A couple of hikers ignored a trail closure at the Stawamus Chief Saturday morning only to come face-to-face with a cougar that brazenly carried off their small, leashed dog.
A two-minute video on youtube.com taken by the unidentified husband of the couple showed the cougar moments after the attack as it sniffed its surroundings, seemingly unfazed by the presence of people just metres away.
The dog was not in sight and its condition was unknown, as the husband explained from behind the camera to another unidentified man.
"[The cougar] attacked once, went up the tree, dropped the dog, and then unfortunately my wife just went nuts. And then the cat decided to attack the dog again," said the man. "I think if we just calmly backed up then we might if we still have a dog that's alive, we might be lucky."
The incident occurred the day after nine encounters involving an estimated three cougars were reported from Hospital Hill to Valleycliffe to the Chief. The dog survived the attack, according to conservation officer Chris Doyle. However the day before, the cougar killed and ate another dog off its leash, which was the reason for the trail closure.
"Friday there were a few reports of cougar activity and encounters at the Squamish Chief. That cougar later that night attacked and killed a dog on the Squamish Chief trail," said Doyle. "The trail was closed that night as it was quite late, we planned to go up the next morning, which we did."
The cougar was treed and killed three quarters of the way up the trail after the second dog attack. It was tracked by two cougar hounds, two conservation officers, a park ranger and a dog handler.
In another frightening incident on Friday, a mother and daughter were approached while in their yard on Hospital Hill. The mother threw rocks at the cat, which turned it around, said Doyle.
"What's more unusual is a cougar approaching people," he said. "And to have that many in that short a period of time is quite unusual as well."
Squamish currently has the highest number of reported cougar encounters in the province, said Doyle. There may be a number of reasons for the heightened presence, he said, however it's mostly just speculation.
"It could be young cougars dispersing from family units. It could also have to do with abundance and location of the prey species in the area. So if all of a sudden the deer have moved up to the higher elevations, it's possible that the cougars that were hunting at lower elevations could be looking for alternate food sources. And also it could have something to do with the numbers of cougars in the area, but once again, that speculation."
He said since Saturday, the number of reported cougar sightings dropped off dramatically, which may mean cougars have followed their prey to higher elevation.
In the meantime, however, people should keep their pets inside at night, since this attracts the cats to residential areas. They should be aware of local cougar sighting hot spots: Crumpit Woods, the Smoke Bluffs, Hospital Hill, Valleycliffe, Jack's Trail, Paradise Valley and Evan's Lake. And they should be prepared to deal with encounters, said Doyle.
"Your best tactic is to face the cougar and back away slowly. If the cougar appears to be interested in your approach as it follows, yeah pick up a rock or a stick and be prepared to use them. Make yourself look big. Yelling at it works well as well. What you definitely don't want to do is turn and run. That's the worst because it can trigger an instinctual pursuit or attack."
