Mountain Lion Chase

I got to go on a lion chase Saturday morning!  A neighbor came driving up and asked if he could park at our place since his hounds had a lion treed just up behind us.  I said sure, and asked if I could go along.  He said yes, so I grabbed my camera and off we went.  This is the closest I've ever been to a live lion, it was pretty neat!  His two hounds were baying up at the lion the whole time, a deafening noise for sure!   We took some pictures, then he grabbed his hounds and we left and headed back home.  I had a little chat with the lion and told him he had better stay away from our place and the goats and other animals.  Hopefully he listened! :-)
   I have heard a couple of deer get killed in the middle of the night up in that area, which isn't too far away, so I know there have been lions around all winter.  I've seen tracks, too.  The chaser said this is a new one he hasn't seen before up here, so now that makes at least four different lions in this area.  As long as they leave me and mine alone, I'll leave them alone.  They can eat the deer, which there are plenty of, and leave my goats, mini horses, and chickens alone.
  Nellie, our Great Pyrenees, is doing a great job of keeping all the predators away.  We have just about every predator known to man up here, so she's a busy dog.  I think part of the reason we haven't lost any animals to them is because they don't know they are edible.  They were raised on deer, so that is what they know to eat.  That's okay, I hope they never learn otherwise!
   We got another couple of inches of snow today.  I don't think we are going to see the bare ground for at least a month, minimum.  When I was going up the mountain yesterday to see the lion, I fell through the crust a couple of times and it was over my knee!  I almost couldn't get my leg back up on top of the snow.  So it will be a while before it all melts.
   Well, that was my excitement for the week-end.  I've been wanting to go on a lion chase for years, and now I finally have, it was pretty cool!  The lion wasn't anxious or anything, he was just laying up there watching us move around below him.  Wasn't even breathing hard.  Just waiting for us to leave so he could go take a nap. :-)  I got some good pictures, so that was great.  Glad I remembered to grab my camera!