[FEL-L] Cougar attack reported near Bellfountain Park

[BigCatSimba at aol.com]

Cougar attack reported near Bellfountain Park

by the Gazette-Times              
A federal wildlife trapper is investigating a report that a cougar attacked a 
livestock calf near Bellfountain Park on Thursday.

“It’s very possible,” said Nancy Taylor, district wildlife biologist for the 
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.  
“We’ve had reports of sightings before in the area. It’s not a surprise 
location,” because of a deer population, forested habitat and creeks, said Rick 
Boatner, state assistant district wildlife biologist.

Taylor said that, because livestock was damaged, the lead agency in the case 
is the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The calf wasn’t killed, although it had a long tear in its back, and scratch 
marks up and down its side, said the animal’s owner, Donna Oakes, who lives on 
Foster Road.

In May, a younger cougar was killed by an adult cat nearby, close to Dawson 
Road, Boatner said. That’s fairly common because the predators compete for 
territory. But it’s rare for people to stumble across the aftermath of such a 
conflict.

Regardless, since the start of the summer, ladies who used to walk for 
exercise on Foster Road have stopped those strolls, Oakes said.

“We are threatened in this area by that cougar,” she said.

The animal hadn’t seriously bothered livestock or people before, so it wasn’
t considered a public safety risk, Boatner said. 
_http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2007/09/22/news/community/2loc04_cougar.
txt_ 
(http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2007/09/22/news/community/2loc04_cougar.txt) 



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