Jack Russell chases mountain lion up tree

A 150lb mountain lion found it was no match for a Jack Russell terrier which trapped it up a tree on a farm in the US state of South Dakota.


The dog's owner, Chad Strenge, heard frantic barking near the family's farm in Colman, Moody County.


He discovered the large male lion, also known as a cougar, clinging to the top of a tree while the 17lb terrier Jack barked from the bottom.

Mr Strenge used a shot gun to knock the mountain lion from the tree before he chased it - assisted by his dog Jack, and shot it dead.

"He trees cats all the time," Mr Strenge told The Argus Leader newspaper. "I suppose he figured it was just a cat."

Professor Jonathan Jenks, who tracks cougar migration patterns, said hunters usually required two or three hounds to chase mountain lions up trees.

He said the cougar was probably not hungry enough to attack Jack.

"It very well could have lost a territory and decided to take off from the Black Hills and head this way," he told The Argus Leader.

Arden Petersen, of the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks department, said that no charges would be filed for shooting the animal.

People in South Dakota have the right to kill mountain lions which they feel are a threat to themselves, their livestock or their pets.

The lion was taken to South Dakota State University, where it will be studied.

It is not the first time a potentially dangerous north American wild animal has been brought to heel by a family pet.

In 2006, a ginger cat - also called Jack - chased a black bear up a tree in West Milford, New Jersey.
When the bear eventually climbed down, Jack the cat chased it up another tree.

The bear only escaped when Jack's owner called him into the house.