There’s been no further sightings of a cougar in Montrose since mid-May, but that doesn’t mean the cat isn’t there.
“If you live in an area that you know has had animals in the past, like Montrose, then always assume they are there,” says Conservation Officer Blair Thin. “The majority of the complaints are sightings, a cougar in a driveway or running across the back yard,” he emphasized. “And we aren’t going to release the hounds to track down that animal and destroy it.”
Cougars differ from bears in that they don’t rummage through leftovers for a meal, they will only eat something that is live.
“They won’t be raiding your garbage or on a back deck eating your cat or dog food,” he said. “And if a cougar consumes an outdoor cat, I can’t do anything about that. But if they go after a little dog that’s yapping in the back yard or if it takes a dog off a leash - that’s a different story.”
A cougar becomes a concern if it begins predating pets and/or livestock.
“If there is a history of an animal doing that, then we’ll definitely take action,” Thin clarified.
He says cougars have a healthy-sized home range animals like deer for sustenance.
“It’s usually older cats that can’t defend themselves or juveniles without much meat on them that are pushed out to the fringe areas by the big toms."