Big cats are likely starving, WDFW says
By Ann McCreary
A dog and cat were killed last week by cougars in two separate incidents in the Methow Valley. The cougars were subsequently tracked and killed by state wildlife officers.
The first attack occurred on Monday, Jan. 2, on Second Mile Road near Twisp. When Paul Schmekel returned home in the evening he “found a bloody scene” near his house, said Sgt. Dan Christensen of the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW).
Schmekel followed tracks and found his dog, which had been cached by the cougar not far from the house. He called WDFW officials, who came to Schmekel’s house on Tuesday morning (Jan. 3), tracked the cougar with hounds and shot it.
The cougar was a 3- or 4-year-old female who “was healthy for a starving cat in winter time,” Christensen said. “Once they get to eating dogs, they’re getting hungry.”
Unfortunately for the Schmekel family, this was the second dog attacked by wildlife in the past three years. In 2014, another dog was injured by two wolves very near the house. That dog was treated for injuries and survived.
Later in the same day that wildlife officers killed the cougar near Twisp last week, a different cougar came up onto a porch at the home of Pat Heenan near Winthrop and grabbed a pet cat.
Heenan shot the cougar with a revolver before it ran away. A wildlife officer came to the house and tracked the cougar. He found it hiding under the porch of an unoccupied home nearby and killed the cougar.
The cougar was a young male, a year old or less, and appeared to be starving. Christensen said because he was a juvenile male, he was probably kicked out of territory occupied by older males, and was having difficulty finding enough prey.
Christensen said there appear to be fewer deer — the primary food source for cougars — in the valley than in past years, possibly due to loss of habitat from wildfires.
Outside of the Methow Valley, a resident near Buzzard Lake Road shot and killed a cougar that was attacking a dog in December. The cougar was an extremely emaciated male, Christensen said.
