ve killed, but no more goats lost to predators since we got the dogs. Initially, we were mad and wanted to “kill that so and so”, but as pointed out another will just move in so there’s little point.

The only challenge comes if you have nearby neighbors and you want to leave the dog(s) out at night. They won’t be universally loved by your neighbors, but they will keep the cats away.

If it was me, get off my ass and wait with him every day.

Might even turn into some quality time.

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
Who would ever take advice from a mountain lion?

That's pretty funny

We lived close to the foothills in Colorado, *years* ago. I can distinctly remember a lion that was making the nightly news. I know there was one fatality. One family was interviewed with a group photo that had been taken on a hiking trip. Upon close inspection there was a lions face in the woods behind them, they had NO clue it was there.