Kearney’s first big cat killed

• Story

Posted: Monday, May 9, 2011 1:00 pm | Updated: 12:20 pm, Mon May 9, 2011.

Kearney’s first big cat killed By LORI POTTER Hub Staff Writer Kearney Hub | 0 comments

KEARNEY — Southwest Kearney residents started their morning with the sight of a mountain lion running through their yards and the sound of a gunshot.

A young male mountain lion was killed by Kearney Police Officer Jolissa May-Werner about 7:15 a.m. in a back yard at 1330 12th Ave.

Nick Fryda, a wildlife biologist with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in Kearney, said this is the first confirmed mountain lion in Kearney.

“We’ve actually had multiple reports over the years of mountain lion sightings,” he said, but there never was the required photo, footprint, hair sample or scat for confirmation.

“This is the first confirmation,” he continued. “Some reports that we got could have been this one, but there was not a confirmation.”

Sky Oldham, who lives across the street and just north of the yard where the mountain lion was killed, knew what she was seeing on her yard’s chain link fence just after 7 a.m. She said the family dog Max, a bloodhound, was barking at the big cat on the fence, which jumped off and ran.

“Good thing we have a hunting dog,” Sky said.

Her mother wasn’t so sure about her daughter’s report.

“I just thought she was exaggerating, that it was a raccoon or something,” Candi Oldham said. “… I came outside and the cop said, ‘There’s a mountain lion on the loose.’”

Sky added with a smile, “It was amazing.”

Ashley Hilton, who lives at 1331 13th Ave., was one of the last people to see the mountain lion alive. Hilton is pregnant. She and her husband, Jesse, are expecting their first child in a few weeks.

“It could have sent me into labor,” she said about the excitement.

KPD Sgt. Kyle Harshbarger said he first saw the mountain lion in the 1200 block of Ninth Avenue. “He was probably five feet away from me when he came out and started running west.”

Neighbors on either side of the yard where the mountain lion was killed never saw it. One was warned to stay inside by law enforcement officers, and the two next-door neighbors were alerted to a problem when they heard the gunshot.

“I was going out to get some creamer for my coffee,” said Monte Dakan, who lives two doors north of the site. “He must have run across the street just before I opened the door.”

Two officers yelled at him to get into his house.

Toddlers live in the homes on either side of the property where the mountain lion was killed.

Cassy Kvasnicka, on the south, said she didn’t know anything was going on until she heard the gunshot. “I looked out and then I saw them (officers with guns) on the neighbor’s deck,” she said.

As she held her 21-month-old son, Liam, on her front step after all the excitement was over, their Irish terrier, Blue, looked outside from the screen door. She had brought the dog inside just a few minutes before the mountain lion ran by.

“He didn’t bark,” Kvasnicka said. “He’d been out all morning, and I thought he needed to come inside for breakfast.”

When asked what she thought about having a mountain lion come within a few feet of her front door, she replied: “Oh my gosh, wow. It’s just frightening.”

Mattie Curtiss, who lives north of where the big cat was killed, also was alerted by the gunshot. That’s when she saw officers on a staircase on the north side of her house. She said they were using it as a vantage point to look over fences into back yards.

“I heard the gunshot. I thought it was the trash can going over,” Curtiss said, her 2-year-old Sophie standing beside her.

“I feel bad that it got into town and had to be shot. But there are so many dogs and so many kids around … I’m so nervous that it was so close to us,” Curtiss said.

Fryda understands the concern, but he said this morning’s incident was uncommon.

“This is rare,” he said. “People don’t need to be afraid of it (a mountain lion). If you do come across one, don’t corner it. Stay away from it. Most of the time, they will run away.”

It’s believed that the mountain lions now reported more commonly in central Nebraska originate in South Dakota and the breeding population in the Pine Ridge area of northwest Nebraska. Fryda said the single males must move out on their own.

The mountain lion in southwest Kearney was in good condition.

“Their main diet is deer, and there are plenty of deer,” Fryda said. “There’s plenty of game around.”

So why was a mountain lion so far into town? The first reports of sightings were along Ninth Avenue, or about four to six blocks from Kenwood Elementary School.

“I think he got into town and just couldn’t get out,” Fryda said. “Almost every yard has a fence. He’d jump one fence, and there would be another.”

He noted that the mountain lion was moving to the west, toward the edge of town, when it was killed.

Kearney Game and Parks officials will take the body to the commission’s Lincoln headquarters for its weight and age to be determined — Fryda defined it as a “subadult” — and probably will take blood tests for disease.

Fryda said the body initially was taken to the Kearney office’s shop. It could be transported to Lincoln later today, depending on instructions from the commission’s non-game biologist there.

The mountain lion’s presence in southwest Kearney was compounded by the time of day, with people going to work and children going to school. Fryda said KPD was “well within our protocol” to kill the mountain lion because of the safety issues.

He said it’s still safe to go to the parks and walk or bike the trails around Kearney. “There is no reason to be afraid of mountain lions,” Fryda said. “Just be aware of them.

“If given the opportunity, they’ll try to run away.”