A police officer shot a mountain lion in northeast Des Moine this morning. The adult cougar was near an elementary school and the officer said he was forced to make a shot when the animal started to leave the yard it was in.
“The officers knew, due to the size of the mountain lion, that its escape would be of great danger to the public,” police spokesman Sgt. Christopher Scott said in an article on Patch.com. “The lion made a dashing move, leaving officers no choice but to shoot the lion.”
Officials say it appears the 6-foot-3-inch-long animal was just roaming the area.
There have been few mountain lions confirmed in Iowa in recent years, although sightings have been on the rise in the state and across the Midwest.
I was face to face with a cougar at 50 yards Sept. 27, 2011 while on my fifty acres in Hancock County, Illinois. Nice to see, but was sort of scarey as all I had with me was a walking stick and a spade. After staring at each other for around a minute, the mountain lion turned and left along the creek. I had to go along the creek and it was a sort of frighting trek up to my shed. I’ve heard some weird sounds at night since then, but no sighting of the big cat!
Jim Cox
I live in Mo. untill about 1 yr ago if you seen a cat u were told by the dnr you was not able to tell the difference between a mountain lion and maybe? a big dog…So most people here in the nw part of the state never report them. They are here and protected so who pays if one eats your livestock or God forbid your kid ? I say if they are close to homes or livestock shoot first then figure out if its a big dog or not..