In the past few weeks, Creston Valley residents have been sharing cougar sightings on social media. Again, The Advance sat down with WildSafe BC Community Coordinator Trish Drinkle, to discuss tactics to avoid wildlife conflict with the large predatory cat.
“Cougars are the largest of Canada’s three wild cats and are formidable hunters. We live in an area that is rich in wildlife, wild animals will pass through our town limits and most times go undetected”, states Drinkle. ” However, when there are food attractants in the area that’s when wildlife conflict will occur. Cougars are an opportunistic predator and will come into urban areas looking for an easy meal. We find many times younger cougars who haven’t honed their hunting skills yet and older cougars who are lacking in skills due to their age will come into urban areas to hunt for food.”
One of the food attractants that the mountain lions are hunting in urban areas is, unfortunately, family pets. Cats, small dogs, that are not brought in at night by the pet’s owners can be easy meals for the cougar.
Deer are the primary food source for the cougar. As winter approaches, food becomes scarce high in the mountains and the deer come down into the Creston Valley to look for food. To do this, they use animal corridors or deer trails throughout the valley. Deer, however, bring with them predators such as the cougar among others.
“Deer will absolutely attract cougars,” Trish is quick to say. “If you have deer that visit your yard don’t let them linger around. Use your voice to move them on.”
Cougars will hunt any of the smaller species in town areas like Creston, such as raccoons, rats, and bunnies.
“Bunny hutches need to be secured so that predators can not access it. WildSafe BC recommends erecting an electric fencing option. Remember to keep your pets inside at night to avoid becoming a food attractant,” suggests Drinkle.
“If you encounter a cougar remain calm and do not run. Make yourself look big by waving your arms above your head. Talk to the cougar in a stern voice. Do not turn your back on the cougar. You do not want to expose the back of your neck to the cougar. If a cougar decides it wants to pounce, bear spray is an effective defense against cougars.”
“Cougars don’t normally attack humans. However, a desperate cougar may attack a small child. It’s the size of small children that attract the opportunistic predator.
If there is a cougar in the area to make sure that children do not play or go outside unattended. It’s awesome when residents use social media to alert their neighbors that there is a cougar coming through the area so people can be aware.”
WildSafe BC has an online program on their website called WARP that residents can input where they spotted a cougar, when and if there was any conflict. It is recommended that residents call the RAPP hotline to report a cougar that is too habituated and if there is a conflict with pets or livestock.
The provincial RAPP hotline is available to report wildlife-human interactions where public safety may be at risk. The RAPP program is an anonymous, toll-free tip line / online service that also allows you to report known or suspected violations of fisheries, wildlife, or environmental protection laws. The anonymity allows the reporter to do so without risk of confronting the offender.
“I suggest people become proactive, many people use the word “yet” when talking about cougars. The cougar hasn’t gotten my cat YET, hasn’t gotten my dog YET, hasn’t gotten my bunnies YET,” laments Drinkle. “Its a YET if we have the food attractants around it could be a matter of time before it attracts predators and wildlife conflict could then occur.”
Be proactive and avoid the wildlife conflict with cougars. You can do this by first, removing all food attractants in your area and secondly, keeping pets and livestock in a secure, indoor enclosure. Be cougar smart.
RAPP hotline 1877-952-7277