Two cougar attacks on horses have taken place in Otter Tail County within the past week, one just southeast of Fergus Falls and the other south of Erhard.

About 4 p.m. Wednesday Kim Pederson, after arriving home south of Erhard east of U.S. Highway 59, found one of her horses severely injured. She called Lake Region Equine in Elbow Lake. Upon arrival, Dr. Kathy Seifert performed surgery on the horse, an older mare.

Claw marks were evident on the face of the horse, and there were deep wounds to the neck. Several stitches were required. One eye was severely injured.

The horse owned by Pederson and her husband, Jerry, didn’t need to be taken to the equine center at Elbow Lake for recovery. However, another horse injured by a cougar southeast of Fergus Falls, owned by Roger and Margo Schuetzle, did require hospitalization at the equine center.

Over the years there have been documented cases of cougar attacks on horses in Minnesota. The Department of Natural Resources, in most cases, seeks definitive proof such as footprints and hair.

Males have an average weight of 115 to 160 pounds In rare cases, some may reach over 260 pounds. Female average weight is between 75 and 105 pounds.

In many cases veterinarians such as Seifert of Lake Region Equine can ascertain cougar attacks through marks on a horse or other animal.

A cougar, according to state DNR officials, will oftentimes attack by jumping on the back of its prey leaving long, deep scratch marks down the animal’s back. The cat will then bite to the neck area, which was the case with the horse owned by the Pedersons.

A method used by a cougar is to try and kill prey by clamping off the trachea of the animal with a bite to the neck.

In its pre-settlement days, Minnesota was prime cougar habitat — as was most of North America. With the settlement of the area, cougars were slowly chased off their established territory. Many were hunted and killed to remove the threat to humans and livestock.

Currently, the existence of cougars is not in dispute. But attacks, according to the DNR, don’t happen very often. Nonetheless, cougar attacks and people seeing cougars have been reported in the Milaca area southeast of Brainerd. Other cougars and injuries to horses and other animals have been reported at Cambridge, east of St. Cloud, and near McGregor, southwest of Duluth.