OAKHURST, Calif. (KMPH) -
"It was a little terrifying," Kim Santos said.
Santos woke up last Thursday morning to a terrible scene in her Oakhurst backyard.
"I saw my goat laying in the pen, not moving. I yelled to her a few times, she didn't come. So I realized she was dead. And then upon closer examination, I realized she had been attacked," Santos said.
The Santos got a hold of the U.S.D.A. and the Department of Fish and Game and they came out.
They examined the goat's wounds and were able to determine that it was a mountain lion that killed the goat.
So they set up a trap where the goat was killed and put goat meat inside and then waited for the mountain lion to come back.
"Relief, there's relief. But I'm not in denial," Santos said. "I do know that there are mountain lions up here. I do know there are bears up here. And I don't necessarily fear that. But on the other hand, if they're willing to come into a fenced–in area and kill, it's not like he's chasing down a deer."
"We're very grateful Fish and Game could come up and handle the problem. I love wildlife too, but not in my fence," Chris Schwarm, Kim's neighbor, said.
Kim and her neighbors say they know situations like this are part of living in the mountains. And this is a sobering reminder they'll keep in mind.
"We hear them at night; we hear the mountain lions crying at night," Schwarm said. "You have to always be aware, in the yellow zone as we would say; you have to be very aware of your surroundings no matter where you are."
"Way more alert because that's a scary thought," Santos said.
The U.S.D.A. put the mountain lion down to keep it from killing more animals, or even worse, a person.
This isn't the first time the Santos family has had a run–in with wild animals.
They've already had two bear attacks this year where all of their turkeys were killed inside the pens.
