Kevin Davis says he’s heard the stories from neighbours about cougar tracks being spotted, “and where there are tracks, there are cats in the trees.”
But Davis says it was still “exciting” when a camera set up at his family’s cabin near Cochrane picked up images of a family of cougars last week.
Davis and his family live in Calgary but have a cabin about 20 minutes northwest of Cochrane.
“We’ve seen bear, deer and foxes on the camera before,” Davis said, “but never a cougar, especially a family of cougars.”
The video was shot by a camera with a motion sensor at about 1 a.m. on Friday, April 5.
Davis says when his family checked the recording the next day, he saw a cougar and a few seconds later there were two more cougars and then a fourth cougar.
The cougar sightings weren’t a complete surprise. Davis says a neighbour spotted two of the animals earlier in the week in the middle of the night at a nearby campground.
“It scared the hell out of him,” Davis said.
Asked if he’ll be a bit more wary from now on when out in the area around his cabin, Davis said: “100 per cent.
“Seeing a bear is nerve-wracking enough, but cougars are a little more scary, so we’ll definitely be more aware when hiking out in the area or walking the dogs.”
The Alberta government says cougar sightings “have been on the rise in the last decade due to a greater number of people living and recreating in traditional cougar habitat and a healthy population of prey animals has lead to growth in the cougar population.”
Anyone who sees a cougar in their neighbourhood is asked to call Alberta Fish and Wildlife.
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