80-year-old woman's cougar being mounted for museum

By Ryan Woodard, Journal staff | Wednesday, February 27, 2008

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The mountain lion shot and killed by Martha Smith is being mounted and will eventually end up in the Fairburn Museum.

But it may end up at Smith's residence for a short time before being taken to the museum.  

The cougar, which Smith shot in her yard to defend her dog and property in early January, is being stuffed by a Custer taxidermist.

Legislators passed a resolution Jan. 30, urging the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks to allow Smith to have the lion in her house for a period of time before giving it to the museum.

GF&P regional supervisor Mike Kintigh said he had already made arrangements with Smith to have the cat mounted and displayed in the museum. He said he hadn't yet arranged to take it to her house, but he is not opposed to doing so.

"I haven't had any communication with her, but if she wanted to actually have it in her home and display if for a period of time, we'll work with her on that too," Kintigh said.

State law would not allow Smith to permanently keep the lion, because it was not technically a legal kill, although Smith wasn't cited because she was defending her property.

Smith, 80, shot and killed the 40-pound mountain lion with a .22-caliber rifle. She was alerted to the cat's presence when she heard her dog, Bo, barking furiously outside her Fairburn ranch house.

She was not aware the resolution had passed and wasn't sure she would be able to keep the cat in her house at all. 

Smith said she doesn't have a strong desire to do so. If she does, it will probably only be for a week or so.

"It'd be nice if I could show him to my friends, but I can take my friends to our museum just as well as I can keep him in the house," she said.

Smith said the cat would probably just need to be in her house long enough to build a proper display in the museum. She said the mount will cost $2,000, an amount she'll probably have to pay herself. Similar big-game mounts take up to two years, but Smith is hoping it will be done sooner.    

Smith, who received national attention for the kill, said things have quieted down quite a bit. She maintains she didn't have much choice in taking out the lion and wouldn't rule out doing the same thing if another such situation arose.

"I assure you, I cannot and could not leave a mountain lion in my yard, big or little, because my housecats would be a nice meal for him every day," she said.

 

Contact Ryan Woodard at 394-8412 or ryan.woodard@rapidcityjournal.com