QUILCENE — Sgt. Phil Henry calls them “juvenile delinquents,” young cougars about a year old and often known to get into the mischief of killing peoples’ livestock.
While there have been three cougars shot in recent months, cougar sightings are even more frequently reported to Henry, a state Department of Fish and Wildlife officer based in Port Townsend, and fellow officer, Win Miller, based in Port Angeles.
Miller shot and killed two juvenile cougars north of Quilcene in late December, the first time since last fall that a livestock-killing mountain lion was dispatched.
Those two cougars each killed a sheep on Maple Lane north of Quilcene and a llama nearby during a period spanning Dec. 27-28.
Miller and a houndsman tracked the animals, and the cats were treed at the same time and shot.
A cougar shot and killed in August was described as an unusually aggressive cat that killed three alpacas and other livestock on private property near Coyle at the end of Toandos Peninsula, which is south of Port Ludlow and Quilcene.
This fall an animal was shot in a tree on Rice Lake Road, Henry said.
More juvenile cougars have been sighted on the Toandos Peninsula in recent weeks.
Wildlife-related attacks on domestic animals should be immediately reported to Washington State Patrol by calling 360- 478-4646, or 9-1-1. State Patrol then alerts Fish and Wildlife, Henry said.
Delays in notification lessen the chances of tracking and apprehending cougars.
Henry said it is not unusual for him and Miller to get, on average, two reports of cougar sightings each week.
There is a site north of Quilcene on U.S. Highway 101 near Lake Leland that Henry calls “cougar central,” a place where the animals are most often seen crossing the highway.
“Typically, they’ve got to do something egregious before we take action,” Henry said, such as killing farm animals.
The question often asked, Henry said, is why aren’t the animals shot with darts and put to sleep so they can be relocated elsewhere on the North Olympic Peninsula?
Henry said they really doesn’t solve the problem, only relocates it
“When you have a cat demonstrating killing behavior, you can’t train it not to kill,” he said, adding that relocating the animals to the Peninsula’s wilder West End would not be appreciated by residents there.
________
Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
