Last night around 6:15 p.m. while heading west on Hwy. 53 towards the town of Clearlake from Hwy. 20, my wife and I were startled big time when a huge cougar ran out from the bushes in front of our truck. I was going 55 miles per hour in cruise control about 200 yards or so before the Olympic Drive exit, and I almost broadsided it.
I tried to avoid hitting it as best I could by veering off to the right without running us off the road, but I may have inadvertently just clipped it”s hind legs as we both felt a small thump as it passed our truck from the passenger side to the driver”s side. I immediately hung a U-turn to go back and check to see if it was lying on the side of the road. But since it was dark, I wasn”t getting out of the truck to go looking for it.
So, it either got lucky and just missed being killed, or it still may be still lying wounded on the north side of Hwy. 53. My wife had no idea there were cougars that close to houses and people, as we were not far from the town of Clearlake itself and just minutes away from Lakeshore Blvd., the main road heading into town. I”m sure if most parents of that area saw the size of this cat, their kids and pets would not be allowed out after the sun went down.
Daryl C. Carter
Clearlake
