An article appeared in todays July 30, 2006 local & state section of the Harrisburg newspaper; The Patriot-News in regard to some residents in upper Dauphin County insisting they've had encounteters with mountain lion. Here is a brief rundown of the article.
One incident under investigation by the PGC took place July 10 in upper Dauphin County. Residents believe it's possible that a mountain lion attacked a horse around 1 a.m. The article goes on to say the beast jumped on the horse and the horse just went berserk. Three family members said the noise woke them up and they never heard anything like it.
Three other sightings from people who live along the same mountain have been reported. The latest sighting was last week at about 7 a.m. when a guy looked out his back window and saw a mountain lion in his hayfield.
Game commission officials said it was unlikely that a mountain lion attacked the horse. The official said that they have not had any confirmed reports of cougars in Pennsylvania in many years. The official said he isn't familiar with the incident. but said it's "99.9 percent unlikely" a mountain lion was involved. "Bears have attacked horses in the past. That's my opinion. It's all speculation right now", the official said.
The land owner is awaiting officials' determination of animal foot-prints lifted from his property.
The horse is expected to recover from the attack after a series of rabies shots.
The Patriot-News site -
www.pennlive.com
