David Gu was walking with his family to the garage outside on Monday when they witnessed a deer bouncing through the yard and the blur of a larger animal darting behind the garage.
It was about 11 a.m. and Gu was ready to drive his five-year-old daughter to preschool from their place on the 4300 block of Gordon Head Road, a block north of where Gordon Head changes into Ferndale Road.
Instead, Gu followed the animal around back of his garage to see what it was, thinking maybe it was a neighbourB次元官网网址檚 dog.
B次元官网网址淚t had a long tail and was very furry for a dog. I figured IB次元官网网址檇 go back and see what it was,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭here he was three steps from me, thank God it wasnB次元官网网址檛 startled or anything. I said, B次元官网网址極h, excuse me,B次元官网网址� and backed away.B次元官网网址�
Conservation officer Peter Pauwels later described the cougar as a healthy adult male about four to five years old and weighing about 120 to 130 pounds.
By stumbling across the animals Gu may have inadvertently spared the deerB次元官网网址檚 life while moments later the cougar spared his own life. Upon retreating inside the house Gu reported the animal, and Saanich Pound officer Susan Ryan was dispatched.
Ryan then called in Pauwels. It took about two hours in total for a third-party contractor to show up with a pack of hounds. And the cat was still there. When the dogs flushed it out, it came from a deep impression in the garden where it had been hidden from view just metres from the garage. The hounds spooked the cat straight up the nearest tree where Pauwels was able to safely sedate and remove it. He released it into the wild, saying only it was on southern Vancouver Island.
B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a million things that can go wrong when they come into the city, even if itB次元官网网址檚 up a tree,B次元官网网址� Pauwels said. B次元官网网址淵ou can kill a cougar very easily. It can fall the wrong way, the dart can hit it in the wrong spot, or it can bail out of the tree and get [severely] injured and you have to destroy it.B次元官网网址�
Judging by the impression in the ground the cougar had been using this spot for at least the two-hour wait, if not previously in the last day or so, Pauwels said.
(Inset photo: Conservation officer Peter Pauwels tags the ear of the medicated cougar for GPS tracking. David Gu photo)
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not surprising that the cougar would still be there,B次元官网网址� Pauwels said. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e nocturnal and in the daylight they lay low and hide. The dogs smelled it. [People] wouldnB次元官网网址檛 have [found it there].B次元官网网址�
Conservation officers use the dogs only when thereB次元官网网址檚 been a relatively fresh sighting.
This was the first cougar to be tranquilized and removed from an urban setting in Greater Victoria since a cougar was located in James Bay in October 2015, which was The last cougar to enter the Greater Victoria core was destroyed by a Victoria Police officer in .
Pauwels said most cougar calls are in the rural areas and involve livestock issues. ItB次元官网网址檚 not ideal to use the hounds in an urban area, he added, citing safety issues.
Getting the cougar in a tree is ideal. ItB次元官网网址檚 even more ideal when itB次元官网网址檚 not too high up, as it was on Monday.
For Gu, the experience has him and his wife wondering about a different incident involving a deer last year.
B次元官网网址淭hat time we had a deer that was standing in our front yard, very bloody, and it died [in front of me] on our lawn,B次元官网网址� Gu said. B次元官网网址淪aanich Pound also came that time. I was told it could have been bitten by a cougar. IB次元官网网址檓 just glad this cougar was removed safely. It could have been living in my yard.B次元官网网址�
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