Washington Girl Shoots Cougar Stalking Her Brother

An 11-year-old girl came to her sibling’s aid on Feb. 20 by shooting a mountain lion that appeared to be following her brother into the family’s home in Twisp, Wash.

According to the New York Daily News, Thomas White had already scared the cougar away twice that day. It returned around 3:30 p.m. when his daughter, Shelby, and son, Tanner, 14, were returning from school.

Tanner went outside to feed the family’s dogs, unaware the lion was hiding underneath one of the family’s parked cars. The cat followed him to the house. That’s when Thomas looked out a window and saw the cougar just 10 feet away. Shelby, who had a permit to kill cougars, grabbed her rifle immediately and shot the lion.

Cal Treser, enforcement officer for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the 4-year-old lion weighed just 50 pounds and was starving to death. This was the third cougar shot on the White family’s property in two weeks.