A Chandler area girl’s horse who was injured when attacked several weeks ago, possibly by a mountain lion, or wild dogs, got to come home last Friday.
Kenzie Cowden, 17-year-old daughter of Kristie and Charles Cowden and a Chandler High School senior, said her horse Peaches continues to recover nicely.
On Monday, Kenzie noted, “She’s recovering well. She got her stitches out and she is doing much better. I should be able to ride her again in a week or two.”
Kenzie went out the morning of July 19 to feed her four horses and found severe cuts on Peaches’ legs.
Vets at two different animal clinics believe the injuries were caused by a big cat, a Cougar, maybe a big bobcat. Area game wardens said a furbearer biologist
Area game wardens said a furbearer biologist examined the photos sent to him by one of the wardens and he didn’t think the attack was by a mountain lion due to the injuries being so low on the horse.
“It could have been a pack of wild dogs,” veteran Game Warden Mike France has said. “They like to run the animal for the fun of it for some reason.”
France is assigned to Pottawatomie County but assists in Lincoln County as well.
Meanwhile, Lincoln County Game Warden Jacob Harriet, who grew up in the Wellston area, and a captain with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department, Chuck Brewer, say rural citizens shouldn’t be alarmed despite the girl’s horse being attacked recently.
Harriet believes, “People shouldn’t be concerned or worried about it.”
Brewer concurred with Harriet, saying, “I don’t think so,” when asked should people generally be concerned.
“As far as wild animals preying on domesticated livestock or home animals, we’re not getting calls on that,” Brewer assures rural citizens.
Harriet said he receives calls all the time about people seeing mountain lions.
“I’ve been in Lincoln County as a game warden two years and I’m yet to have a confirmed sighting of a mountain lion,” he said.
Brewer said, “I really haven’t had seen any packs of wild dogs or wild hogs. I’ve heard of only one confirmed sighting of a mountain lion and that wasn’t recently, it’s been sometime back,” he recalls.
“Other than predators of wildlife preying on other wildlife which they naturally do, I haven’t seen anything,” he said.
He also hasn’t heard reports from any of his deputies.
Harriet reiterated, “People shouldn’t be concerned or worried about it.”
“I get calls on mountain lions all the time but there is no evidence of that,” Harriet explained. “We don’t have a standing population of mountain lions,” he assures citizens.
France, said he’s never seen a mountain lion in Lincoln County or has he seen a confirmed sighting.
France, who has spent 25 years as a game warden and 14 of those working the two counties, said he has seen confirmed sightings in Pottawatomie County, but indicated those are few.
“There are a ton of bobcat sightings,” Harriett said. “We have a healthy population of bobcats, more than people think.” The game warden noted, “95 percent of the calls
The game warden noted, “95 percent of the calls are domesticated dogs that have become feral. Occasionally, coyotes will get young, domesticated livestock like a baby calf or baby sheep.
“I’ve never had a fully grown cow attacked by a coyote. “Big bobcats will get on young calves and goats,” he said.
Harriet mentioned that coyotes and bobcats are afraid of people, unless they are rabid, and then generally they will leave humans alone.
He did note that rabies does make them aggressive, but in normal circumstances “you don’t have anything to worry about,” he believes.