A cougar some think may be injured has reportedly taken six dogs from the yards of Bragg Creek homes over the past three months, a situation that intensified this week when three family pets were taken.
The last one was a Rottweiler.
“Anxiety levels and a bit of panic was coming into play and Bragg Creek Wild became concerned when we started hearing community members talking about the fact that they had a rifle and yes, it is legal to kill a cougar that's on your property,” said Lucy Curtis of Bragg Creek Wild, a local grassroots organization committed to improving the conditions for wildlife and people in the community.
“We just felt things needed to be calmed, and Fish and Wildlife needed to come in because we live with cougars in this area, but that's very unusual behavior,” she added.
“This is a situation where a wild animal has been habituated to human behaviour and has learned that dogs and cats are an easy food source. It’s important to recognize that a cougar doesn’t differentiate between a Snowshoe hare and a cat or a dog.”
Curtis said the RCMP, Tsuut’ina Nation Police and Alberta Fish and Wildlife are working hard to capture the cougar. Fish and Wildlife have put out a trap, which Curtis said might injure the big cat, and lead to a decision to euthanize it – an unfortunate outcome, if it comes to that.
“Cougars are shy by nature and will avoid humans at all costs so it’s important to be aware they are a part of this landscape and we don’t need to be overly alarmed. We have no history of cougars attacking humans in the area,” she said.
The dogs have been taken in the Wintergreen area, just north of the hamlet, where 17-year-old Ava Helman and her grandpa Roy were out walking her five-year-old Bernedoodle Gord on Friday.
Helman lives on Mountain Lion Place, and is no stranger to cougars – she knows what to do and what not to do with Gord.
“We have an electric fence, so usually he stays in the yard, but we leave him inside now when we’re away,” she said.
“He has a collar with fashionable spikes, we put that around his neck for more protection,” she said. “It’s kinda punk rock.”
Grandpa interjects at that point, that a cougar will go for the throat, so the punk rock collar might buy Gord a little time.
“It’ll give him a chance to get mad,” Roy said.
Helman said she heard about the six dogs that have been killed.
“They’re big dogs that he’s taking out, so we’re being cautious,” she said.
Growing up in the area, she’s familiar with wildlife. They had a bear in their yard last summer, that was trapped and relocated.
Their neighbour lost their dog to the cougar – their second such loss in a year.
“It sucks,” she said.
Battle scarred
There are reports from area residents that the cougar has scratch marks around the neck and head, which might mean it’s fighting for survival.
“Those kinds of marks would align with being in a fight which made me start to wonder, is this a cougar that got displaced from its territory and is now having to fight for territory with other cougars because they have always been up behind Wintergreen, there's been dens up there for years,” Curtis said.
She added there’s two central questions: why did this cougar start to behave in an unusual manner and what part did human activity have to play in that?
Curtis said human activity (logging or settlement) might be inadvertently creating the potential for human-wildlife conflict.
“The concern is, are we going to see more of this kind of conflict as we displace animals without realizing we've done so,” Curtis said.
The Bragg Creek area is part of Yellowstone to Yukon wildlife corridor – the largest in the world, at 3200 kilometers.
The Y2Y conservation initiative is a joint Canada—U.S. not-for-profit organization that connects and protects habitat from Yellowstone to the Yukon so people and nature can thrive.
Cougar advice from Bragg Creek Wild
“Cougars like most wild animals, hunt at dawn and dusk and during the night. They do not hibernate over winter. During the darker months we need to be cognizant that they are hunting during these hours. We can protect ourselves and our pets by keeping our cats indoors and taking our dogs out on a leash between the hours of dusk and dawn. We can carry a flashlight and bear spray if we are taking an evening walk. Should we be approached we need to avoid eye contact and make noise, we can make ourselves bigger by raising our jackets up above our heads. It is vital that we keep our properties free of attractants and keep our garbage stored securely inside.”
Calls to Fish and Wildlife had not been returned at press time.
Anyone spotting a cougar that might be a danger should call Alberta Fish and Wildlife at 403-297-6423.
