SLATER – As local ranchers Jeb and Lalonda Baker were sipping an early morning cup of coffee and looking out toward the horizon, they marveled at how beautiful the sunrise was and wondered why their dog was out agitating the cattle.

As they posed that question and mentioned the dog’s name out loud, the dog came walking in between them and they knew something else was out near the calf pen.

As Baker grabbed a pair of binoculars and took a closer look, all he could say was, “it’s a lion,” before heading for the gun cabinet.

The ranchers in Wyoming know it’s calving season and although a rare occurrence, vigilance is something kept close to the gun cabinets. This mountain lion was a 130-pound male that was on the prowl close to Normandy Road on the Baker ranch in Slater.

Although more lions are spotted west of the I-25 corridor, according to Wyoming Game and Fish Department, this one came east of the highway.

The Bakers watched as the lion paced back and forth in front of the calf pen. It appeared to be stalking the cattle, according to Baker.

“It was just about 6:45 and the sun was coming up,” Lalonda Baker said. “After Jeb saw that it was a lion, he and our son Harley went out to the porch and watched the lion jump a fence and then we couldn’t see it. We figured that it headed toward the barn and both of them took off to search for it.”

Jeb got a shot off with his rifle and the lion went over a mound of snow. Both men began to track it as there was a fresh layer of snow on the ground. As Harley came up over the mound he was 30 feet away from the lion hissing and growling and he called to his father to come quickly.

A final shot and the threat was over.

The first shot, according to Baker was at approximately 7:15 and at 7:30, the lion was dead. They immediately called the game warden, Jesse Niemerr, from the Wheatland office of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Niemerr came to Slater and began his investigation of the events and said that it was easy to investigate with the tracks in the snow. By 8:30 a.m. ,Niemerr had the carcass loaded and took it to Cheyenne.

According to Briana Ball, communications department of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department in Cheyenne, the investigation proved a justified kill in the defense of property.

“This was not typical behavior,” Ball said. “It’s extremely rare, and although the animal had to be put down, the owners did everything right in defending their property and in calling us immediately after the incident. We do live in Wyoming and occasionally we will see wildlife even come into towns such as one that came into the eastern part of Cheyenne last year.”

Although the owners could not take possession of the carcass, Ball said  animals like this instance will be used for research and then for educational purposes.

“It’s sure not something you see every day,” Jeb Baker said. “It kind of gets your adrenaline moving.”

This is the second occurrence of the “something you don’t see every day” at the Baker farm as last fall the they saw a black bear on their property.

In the rural areas of Wyoming, the domain is still frequented by various wildlife. In the case of lions, they are reported more up near Glendo and Hartville, but sometimes they will wander in search of food. A good rule of thumb is if you are living in a remote area of the state and have to go to your car early in the morning or late at night,  to use your car’s key fob and click the panic button a few times so the lights flash and the horn sounds. This may be enough of a deterrent to keep a curious critter from harboring near a warm engine.