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Our cougar Sierra in her kennel.

Lions and Tigers and Cougars ~ Oh My!
By Miralee Ferrell

“Oh, Lord, please help me get back to the house safely,” I prayed, as I stood frozen fifty feet from my front door.
     I could hear the yowl of a cougar not far away. How could I make it back to the house undetected?  My husband was out of town and I had no one to turn to for help.
     A couple of years before, my husband Allen and I had joined a large, nation wide barter exchange. One day while reading their monthly newsletter, we stumbled across something unusual.

     A breeder of big cats was advertising a three-month-old cougar kitten for sale. This cub had not been taken from the wild, but had a domestic ancestry going back twenty-one generations in captivity.
      The idea immediately intrigued both of us. We contacted the seller and made an appointment to see the kitten, immediately falling in love with the little spotted ball of fur and energy. Spunky came home with us in late winter, and as it was impossible to install posts in the frozen ground to build an outdoor enclosure, he lived with us in our house until winter ended.
     We agree with wildlife experts that these big cats should never be removed from the wild. We learned that cats bred in captivity often go to homes with poor understanding of ‘big cat’ care, so we felt good about giving this cub a safe home. Many people adopt big cats on a whim, then grow afraid or bored, ending by seriously abusing or neglecting them, often unintentionally. Because they are domesticated and de-clawed at a young age (though not “tame”), they cannot be reintroduced to the wilderness and survive.
     A few months later, the breeder called. He knew we had created a cougar friendly environment on our thirty-acre farm. He had just removed a full-grown female cougar named Sierra from a neglectful home and needed to place her in a safe environment. Would we consider taking her? Neither of us hesitated for a minute, and our excitement grew as we anticipated becoming a two cougar family!
     We enlarged the enclosure, doubling its size by adding an adjoining section to the existing one, with a chain link wall between. We left the ground natural dirt, with trees and bushes throughout, then completed it with underground dens for the cats to sleep in and high platforms for sunning.
     Sierra had been neglected, perhaps even abused. The pads of her paws were tender from walking on heavy crushed rock in the small kennel where she had been housed. Her weight was low and her coat poor from eating dry dog food rather than the red meat her body needed. She was nervous and leery of people, and it took her days to quit pacing and hissing at Spunky, who lived in the enclosure next door.
     After a few weeks of work on Allen’s part, she bonded with him, but she didn’t care for women or children. When Allen would come home from work he would say her name, sending Sierra into a frenzy of happiness. She would begin to “chirp,” a very special sound she made when “talking” to him. She raced to the door of her home, waiting for him to pet her, talking and purring until he came through her door.
     During one of Allen’s absences out of town, we had quite an adventure with Sierra. Somehow during the day, the door to her large chain link kennel became unlatched. Sierra was terrified of being outside of her home, as it was her sanctuary.
     This particular late summer evening, she decided to be brave. I heard our two dogs acting up and didn’t think much about it, as they often bark at any animal that invades their territory. I finally took a flashlight to see what was worrying the dogs, unaware of what had happened.
     I got up to the cougar’s area and found Sierra’s door open. I noticed a large shadow slinking through the trees, a bit too big to be one of the dogs. I froze in place, not wanting to startle her, as I wasn’t sure of her reaction. Had Allen been home he would have had no trouble putting her back in, but I wasn’t sure how receptive she would be to me.
     These cats can average well over 150 lbs., with Sierra being a smaller female at about 125 lbs. They are incredibly fast and are not averse to pouncing and using their teeth to pin down prey if they feel threatened or cornered. I knew Sierra was much more apt to run and hide than pounce. Regardless, my heart rate moved into double time as the fear-induced adrenaline began to flow.
     I stood perfectly still for several long moments, then began to quietly slip away, hoping to get to my front door undetected. It felt like an eternity before I arrived, but I knew my job was not done.
     I hurried to call Allen. “Honey, Sierra is out of her kennel and I don’t know how to get her back in.” The fear I was feeling caused the words to tumble over one another.
     “Don’t worry, Miralee, she’s not going to hurt you. She hates to be out and is probably just confused. You need to show her where her door is. You know she'd never hurt anyone; she’s such a timid cat.”
     “But you know she’s never bonded with me like she has with you. She’s not going to follow me back in.”
     “Take some of her food out and place it inside her door. She’ll smell it and realize where her door is.” 
     “Great idea,” I said a bit sarcastically. “What if she smells it while I’m holding it and decides she wants it before I put it down!”
     “She won’t,” he replied. “She’s more frightened than you are right now. You’ll see. Just take the food out and she’ll be back in her home in no time.”
     “All right, I’ll try it, but I sure hope you’re right.”
     Sierra had been circling around the back of the kennel, talking and yowling while I spoke with Allen. I knew she wanted nothing more than to be in her safe enclosure and underground den.
     Shaking, I went to the refrigerator and took out a hunk of her raw meat and  placed it a few feet inside Sierra’s kennel. I called her name, then slipped back towards the house and waited.
     Finally, I saw her shadowy form round the corner and go back in her enclosure. A huge sense of relief flooded over me as I quickly went up the path to close and bolt the door.  I’m not sure which of us felt happier to have her safe and secure again, but our adventure was finally over.