Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Mountain lion chases dog through doggie door trapping family inside home

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. on 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. Eventually, 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."

With news video, There's another video here.

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