COYLE — Mark and Ally Stratton lost three alpacas and a milk goat in the past 2 ½ weeks, and a state Fish and Wildlife agent not only believes all died from cougar attacks, but also suspects that a large cougar is prowling the Toandos Peninsula.
The Strattons, who live at 214 Gien Drive near the tip of Toandos Peninsula, found two alpacas dead Wednesday morning in a corral near their home. They said that another one had been killed Tuesday.
“I walked down there at 8 this morning, and they were fine,” Mark Stratton said Wednesday. “At 8:30, they were dead.”
Sgt. Phil Henry of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, suspects that a cougar is running up and down the Toandos Peninsula, killing domestic animals.
“I would say he’s bigger than the alpaca,” Henry said. “He’s a bigger cat — I’m guessing over 70 pounds. “
One of the two alpacas killed Wednesday morning, which the Strattons have owned since May, had been mauled and partially eaten, Henry said. The alpaca killed the day before also was mauled.
Henry said that he and a dog tracker hunted the cougar for more than three hours late Wednesday morning and early afternoon.
Henry’s response was slowed by Coyle’s remoteness, he said. While Henry is based in Port Townsend, more than 40 miles from Coyle — which is about 60 miles from Port Angeles — the houndsman lives in Shelton.
Once the cougar is found, it probably will be destroyed, Henry said.
But dry, warm weather made tracking difficult, he said.
When it’s damp in the wilds, tracking is much easier, because the wild cat’s scent does not evaporate as quickly.
“In hot dusty, dry weather, it’s almost impossible to track a cougar,” he said.
Bait for big cat
The Strattons agreed to leave the alpaca carcasses out overnight Wednesday to attempt to lure the cougar back. If it works, they will phone Henry.
“We are cautiously optimistic that we will get a call, and we’ll be back down there,” Henry said.
Fear of the animal’s return just might keep the Strattons awake and alert in the meantime.
“Residents are showing mounting fear of the apparent increase of the cougar population,” Aly Stratton said Wednesday in an e-mail to the Peninsula Daily News.
Other animals
Three miniatures horses were killed in the area recently, likely by cougar, Henry said.
Smaller animals, including turkeys, reported killed recently may have been attacked by coyotes or bobcats, he said.
“If it’s a llama, alpaca or a large sheep, it’s usually a cougar kill,” Henry said, adding that stout fences will usually keep out coyotes or bobcats, but that a cougar can leap over tall fences.
Henry said that, when he looked at the Strattons’ partially eaten alpaca, he knew it “was obviously killed by cougar.”
The carcass of the other animal “was consistent with a cougar crushing the wind pipe and biting the head and neck.”
He said it was “a safe guess” that a cougar killed the first alpaca on Tuesday, although he couldn’t be certain because it wasn’t reported immediately.
Henry has been tracking and disposing of cougars that kill domestic animals and threaten humans for more than 20 years in Jefferson and Clallam counties.
This year, he has tracked the big cats four or five times around the North Olympic Peninsula.
Other sightings
A cougar injured Aug. 17 was killed by State Patrol troopers after the cat was struck by a car just north of Quilcene.
Henry said the area of U.S. Highway 101 about a mile north of north of Lords Lake Loop Road is a frequent cougar crossing. No homes are nearby.
Earlier in this month, a Port Angeles resident logging near Lake Leland, north of Quilcene, spotted three cougars — a large one and two smaller, possibly cubs — that were scared away when they were chased by his dog and he yelled and waved his arms.
Because Henry often is out in the field and cannot take reports, the agent asked that cougar or other wildlife-related attacks on domestic animals be reported immediately to the State Patrol by phoning 360-478-4646 or 9-1-1. The State Patrol then will alert Fish and Wildlife.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
