Mountain lion caught on tape after killing 8 goats in California
SILVERADO CANYON, Calif. — A mountain lion was captured on surveillance video after killing eight goats in Canyon country.
CBS Los Angeles spoke to the 4-H Club members who care for the animals
“There’s always some risk when you’re out in the canyon.” said Madison Cota.
She knows she’s among mountain lions in the canyons. But she never dreamed one would break through the enclosure and kill her pygmy show goat along with seven others.
A ninth goat was seriously injured.
Monday night, Tanya Morgan said it only took a temporary opening in the bottom of a gate for the mountain lion to strike.
“This is the tiny access, all he needed to get right on through,” said Morgan.
4 H children caring for the pigs made the gruesome discovery on Tuesday morning.
“He did not eat any of them so we knew he would be coming back,” said Morgan.
The very next day he did come back. This time a consultant with Fish and Game installed six cameras.
“Sure enough, we have video, he came back, last night. He was here for an hour-and-a-half searching for a way in,” Morgan said.
Security tape shows the big cat prowling near the pigs now safely protected in a reinforced closure.
Andrew Croopnick who lost his 14-month-old pygmy — he raised since birth — hopes the new lights will scare off the mountain lion and these lights, made to look like red eyes mimicking an animal staring back, will keep the cat away from the animals and from him and his friends.
“It’s very scary to know something is here. … We walked down this street two days ago. We could have been being watched the whole time,” said Croopnick.
Fish and Wildlife say they don’t believe there’s any real danger to humans from the mountain lion. They aren’t actively hunting the animal but are supporting the security measures the parents are taking.