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Cougar devours deer in local yard
Published: January 7, 2003
By Ted Taylor, The Bend Bulletin
Teresa Chain understands the concept of hunter and prey. She just wishes a cougar hadn't demonstrated it behind her southwest Bend area home.
"I know they're out there and that they have to eat and that's what they do," said Chain, who watched a cougar devour a deer near her daughter's playset Monday morning. "But I'd prefer they didn't do it in my yard."
Just after 4 a.m. Monday, the Chain family's three-pound poodle, George, "had a real fit" about something going on outside their home on Buck Canyon Road.
"What was going on was a cougar taking down a deer," Teresa Chain said.
Teresa and her husband, Timothy, and 8-year-old daughter, Lindsay, watched in horror as the cougar had its breakfast. A few hours later, Teresa said she called the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to find out what to do.
She said they told her, based on the amount of the deer the cougar had eaten (nearly all of it), that the cat wouldn't come back. A wildlife biologist told her they would need to bury the bones that were left.
Officials with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife did not return phone calls from The Bulletin.
Later, Chain said she looked outside to find a handful of coyotes near her yard. They walked toward the bloody mess but soon left once they got within a few feet of it.
The Chains are used to seeing their backyard — just outside the Bend city limits — turn into Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.
About 25 elk roamed her yard a few days ago. Lots of deer and coyotes hang out in the area, but Chain said cougars aren't too common.
Chain said she doesn't consider her property, located on about 2ð acres approximately a half-mile from Elk Meadow Elementary School, dangerous. "It's a risk you take when you buy property in a wooded area," Chain said. "(The animals) were there before we were."
She encouraged neighbors in the area "to keep their eyes open."
The number of sightings of bears, cougars and coyotes in the region continues to rise and so does the concern of people who live on the outskirts of rural areas, close to the woods and wildlands that the animals call home.
Numerous cougars have been sighted this year in Central Oregon and the controversial killing of a cougar near Lava Butte last year in January drew the ire of many community members.
In July, two porcupines on display outside at The High Desert Museum south of Bend became dinner for a cougar hunting in the area.
And in September, Bend police shot and killed a cougar at a northeast Bend home after the 100-pound animal decided to stretch out for a nap in the homeowner's garden.
While the Chains understand the need for the cougar to eat, it might be a while before young Lindsay forgets what she saw Monday.
"My daughter is absolutely terrified," Chain said. "I'm not sure she'll ever go outside again."
Ted Taylor can be
reached at 541-383-0375 or ttaylor@bendbulletin.com.
Published: January 7, 2003
By Ted Taylor, The Bend Bulletin
Teresa Chain understands the concept of hunter and prey. She just wishes a cougar hadn't demonstrated it behind her southwest Bend area home.
"I know they're out there and that they have to eat and that's what they do," said Chain, who watched a cougar devour a deer near her daughter's playset Monday morning. "But I'd prefer they didn't do it in my yard."
Just after 4 a.m. Monday, the Chain family's three-pound poodle, George, "had a real fit" about something going on outside their home on Buck Canyon Road.
"What was going on was a cougar taking down a deer," Teresa Chain said.
Teresa and her husband, Timothy, and 8-year-old daughter, Lindsay, watched in horror as the cougar had its breakfast. A few hours later, Teresa said she called the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to find out what to do.
She said they told her, based on the amount of the deer the cougar had eaten (nearly all of it), that the cat wouldn't come back. A wildlife biologist told her they would need to bury the bones that were left.
Officials with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife did not return phone calls from The Bulletin.
Later, Chain said she looked outside to find a handful of coyotes near her yard. They walked toward the bloody mess but soon left once they got within a few feet of it.
The Chains are used to seeing their backyard — just outside the Bend city limits — turn into Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.
About 25 elk roamed her yard a few days ago. Lots of deer and coyotes hang out in the area, but Chain said cougars aren't too common.
Chain said she doesn't consider her property, located on about 2ð acres approximately a half-mile from Elk Meadow Elementary School, dangerous. "It's a risk you take when you buy property in a wooded area," Chain said. "(The animals) were there before we were."
She encouraged neighbors in the area "to keep their eyes open."
The number of sightings of bears, cougars and coyotes in the region continues to rise and so does the concern of people who live on the outskirts of rural areas, close to the woods and wildlands that the animals call home.
Numerous cougars have been sighted this year in Central Oregon and the controversial killing of a cougar near Lava Butte last year in January drew the ire of many community members.
In July, two porcupines on display outside at The High Desert Museum south of Bend became dinner for a cougar hunting in the area.
And in September, Bend police shot and killed a cougar at a northeast Bend home after the 100-pound animal decided to stretch out for a nap in the homeowner's garden.
While the Chains understand the need for the cougar to eat, it might be a while before young Lindsay forgets what she saw Monday.
"My daughter is absolutely terrified," Chain said. "I'm not sure she'll ever go outside again."
Ted Taylor can be
reached at 541-383-0375 or ttaylor@bendbulletin.com.
