- Joined
- Mar 11, 2001
- Messages
- 70,011
- Reaction score
- 1,007
June 30, 2003
Cougar suspected in Oregon pet deaths
By The Associated Press
MEDFORD, Ore. — People living near the Rogue Valley Country Club suspect a mountain lion may be eating their pets.
"All I know is my pet was killed by a very large animal," Lionel Cunningham said.
He said after he found his cat's partially devoured body Friday morning, he's warned neighbors a big predator apparently is prowling the area.
Cunningham, originally from Colorado and somewhat familiar with the habits of predators, said his cat met its end in the jaws of something with "a large, sharp bite."
"It was not like a dog or a coyote," he said. "The body wasn't mangled. No fur was strung about."
As Cunningham shared his concerns with neighbors, he heard about other missing pets and a partially eaten rabbit found on the golf course.
Dean Truscott, who lives just east of the country club, reported that one of his cats disappeared last week and one the week before. Now he and his wife fear for their small dog.
Merv Wolfer, a biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that if a cougar is in the area, pets are at risk but people are not — at least not much.
In the past century, Oregon officials have confirmed only one cougar attack on a human.
All the same, children should be supervised when they play outside, Wolfer said. If cougars are common, parents should consider fencing play areas because fences disrupt the animal's ability to stalk its prey, according to the wildlife agency's Web site.
People regularly spot the large felines in the foothills surrounding the Rogue Valley. The number of sightings in and around Medford sometimes increases in early summer as cougars follow deer migrating out of the valley into the higher elevations this time of year.
However, cougars prefer large open territories and usually move on soon, Wolfer said.
Cougar suspected in Oregon pet deaths
By The Associated Press
MEDFORD, Ore. — People living near the Rogue Valley Country Club suspect a mountain lion may be eating their pets.
"All I know is my pet was killed by a very large animal," Lionel Cunningham said.
He said after he found his cat's partially devoured body Friday morning, he's warned neighbors a big predator apparently is prowling the area.
Cunningham, originally from Colorado and somewhat familiar with the habits of predators, said his cat met its end in the jaws of something with "a large, sharp bite."
"It was not like a dog or a coyote," he said. "The body wasn't mangled. No fur was strung about."
As Cunningham shared his concerns with neighbors, he heard about other missing pets and a partially eaten rabbit found on the golf course.
Dean Truscott, who lives just east of the country club, reported that one of his cats disappeared last week and one the week before. Now he and his wife fear for their small dog.
Merv Wolfer, a biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that if a cougar is in the area, pets are at risk but people are not — at least not much.
In the past century, Oregon officials have confirmed only one cougar attack on a human.
All the same, children should be supervised when they play outside, Wolfer said. If cougars are common, parents should consider fencing play areas because fences disrupt the animal's ability to stalk its prey, according to the wildlife agency's Web site.
People regularly spot the large felines in the foothills surrounding the Rogue Valley. The number of sightings in and around Medford sometimes increases in early summer as cougars follow deer migrating out of the valley into the higher elevations this time of year.
However, cougars prefer large open territories and usually move on soon, Wolfer said.
