It was June of 2009 in Riverside County of southern California, when a cougar got into Ana Lee Spray's garage.

Spray's three chihuahuas -- Lena, Abbey and Gita -- yapped at the big cat for forty-five minutes, keeping it cornered, until the sheriff's deputies and Fish and Game officers could arrive.

Ana Lee got her three year old daughter to safety, then grabbed a video recorder, and photographed the cougar through a garage window.

There's sound with the mother's footage and you can hear the dogs barking in the background. The cat even tried to menace Ana Lee, in the screen-capture shown hissing at the garage window.

During the forty-five minute siege, Lena and Abbey did get a little tired of the non-stop yapping at the giant cat, but teency Gita, the longhair chi, never gave an inch, ferociously committed to protecting her family.

Ana Lee reported, "The cougar was really upset, it was starting to hiss, it was like standing up and kind of like prancing toward them, but coming back like it was scared." When the deputies first showed up, they looked at the little dogs, and said in wonder, "Those little things?'"

One of the photos above shows the gang of three chis splitting up to re-check the territory, patrolling for more cougars. That's ultra-brave Gita closest to the camera on the right. Abbey is on the left, Lena in the background right.