A Cougar has been sighted in the vicinity of 10th Avenue &
Kamus street this week. Although there have been no reports of contact with the
animal, residents are advised to keep pets indoors at night, and if the cougar
is sighted, go indoors immediately, and report your sighting to
the State Department of Fish and Wildlife.
A "live trap" has been set in an attempt to capture and relocate the cat,
however he is still at large.
Cheryl Hoover writes:
On Aug. 22 at about 3:45pm we had a cougar on our property! I heard it well
before I saw it!! There is no mistaking that sound at all!!!! I was sitting on
our back deck when all of a sudden I heard it. Thinking I was hearing something
out of the ordinary, I got up out of my lawn chair and heard it again.
This time, I proceeded to the door and went
in the house. I stayed by the door looking just in case. All of a sudden it
appeared in our woods. We have 4 1/4 acres here, so there is plenty of woods for
it to hide. It made its way out into our back lawn and ran to the other side and
back into the woods. As spectacular as this animal is, it is also capable of
creating a tremendous amount of damage. We live on Kamus Dr. down the hill from
the Fire Station where Island Blvd. and Kamus Dr. come together. I just thought
this should be known to others as there are a lot of children out for the
summer.
Snag F (obviously a Husky) writes:
A much to do about nothing, I say! A couple of years ago when they
spotted a cougar in our yard off 11th, the DFW came out and set up their big
fancy-smancy trap. What a waste of good taxpayers dollars! I found that all you
had to do to keep these rather dumb over-grown felines out of your yard was to
erect a set of goal posts! They never came back... I'll bet the lady that saw
the cougar is probably from the Big Sky Conference...it's about the only place a
cougar can feel a little tough...
Top Dawg
Reply to Snag F
...We suspect you might have something there.
Whenever our Husky's grad daughters are here, the cat is never seen.
What is you source for goalpost purchases? We
want to make sure its a goalpost from Western WA as we
hear the ones from Eastern are not as effective.
Tabitha Writes:
Please don't make the same mistake the Florida police made with the escaped
tiger who played in an early film of Tarzan. They killed the cat. This could
have been avoided if the police officer would have had a tranquilizer gun. The
cat should b tranquilized and relocated to an area before something bad happens
to it or the cat has to react with its instincts to survive.
David Whitney writes:
My wife was out jogging Friday early and heard the cougar near our house at
the south end of 9th Ave. It seemed to be a little far away, probably up near
the ridge, not down by the water. She didn't see it but she made a lot of noise
and it seemed to go away.
Jay Rideout writes:
The interesting sidebar to this is when Washington Fish & Wildlife allowed
the use of dogs for cougar and bear hunting we saw very few of either on the
suburban fringe. During the tracking season dogs were allowed to start tracking
the animals but no hunting was allowed. This drove the bears and cougars into
the more inaccessible areas and resulted in less contact with humans with fewer
bears and cougars being taken. This was one of those initiatives that did more
damage then good.
Jay
Bill S. writes:
Recent Quack Attack
In reference to the Cougar sighting, I thought I'd try the Goal Posts and they
really do work! During the year Cougars and our neighbors Husky dogs are always
wandering around our property. Once I erected the goal posts they were nowhere
to be seen! The added bonus it seems is that we get a lot of DUCKS that fly
through, over and around the goal post....can't keep them away. It is a
beautiful sight to behold!
Snag F responds:
Responding to Bill S. - Bill, I would tend to
agree with you on the added benefit of the goal posts attracting the ducks as
they seem to be a perfectly passive and non-threatening species except the
strange 'residue' that they leave behind - I thought it was their natural
'droppings' but on further inspection it appears to be from CHOKING. I have
found that to keep this annoying residue and the ducks off my goal posts, I
simply planted some roses around them. I am wondering if your neighbors 'Husky'
is a purebred because most Huskies loathe the mallards...
Top Dawg
J. Collins (UW 72) writes:
My little brother lives at that location with
the wonderful Hoover family -- and she wasn't hallucinating to get that photo.
