Image Credit: SUBMITTED
November 02, 2021 - 12:27 PM
Living near the busy intersection of Highway 97 and Highway 33, Kelowna resident Lesley Graham never expected to see a cougar prowl across her property.
So it felt unnerving when it happened during the early hours of Oct. 29.
The cat’s movements were detected by a neighbour’s security cameras and there was no encounter.
However, Graham was outside playing with her dog on the same patch of grass about 15 minutes earlier.
“We would have been toast because my dog would have started barking," she said.
Graham described the cougar as big and beautiful, saying it didn’t appear to be starving for food.
In the security footage, it can be seen prowling between cars in a well-lit parking area at a housing complex. It came closer to the camera as it crossed Graham’s front lawn before getting out of the shot. From the building’s rear camera, it can be seen leaping into the backyard before wandering off.
From that point, Graham suspects it crossed Highway 33, as she heard that a family dog was attacked later in the evening.
The conservation officer service was alerted, she said.
“But at that point there’s nothing to do, it’s just good for them to have the info to track it."
READ MORE: Cougar spotted in several Kelowna neighbourhoods
Graham refereed to it as “our Rutland cougar” and said it’s becoming a concern now that it appears to be acting more brazen.
She suspects it made Halloween a little bit scarier for local families whose children went out trick-or-treating.
Also, Costco is just a “stone’s throw” from her neighbourhood.
“He could have gone and had his lunch at Costco," she said.
Other neighbours she’s spoken with said the cat has also been spotted in the daytime, and since it appear comfortable in the neighbourhood and has attacked a family dog, she was told that a trap has been set using chicken as bait.
B.C. Conservation Officer Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Dan Walton or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2021