Priddis residents are banding together as fear mounts as pets in the area are targeted by cougars.
The community has recently created a Facebook page and community directory, and residents have contacted their MD of Foothills council representative to bring more awareness to the situation that has become a concern since September.
“The number of neighbours that didn’t know this was going on in our own back yard was very shocking,” said Tina Hayhurst, who’s lived in the area for almost a decade. “Our community is a mile radius with about 47 homes and 24 children under the age of 10. Should anything happen we can notify those people speedily.”
Fish and Wildlife has received six reports of suspected cougar incidents involving pets in the Priddis area since the beginning of September. Unless they can prove there is a problem cougar there is little they can do, said public affairs officer Brendan Cox.
“Officers aren’t looking to go out and hunt down any cougars at this time,” he said. “If there is a cougar or cougars in a particular area they can readily located that is proven to be a continuous public safety concern to people and/or their pets officers will remove them from the area.”
Hayhurst said action should be taken.
“This is definitely not just a general cougar awareness situation, this is a very dangerous, bold cougar situation,” she said. “We have numerous young families in our community and the fear of human harm is (I feel) heightening with each encounter this animal is having with us directly. These things do happen, but when it’s happening to this extent and more frequently it’s an issue.”
Hayhurst said a cougar(s) attempted to attack her Siberian husky Shadow on their front deck the late evening of Oct. 20 and early morning of Aug. 13. She and her husband frightened the cat away both times and the dog wasn’t harmed.
“We have lived here for nine years and never had any problems previously,” she said. “One neighbour has had, over the years, problem cougars with his sheep but there’s never been a reason or fear for us to be wary of them with our dogs.”
Hayhurst said the night following the second attack on her dog, a neighbour had to chase a cougar from their dog run fence line.
“We feel completely unnerved now and will not let our dog out of our sight,” she said.
Fish and Wildlife received a report of a missing dog near the Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club on Oct. 9. A cougar was seen at the back step of the home, yet officers haven’t confirmed the animal was responsible for the missing dog.
Another report on Sept. 28 was regarding a dead cougar and cat beneath a power pole east of Priddis.
On Sept. 4 officers were told a miniature horse was killed by a cougar west of the Priddis golf club. The report came from rancher Steve Caldera, who suspects he lost two barn cats to cougars days before his three-year-old miniature stallion Peanut was killed just 10 yards from his house.
Two nights later, a cougar attacked one of their quarter-horses, leaving a scratch on its chest and taking a chunk out of its right shoulder.
Cox said Fish and Wildlife officers trapped and destroyed a cougar that reportedly killed a goat east of the golf course on Sept. 2 to prevent the animal from continuing to rely on livestock and domestic pets as a food source.
Cox encourages residents to keep pets in a secure location as officers monitor the situation and patrol the area.
“As people continue to phone in, that helps officers determine their next course of action,” he said. “The more calls that we get and the more information we have the more readily available officers are to make a determination as to whether they are dealing with one or more cougars and what an appropriate response is.”
Cox said rural foothills residents can expect encounters with wildlife.
“This kind of activity is not something that is totally uncommon for this area,” he said. “It’s a part of living in the area. We encourage residents to understand there are wildlife that live in the area and there are precautions that every resident needs to take.”
After being contacted by concerned residents, MD of Foothills Coun. Suzanne Oel has put together safety information to distribute to about 500 people through the High Country Rural Crime Watch Association. She’s also planning to help organize a wildlife behaviour and defense course for area residents in the coming weeks.
Oel said she’s had animals hunted and killed by cougars before and wants to provide information on removing attractants, building better fences and choosing different behaviours to deter predators.
“We have to pen our animals differently, we have to look at not leaving them out in the open – even a dog on a deck is an attractant not only to a cougar but a bear hunting for meat or a coyote,” she said. “Our dogs, if they are small, are dinner for them. One of the realities of living in the area we live in is it’s got a fairly high population of all of these predators. It’s about prevention and awareness and protection measures that are reliable.”
For more information about preventative measures contact the MD of Foothills’ agriculture service department, which assists with pest and predator control, at 403-652-2341 or go to http://aep.alberta.ca/fish-wildlife/human-wildlife-conflict/cougars.aspx.
Anyone who sees a cougar or an incident involving a cougar can call 1-800-642-3800.
