MOUNTAIN LION

I just about had a heart attack on the way home from my parents house tonight. I got about a mile from home and walking out of the ditch to cross HWY 2 right in front of my car was a mountain lion. I have heard about them around the Bottineau area and a few other places close to the Canadian border but never heard, or seen, one this close to home. I was concerned about my dog and if he was still alive. Then I started to worry about the farmers around the area that have elk, horses, and cows along the hwy. I got home, rushed Cassidy in the house paranoid that there could still be one around the house. I called my dad so he could call the Game & Fish dept. Then I called the Elk farmer and the horse farmer down the road from me who has young foals out in the pasture towards were the lion was heading. The elk farmer told me that he would look for it in the morning and check his elk tonight. He also said that he has a special license so that he can actually shoot it if he has to. I didn't know you could actually shoot one cause I thought mountain lions were a protected species. I just hope that everyone's animals are okay tomorrow and that Game & Fish will find the lion and take him back home or where ever the lion needs to be. I know you are probably thinking "Naw, it was a big dog or a coyote, but she didn't see a lion". I swear I saw a mountain lion and I hope I don't see him again.