The wonders of nature can come pretty close to home as one North Drumheller resident learned watching a cougar trot through her yard last week.
Penny Kushko’s most recent sighting came in the early morning hours last Thursday.
“Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning, he came through at the same time,” Kushko tells The Mail. Her home is on Michichi Creek Drive, south of the Badlands Motel.
“From where I was watching him, it looked like he came up off the ice and then along the dyke and then I lost sight,” she recalls. “I did go out and look the first day I saw him to look for tracks, but found nothing. It snowed that night, so the next morning I went out and saw his prints.”
She wanted to get a photo of the animal but her sighting was through trees and early in the morning, so there was poor lighting.
She has reported her sightings to Alberta Fish and Wildlife. So far, no officer has come to investigate.
Kushko says it appears to be the cougar was following food.
"What we have here is a pack of deer that come through. We count nine of them, so probably that is the answer,” she said. “Same with the coyotes, they are behind the dyke here too.”
Kushko is not too concerned about the sightings in the town limits.
“‘He was very calm, cool and collected, he just sauntered through, He looked very healthy,” Kushko said.
According to Alberta Fish and Wildlife’s website, sighting of cougars are rare. If one is sighted in a yard or close to a home, it recommends that people and pets be brought inside, give the cougar space to leave the area and call Alberta Fish and Wildlife.
To minimize cougar visits to your property, it recommends not feeding wildlife. This can attract wildlife such as deer, and in turn, predators. It says urban deer can become easy prey when they have an unnatural food source.
It also recommends keeping the perimeter of homes clear of thick vegetation and to close off spaces such as under decks that can be used by animals for shelter.
