), we walked along Dry Creek
Trail that passes between some cabins and the national forest at the upper west
end of the Lake with Hawkeye exploring up ahead of us some 15 feet.
As we were about to skirt a boulder
and head out onto the lakebed, I heard a dogfight and saw that a big yellow dog
had ambushed Hawkeye and was on him! I advanced, shouting, quite incensed at the
nerve of this animal. As Chris and I approached, the offender bolted. Now that
they were disengaged, I saw the lithe figure of a cat! It retreated about 30
feet and climbed a tree. The predator was a yearling cougar.
Chris
went to Hawkeye's aid, and I went for my video camera. Hawkeye got away with two
small puncture wounds on his back---probably from those big claws. The cougar
got away hungry.
The cougar seemed scared enough just after his foiled attack, but Hawkeye
seemed hardly ruffled. After I shot a few pictures, we went on to explore the
lakebed where Hawkeye romped about like his usual self. (It wasn't until that
evening that we discovered his wounds.)
Our path to the car went right back past the attack site where we were
surprised to find the cougar still up the tree but this time looking somewhat
more hungry than scared. Instead of staring at me, the cougar was now
fixed on Hawkeye. I took more photos until my battery died.
After I reported the incident to the Hoodsport Ranger Station, I learned that
that night, a second encounter was reported by a ranger Vic Stanculescu who
lives with his husky Buddha in one of those nearby cabins. A yearling cougar
(probably the same one) went after Buddha. Vic restrained his dog and threw
sticks & stones, actually hitting the cougar. Only after Vic discharged a large
handgun toward it did the animal retreat. Around midnight, the cat returned and
ventured up onto the deck. Friday, Vic and Buddha tracked the cougar and saw
that it had carried off the dog’s blanket and shredded it to bits. This was not the first cougar
Elizabeth has encountered.
To read about her others, click
here.
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We walked along Dry Creek Trail.
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As we were about to skirt a boulder and head out onto the lakebed...
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The predator was a yearling cougar.
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The cougar seemed scared enough just after his foiled attack...
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After I shot a few pictures, we went on to explore the lakebed.
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On our return, Hawkeye inspected the large divot ripped by the cougar
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Chris spotted the cougar still up the tree. (With a good eye, you might just make out its long tail.)".
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Instead of staring at me, the cougar was now fixed on Hawkeye
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This old stump may have known the cougar was lurking, but said nothing.
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Hawk & Huck
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Around
2 PM this Thursday, March 28, My husband Chris and I were scouting around Lake
Cushman in Mason County, Washington, with our 35-pound year-old Labradoodle
Hawkeye. Looking for a site to place our first geocache (see 
