After finding one of their horses was attacked by a mountain lion, two brothers in Butte County are cautioning their neighbors to be careful.
Tyler and Trevor Smith of Palermo said while it is common to see mountain lions or an occasional bear, never had one try to attack their animals before.
"Our families lived here since the 60s and they’ve never had an issue. They’ve seen them every now and then, but never one that would come into the property," said Trevor.
Tyler Smith said when he woke up the morning of September 10, he was alarmed to see one of their horses was not getting up.
After checking on the horse to see what was wrong he found gashes and scratches all over her face and body.
"She got tore up by something," said Tyler.
Tyler and Trevor believe it was a mountain lion that attacked their horse because the wounds are consistent with a big cat and the day before the attack they had scared off a mountain lion that came close to their pasture.
"There's obvious, on her back hips, claw marks and what looks like a bite mark on her back."
The two brothers want to warn people with animals, livestock, and young kids to be careful.
"Watch your animals, it's looking for food," said Tyler.
"Everybody in Palermo knows about the cat, but they may not know it's getting more aggressive. We haven't seen anybody lose any livestock in a couple of years, but it may start happening now. We just want everyone to be aware of what's going on," said Trevor.
Trevor believes mountain lions and bears are coming down to more populated areas because the recent wildfires have pushed them out of their habitat.
Tyler and Trevor have contacted the game warden and a trapper who they hope can find and relocate the mountain lion.
In the meantime, they say they will be keeping an eye on the horses throughout the night.
Their horse survived the attack, but she is still in a lot of pain and exhausted. They are hopeful she will make it.
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