Cougar spotted? Officials ask public for tips after unconfirmed sighting in Tacoma
A Tacoma-area resident reported seeing a cougar walking through her horse pasture in the Summit area last month, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Matt Blankenship, a wildlife conflict specialist for WDFW said he spoke with the resident Tuesday. He said the woman saw the cougar in August and was concerned about her horses. The woman had trail cameras set up, but she hadn’t captured any images of the animal.
WDFW has not been able to confirm the sighting, Blankenship said.
Blankenship asked residents to call WDFW’s wildlife hotline at 877-933-9847 if they spot a cougar. Residents can also report sightings on the department’s website.
Reports from the public help the department better track cougars’ movements and inform the department’s response, Blankenship said. He said if the cougar isn’t causing conflict and is doing what they expect it to do such as eating deer, the department generally won’t interfere with the animal.
Blankenship said cougars move around regularly, so he wouldn’t expect one to hang around an area for very long.
Close encounters with cougars are rare, Blankenship said. If you do encounter one, he said it’s important to make yourself big and make a lot of noise to try to scare it away.
“Cougars really don’t want anything to do with us,” he said. “A lot of times cougars will go out of their way to avoid us.”
This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 1:11 PM.
