COUGAR ON COPPERMESA ROAD

COUGAR ON COPPERMESA ROAD                                       by Gail Walkowich

           The golden sun slowly set behind the purple Rocky Mountains as I pulled onto my half acre, western paradise on Coppermesa Road in Morrison. Stands of conifers and aspens stood as sentinels around my property. Welcoming lights were just becoming to be visible in my ranch house. It was good to come home to the open country after being cooped up in one of the Denver’s urban skyscrapers all day.

Disturbing squawks filled the air above my head. Instantly, I spotted in our vast yard the carcass of a red fox torn to pieces and partially covered in old grass and brittle, brown leaves.  Vultures circled in the sky while others fed on the carrion. Upon closer examination of this gruesome death scene, there was evidence of an intense struggle.  Huge four-inch paw prints were found in the semi-dried mud near the dead fox. It had all the earmarks of a cougar attack. Immediately, this was reported to the local law enforcement via my handy cell phone. A professional remover of dead animals was notified.

After a good dinner and relaxing glass of merlot, I contacted several of my local neighbors to explain my horrendous situation. It was important to know if they had any information of any cougars in the area. One woman saw a cougar and her cub on the edge our local wooded area about four months ago. She didn’t think anything of it. The others had no knowledge of any cougars in our local area and were grateful of my timely warning.

The alarm clock dragged me out of my comfortable bed the next morning. An early morning breakfast meeting with our visiting employees from India was scheduled. Just before sun up, I opened my garage door to place the trash at the foot of my driveway for the weekly garbage pick-up. A few feet from the garage door, I heard a long, low growl coming from a stand of aspen trees about one hundred feet from where I stood. Two large, yellow eyes menacingly peered out at me through the morning dusk.

Fear struck my central core and I froze in my tracks. The cougar came back to feast on its hidden meal which had been removed yesterday. Never show fear to an animal. For an eternity, the cougar and I maintained eye contact. Running was out of the question because it could initiate an attack. At a snail’s pace, I moved backwards toward my open garage door. All the while, I made myself look larger than I actually was by raising my hands above my head. Once inside the safety of my garage, I made a mad dash to the open door that led into my house and slammed the door behind me.

By my living room’s large picture window, I watched the cougar’s every move. Terrifying visions of this furry beast sailing through the thin pane of glass to get me filled my mind. The big cat had knocked the trash barrel over and rummaged through its contents. It meandered into the yawning entrance of my garage. The cougar’s scratching on my fire-proof door that provided entry into my main house was like listening to nails on a chalk board. Instantly, I locked the door which I forgot to lock when I ran inside.

Here we were; the cougar and I were about three inches apart. A sturdy door separated us. It was way too close to for my comfort. With keen ears, I could hear steady, rhythmic breathing of this massive creature that had invaded my private house. Frantically, I dialed 911. Within moments, a reverse 911 call notified all my neighbors.

Time moved like molasses while I waited for the police to respond to my distress call. It was a matter of a mere fifteen minutes before they silently arrived on my block. Red and blue lights flashed off my winter white walls that announced to me my rescuers had arrived. After racing back to the window, I saw two police cars, an ambulance, animal control pick-up with a huge metal cage in the back and a firetruck that lined both sides of Coppermesa Road. Two officers slithered down the driveway with two rifles while all the others took safe refuge behind their police cars with gun drawn.

In its new environment, the inquisitive cougar investigated every nook and cranny in my garage. Metal storage cases that held all sorts of junk crashed down to the cement floor. In particular, the mountain lion loved the cardboard boxes that contained all my Christmas decorations. Musical notes of “Joy to The World” blared from a broken music box. This cougar was too engrossed with all of its new sounds and new toys to notice that the cops stealthily closed in on it. Law enforcement had already sized up the dangerous situation and made their moves.

A sharp gunshot pierced the air. I gasped. The cougar roared. It tried to escape by running out on to my lawn. There was a tranquilizer dart attached to it left hind flank. It seemed that the police became still as cold marble statues in their protected positions. Patiently, they watched and waited for the cougar’s response.

For about twenty minutes, the cougar just milled about feeling abnormally tired. It weaved, wavered and finally fell over on its side into a dead faint. Brave animal control people ventured out first to assess the situation as the police gathered extra-large tarps from the emergency vehicles. It took four men to get the one hundred pound, cougar onto the tarp and into metal cage on the animal control truck.

As the cop securely locked the caged cougar, I finally unlocked my front door and stepped outside on to my front porch. The dawning sun painted the sky in a beautiful array of pastel colors and the morning air was crisp. I took a deep, calming breath. The cougar was finally captured and the imminent danger had passed.

Immediately, the field supervisor was by my side asking if I was OK. Outside of possessions being ravaged, garbage strewn in my driveway and missing a day of work, I was physically, emotionally and spiritually intact. I had no need for the ever ready ambulance. As I filed a report with the field supervisor, the animal control officer joined us. It was a young female that possibly just separated from its mother. Also, she informed me that this young cougar will be released back into a secluded forest in central Colorado approximately seventy miles from Morrison.

With the mission accomplished signal, all the emergency vehicles left the scene. Within moments, Coppermesa Road returned to its natural, serene state. Friendly neighbors that watched from afar came to my aid and helped me to put my property back together again. Afterwards, an elderly neighbor brought over a big thermos of hot Celestial Seasonings Mandarin Orange tea and some homemade chocolate chip cookies which was shared at my dining room table with all my helpers. A renewed sense of calm returned to my home.