Conservation officers have shot a cougar that killed a deer and was feasting on it under the deck of an Elkford residence.
The young female cat had been reported as hanging around Cassiar Drive and Cariboo Drive for a couple of weeks, and was showing up every evening at around 4 to 6 p.m. at the end of the cul-de-sac.
“The cougar was showing no fear of humans, and was just coming too close to people and their houses, probably just trying to claim what territory it could,” said Joe Garay, Conservation Officer.
“We found out she had killed a deer and dragged it under a deck in Cariboo Drive and was feeding on it there for about four days.
“We decided it was just too dangerous and needed to be shot.”
Garay said it was too hot, dry and windy to call in hounds to track the cougar, because they would have been unable to pick up the scent, so on Friday he used an electronic predator call to draw it in.
“It basically is a tape recorder which plays the sound of a dying deer,” said Garay. “Within about five minutes of playing it at the end of the cul-de-sac we saw the cougar coming towards us, and shot it at about 18 feet.”
Garay said the cougar was about 16 months old and in good shape. He said she had probably been living in the green belt between Cariboo Drive and Highway 43.