Cougar kills Shetland pony at Freeman Road residence
A cougar stalked and killed a pony in a corral sometime last Thursday evening, near M-68 and Freeman Roads, west of Onaway and returned to feast on it?s catch last Friday evening. Theresa Lupu, and daughters Payton, Paige, and Temara were driving past their horse corral and noticed Lazor, Temara?s pony was missing.
The rest of the horses were in a circle nose-to-nose, skittish, not wanting anything to do with their owners. Paige found Lazor laying at the far end of the corral with the pony?s throat, and part of his face, missing. Not knowing what killed the pony, husband and father Tom Lupu, laid in wait for the cougar to reclaim its victim.
At 10:30 p.m., Tom watched as the long grass in front of him parted. Finally, the cougar stepped out into the corral to finish what it started the night before. Tom said, ?It was just 100 feet away from me, about 125 to 150 pounds.? He could clearly see it was a cougar. Tom called the Michigan State Police in Cheboygan, who in turn contacted the Department of Natural Resources.
The cougar is a Federally protected species and can be shot if they attack a person or livestock, but the DNR prefers to handle the situations. Last year the Lupu?s had another horse badly wounded by what they thought was the same cougar. That horse weighted approximately 1,300 pounds.
Knowing that, it was no big feat for the cougar to overcome the 12 year-old Shetland pony. Temara, 8, who has had the pony for two years said, ?Lazor is my best fri
According to her parents, Temara and Lazor were inseparable. Whenever something bothered Temara, she would go to Lazor. Now she is at a loss without her beloved pony. Theresa said, ?She?s actually handling it very well. But you can tell how much she misses him. Temara has tried to ride one of her sister?s horses but the horse doesn?t react like Lazor. And Temara is sad.?
A neighbor of the Lupu?s, Ali Rhinesmith, has offered to get a pet head stone for Lazor, which brought tears to Theresa?s eyes.