KEYSTONE, Colo. — Furgus, a 14-month-old Australian shepherd and black-mouth cur mix, dozes on the couch of his home near the Keystone Ranch Golf Course.
With his head resting on the pillow, you can't tell he's missing an eye, and his owners say the gouges on his head are healing well. They're sitting beside him on the couch, reliving the moment they realized their pup had been attacked by a mountain lion.
"And I shouted back to Shannon, 'he's here. He's here. Fergus is here.' And as I was shouting, I raised the flashlight. And for the first time, saw the cougar," Shawne Leach said.
Shawne had let Furgus out around dinner time on the evening of Jan. 27. When she sat down to eat, she said she heard a strange sort of yelp. After calling out for Furgus and hearing no response, she sent her husband, Shannon, to check on the dog.
"As I'm going around looking for him, I noticed on the path drops of blood. And I knew then that a cougar had probably got him," Shannon said.
The couple immediately threw on coats and boots, with Shannon grabbing a gun, before heading out into nearly two-foot-high drifts of snow in search of Furgus.
Shannon said the mountain lion's paw prints in the deep snow were easy to follow, and every so often they'd see drops of blood.
"We crossed the Nordic trail; we scrambled down the side of the slope to the Snake River. And at that point, I realized I couldn't walk in the snow. It was too deep. I couldn't posthole. So, I started scrambling along on hands and knees," Shawne said.
All the pair had to guide their path through the snow was a small flashlight. Shannon said they were looking for the green glow of Furgus's collar in the dark.
"And then in the distance, as we're across the river, I see the green glow of Furgus's collar. And I shriek back, probably to Shannon, 'Oh my gosh, I see the collar.' And at that point, I left the trail of the cougar and started going straight to the green glow, scrambling through brambles and whatever was there," Shawne said. "His little body or thing was just lying stretched out. No movement, no nothing."
It was then that Shawne raised the flashlight from Furgus and noticed the mountain lion.
"The cougar was right there, standing over Furgus. It had that big head, and his mouth was open, and he was hissing at me, and I could see his long canines," Shawne said.
"We're still yelling. I'm standing up, of course I'm knee deep in snow, but I'm standing up trying to shake the trees. Do anything we can, anything we could throw at him. All we had was snow," Shannon said. "And so, I fired my .38 into the ground. I'm looking at the cougar, she's got the light on it. That cougar did not...he did not flinch."
Shawne said she started telling Shannon to kill the big cat, and that's when she saw Furgus move for the first time. Shannon said he tried to shoot the mountain lion but overshot it. It ran away.
"Fergus stood up and turned around and started walking toward me. And that's when we saw his poor right eye just dangling by the optic cord," Shawne said. "So that was the worst injury. Otherwise he was just kind of bitten up a little."
The couple and Furgus made their way back toward their house. Shannon said he called 911 to report shooting at the mountain lion, just in case he had hit it. They also called their neighbors, telling them they needed to get Furgus to an emergency vet immediately.
"We finally get to the river and I'm first, still crawling with the flashlight. And I look back and there's Furgus with his green collar trotting along behind me. And then he looks back to check on Shannon, who's in the rear, still postholing. So, in retrospect, we were we were kind of a funny trio," Shawne said.
Their neighbors, the Mitchells, picked them up in two cars. Deborah Mitchell had already called and made an appointment with Evolution Vet Hospital in Lakewood.
By the time the group delivered Furgus to the vet, there was an operation room ready and waiting for him.
Shawne and Shannon said they didn't think about their own safety until the mountain lion encounter was over. In the moment, Shawne said, it was "We have to get to Furgus."
"Now, I'm afraid to go out at dark. I don't want to go into the backyard. As we take him out for his nightly pee break, we take him in the front yard. Shannon has ordered big headlights for us for our foreheads. We've got great light. Even so, I am very uncomfortable in the dark outside now," Shawne said.
Shannon said Colorado Parks and Wildlife issued a public service note on the app Nextdoor and on Facebook shortly after the attack. He said the note said that there was mountain lion activity in the area. Wanting to make clear what happened, Shannon said he went into comment sections to describe what had happened to Furgus.
The couple moved from Arkansas to Colorado several years ago. They said they can't remember there ever being this much cougar activity so close to home before. They also don't believe there's enough information released to the public about the danger of mountain lions.
"The stuff that they put out saying, you know, some mountain lion activity has been reported. That's not very strong wording, and it says, make yourself big and make noise," Shannon said.
That wasn't the case for the Leachs.
"You know, we were within five to eight feet of him. He wasn't afraid of the gun, wasn't afraid of the light. So, what's to prevent him coming back?" Shawne said.
CPW's policy is to track down and euthanize mountain lions that attack humans. It's also their policy to track down an injured mountain lion. If the big cat hasn't done either of those things, CPW won't go after it.
"I feel like prey. I feel like my dog is prey. Yeah, they're here. They're close. They're unafraid. What do you do? Why wouldn't they go? I would like them to go find that cougar and kill that cougar. He's got dog blood in its mouth," Shawne said.
Shannon said they understand that Colorado is the mountain lion's natural habitat, but the couple believes it's necessary to keep the big cats away from populated areas, where there are pets and children. Raising awareness about what happened to Furgus is part of it.
"It certainly has helped people become aware of the fact that it's not just cougar sightings...You know, the public service announcement that comes out and just says, 'there's some been some activity in your area,' I don't think that really rings anybody's bells," Shannon said.
People can practice keeping themselves and their pets safe by doing things like not going out at night. As for keeping cougars away, they're not sure what that would look like.
Furgus is still sleeping on the couch by the end of the story. The Leachs said he's doing well. He's learning how to adjust to seeing with one eye. He's still happy to meet people, to play. They're hopeful he'll get back to his favorite pastime, which involves digging under the snow to hunt down voles in their backyard. He's even gotten recovery gifts from the neighbors.
Shannon said Furgus's survival story has made him somewhat of a local celebrity.
"People stop on the street out here that are just up here renting the place or something and they want to meet him," he said.
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