ORAL - Getting ready for work on July 17 turned into a much more interesting adventure than the usual morning routine for Oral rancher Alan Burg.

About 6:30 a.m., just as he was about to start his pickup and head to work at The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, Burg noticed his blue heeler-border collie intently looking up into a nearby tree and barking.

"My first thought was that it had a coon up in the tree, which she had done before, or maybe one of our ranch cats," he said.

When Burg got within six feet of the tree, however, he saw a mountain lion, about 10-12 feet up, with its ears pinned back and staring directly at him.

Burg retreated to his house and grabbed his high-powered rifle.

"Alan came in the house and said, 'Call D.J., I'm going to shoot a mountain lion,'" said his mother, Joanne Burg, recalling the cryptic instructions to call Fall River County conservation officer D.J. Schroeder.

When Burg returned to the tree, about 40 feet from the house, he secured the dog on a leash and took aim at the big cat.

The bullet found its mark. The mountain lion hit the ground and rolled around for a short time before running off into 4-foot-tall grass west of the house. The grass kept Burg from keeping the cat in sight, but knowing he had a good hit, he was confident the cat was not far away.

He notified Fall River County law enforcement dispatchers and promptly heard from state Game, Fish & Parks Department personnel. Local trapper Jack Alexander and his hounds and tracked the cat to a fence line, where it was lying in tall grass about 40 yards from the tree. The cat was shot again and killed.

Schroeder said the mountain lion, an 80-pound female between 10 and 18 months, appeared to be in good health.

Schroeder said the state's investigation determined that Burg was justified in removing the animal. Investigators cited the close proximity to the Burgs' house and the threat to their animals and livestock.

"I've got a 78-year-old mother living with me, and an 86-year-old widow living down the road. To have a mountain lion that close to our house is just too dangerous," Burg said.

Schroder said while there won't be any charges in this case, the incident is a reminder that South Dakota considers mountain lions a big game animal with a regulated hunting season.

"Safety is our No. 1 concern, and while the department is not going to stand in the way of a person's right to protect themselves, it is only under special circumstances that shooting a mountain lion out of season is justified. All incidences will be investigated," he said.

The close encounter with the mountain lion capped off an interesting week involving wildlife for Joanne Burg.

Earlier in the week, she said she was driving into Hot Springs and a five-foot-long bull snake crawled out from under the hood of her car, near her windshield wipers, and slithered back and forth across her windshield. The big snake remained on her windshield until she pulled over along Fall River Road to let it crawl off into the ditch.

Also during the week, she came across another large bull snake swallowing a robin in her front yard. In addition, she also took some unusual snapshots of an owl that had been hanging around their home recently.

"I've had enough wildlife this week to last me for awhile," she said.