Our Grandfather attended the UW in 1913, my uncle in 1945 and me in 1972 -- so
we are purple and gold to the bone. And so's little brother. And I like that
fancy-smancy trap and think it is a perfect use of taxpayer's money. Or would
you rather fund Haliburton in Iraq to the tune of $2 Billion to reconstruct what
we blew up? Just kidding -- I hope the cougar, cats, dogs, and all loved ones
remain safe -- and in separate habitats.
Lenora Andres writes:
Sunday night around 10 pm, our daughter Stacy (a Husky alumni)
was coming home, and hit a large raccoon on Island Drive near 11th. Not
wanting to stop by herself, she came home and got her father to go back and help
remove it from the road. They went back, and no raccoon-just a puddle of blood.
They went back immediately with flashlights and looked on the shoulders and in
the nearby shrubs-no raccoon. We're thinking that cougar had a mighty tasty
dinner! Last year in July, our other daughter Carrie thought she saw a cougar
cross 11th too, but we were told that one had been spotted by a neighbor, and
traps set out, but no cougar and no evidence. Our cat was also missing for 2
days last summer, and when she came home-she was too frightened to go back out!
Hope Macklin writes:
We live on the dirt road that runs off of 12th Ct. We have heard the cougar over
the past two summers up behind our house and to the left of our driveway over to
Mowitsh. It would be in the vicinity of the
ospreys Nest. (Who by the way had a baby this year) We used to have a few deer
around here but over the last two years I haven't seen any.
I Have heard some one shooting a gun off over the last two years and I
thought maybe someone was shooting deer,
But maybe it was the cougar! I hope they catch it and let it loose in some place
where wild animals should be. One more thing,
have there been any babies and is there maybe more then one???
Bill Nettles writes:
Wednesday morning, an official with The State Department of Fish and
Wildlife told my wife that they had determined that there is no cougar on Fox
Island. He said more information will be coming out shortly.
Gene McPhereson writes:
People joke about the cougar, when it attacks a child
maybe than people will respond positively. hound hunters should be called
in and the cougar destroyed.
Harry Pritchard writes:
Last night a coyote killed a fawn in our driveway [near 1100 14th Ave] and ate the underside.
The Fish & Wildlife told us they were 90% sure there is no cougar on Fox Island.
We do have lots of deer, raccoons, a few wild dogs and an occasional black bear.
The Fish and Wildlife Officer, Philip
Johnson, who looked at the fawn told us it was a coyote. We did not see it.
Cheryl Hoover writes:
I would like to respond regarding things that are being said and the article
in the Gateway. First of all, no interview took place between myself and
reporter Callie White from the Gateway. I find it extremely frustrating that a
reporter can print what they consider “news” and in the process, make a person
seem like a complete idiot! I feel she should have given me the courtesy of at
least getting my side of this! This was not a figment of my imagination at all!!
This reporter needs to get her story straight! The statements she reported in
her article are nothing more than slander.
The Dept. of Wildlife never once told us that they didn’t
believe us. In fact, when they walked our property the first time they were out
here, they even heard it! That is when they decided to bring out the live trap.
They did pick the trap up on Sept. 4 because they said there have been sightings
in the Harbor and as far out as Lakebay. Since cougars roam a large area, they
believed it was the same one.
I am extremely upset over this entire situation. You can bet
that I will never share another photo with anyone but family! I feel that I am
having to defend myself over some lies that are being circulated around that are
not even true in the first place.
I do apologize for all those that are spreading this “gossip”.
In the future, I will never inform anyone about any wildlife on this island!
Cheryl
Bob Whitney writes:
Re: Cheryl Hoover - I hope you sent your comments to the News Tribune and
Gateway, esp. Mr Dave Zeeck who writes the Sunday column on TNT policies and
reporting accuracy. Maybe he could shed some light on it (the reporting, not the
wild animals)
David Whitney writes:
Re: Cougar & Gateway Article
Wow, that was quite the inflammatory article. It essentially said Cheryl was an
attention-starved liar. It seems strange that one person from Fish & Wildlife
would say the things he did ("They have egg on their face", "a waste of tax
payer money", etc), unless they were taken wildly out of context by the
reporter, who I agree, should have at least had the courtesy to try and
interview her first. Every communication we've had with F&W has been supportive.
Cougar tracks were even found in the area.
Pretty bizarre article.
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