Cougars in the metro?

After years at the racetrack, thoroughbred My Friend Deke was easing into retirement.

But his peaceful rehabilitation in a Prior Lake pasture, just a couple of miles from Canterbury Park, where he last raced, was interrupted this week.

When his owner, Annie Gallus, and a friend fed him Monday evening, they saw his back legs covered with gashes and punctures, the top of his hindquarters scraped in short parallel lines on both sides.

They immediately thought a big cat -- a cougar -- could have attacked, and Dr. Jennifer Selvig, the veterinarian who responded to care for Deke, agrees.

"What made it so obvious was the definite claw marks," Selvig said. "I looked at it and said, 'Oh my gosh, this is a cat.'"

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) isn't convinced.

Cougars have been known to show up in Minnesota from time to time, more frequently in recent years as males wander away from growing populations in the western Dakotas. They are a protected species in Minnesota and can't be hunted.

So what happened to Deke?

"It's nice to be able to give an answer to what happened, but it's not always possible," Stark said.

In this case, he said, "None of the injuries indicated that it was any kind of predator attack that folks in Minnesota who do those kinds of investigations recognize."

Cougars rarely attack adult animals, Stark said, noting that when they do, they tend to bite the head, neck or back.

Attack or self-inflicted?

Another possible explanation, he said: Horses sometimes injure themselves on fencing or other everyday objects, even just a bolt or nail protruding from a post.

"It's hard to really make any predictions," Stark said.

Gallus said the only possible sign of a struggle was a clump of hair from Deke's tail that was found in the middle of the pasture. A check of the fence in the pasture, which slopes upward to a wooded area, revealed nothing -- no broken or bloodied spots to suggest Deke was entangled.

None of the other horses in the pasture shows any sign of injury. But it makes sense that Deke would have been the one attacked, Gallus said, because he'd had an abscess on his front foot -- since healed -- and wasn't moving too well.

Something could have jumped onto Deke's back and then gone for his rear legs after being kicked or bucked off, Gallus said.

"He's the best patient," Gallus said, applying a new bandage Thursday afternoon.

The tall horse stands perfectly still while being treated, something Gallus chalks up to his racing background, constantly being fussed over and bathed. He won nearly $74,000 in his 37-race career.

He's on multiple antibiotics and painkillers. And he's staying in the barn for now.

Selvig and Gallus said they don't want to cause alarm, but they want to make sure others are aware of the incident.

"There are a lot of horses in the general area of Prior Lake and Shakopee," Selvig said. "I know there's a lot of horse owners who are concerned."