After two predatory cougar incidents in the Foothills this month, rural residents are wondering where to draw the line between co-existing with the area's animals and being in fear of them.
On Sept. 10, a cougar killed a pet cat on Jessica Low's property near Priddis in broad daylight and acted aggressively toward her as she filmed behind a window. After leaving, the animal once again made an appearance at the family's home that night.
Becca Strasser and her family had a similar encounter near Millarville on Sept. 22, with a cougar attacking their Scottish terrier before being chased off by the family's other dog, only to return to the property shortly after.
The cougars in question were not located after the attacks — the area around Low's home was searched by Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers and a houndsman to no avail, while the Strasser family did not report the incident — but tensions remain high in their respective communities, separated by approximately 30 kilometres.
"We had more sightings here... we are all being very cautious still," said Low two weeks after her mountain lion encounter.
"None of us want our dogs or little kids getting picked up," said Strasser.
Wildlife encounters are expected in rural communities, but to what extent?
Cougars have a significant presence in the Foothills and surrounding area. "There are nearly four cougars per 100 square kilometres in some parts of southwestern Alberta," according to Alberta Parks estimates from 2020.
"Cougars are more afraid of people than than we are of them," explained Scottie Potter, Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation communications coordinator.
"The proof of that is the staggeringly low number of cougar attacks... these cats, they are common here in Alberta, at least as far as we can tell, and yet we don't encounter them that often."
The two recent cougar encounters occurred in residential areas rather than the animal's traditional habitat of forests and river valleys.
"The more we expand into their space, the more confident they might feel coming into ours," said Potter.
Outside of Foothills County's rural areas, cougar sightings have been reported in Okotoks and Diamond Valley on multiple occasions, along with sightings of other apex predators such as a black bear that was filmed roaming through Okotoks last week.
Recent reports of a juvenile cougar in southwest Calgary's Fish Creek Provincial Park also led to a cougar advisory being issued for the western portion of the park effective Sept. 24.
"We're seeing more stories currently in the last month or so, seeing cougars popping up in the news, and this could very well be due to a couple of cougar families dispersing, where the younger are all dispersing at the same time, and young cougars are more likely to take risks in order to find food," said Potter.
Keep pet cats inside, keep big cats away
Cougar encounters are extremely rare, and attacks even more so — there has been one fatal cougar attack in Alberta over the last 100 years, which occurred in 2001 in Banff National Park — but people in rural areas are still advised to take precautions, especially with their pets.
"I think you will have to live with having predators around if you live in the countryside," said University of Calgary biologist Dr. Kathleen Ruckstuhl. "There's just more opportunity for them to cross our paths if you're settling in areas that used to be remote.
"I wouldn't say it's something that you have to expect every day.... cougars avoid human encounters, and they probably see us more often than we see them, but I would say just keep an eye on your pets and your kids if you're living in the countryside."
With both cougar attacks targeting small pets, both experts concur that letting cats and dogs out unsupervised endangers both the pets and their owners.
"Small pets, that's the number one [attractant] for cougars," said Potter.
Low's cat and Strasser's dog fit the bill for easy prey.
"It's important to keep your pets inside because we do not want to further expose these cougars to attractants that are going to make them more comfortable," said Potter.
Cougar habituation to humans and residential areas is a major potential issue stemming from letting pets outside alone and unsupervised.
"If they can get pets and they're not bothered by humans... then that can become a problem," explained Ruckstuhl.
"They're basically getting a reward," she continued. "They're not being punished for it, so they might come back."
Problem cougars
It's important to understand that the behaviour of the cougars — targeting small animals and returning to the property afterwards — is typical apex predator behaviour for the most part, according to both experts.
"Cougars are very similar behaviourally in many ways to our pet cats," explained Potter. "If you left some food out for a pet cat, and in a particular spot, they would come back to see if there was more later, and that is totally normal cougar behaviour."
Both experts thought the behaviour of the cougar in the Sept. 10 incident, deemed by Fish and Wildlife to be a young animal, was unusual given the attack at Low's home occurred in the middle of the day, when cougars are typically crepuscular or nocturnal.
"That it was there in the middle of the day is unusual," said Ruckstuhl. "I don't know whether it lost its mom or whether it was just on its own and starting to search for food... it's hard to say, but I wouldn't say that's typical behaviour."
There are several schools of thought when it comes to handling "problem cougars" in the wild.
"Cougars are not permitted to be rehabilitated in Alberta," said Potter, whose organization works to rehabilitate many predatory animal species, including bears and bobcats but is barred from working directly with cougars.
Relocation through live trapping, which does nothing to curb the animal's predatory instincts wherever it ends up, is considered an ineffective solution to the problem and can have dire consequences for the cougar.
"If you're just catching it and and putting it somewhere else, that area might already be occupied [by another cougar], so they don't stand a chance to settle there," explained Ruckstuhl.
According to the Government of Alberta, cougars that kill pets or pose a threat to public safety may be "removed." Landowners are additionally permitted to kill cougars at any time of year on their property without the use of traps or dogs.
Ruckstuhl advocates for more humane solutions, such as rubber bullets and other forms of hazing to keep predators away from humans.
"Cougars just do what cougars do," she said. "I don't think you should punish it by killing it."
Additional information on cougar encounters and wildlife management is available on the Government of Alberta website.
Report cougar sightings to Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement at 1-800-642-3800.
