Cougar lingers at BBR

The cougar that was scared away from a Black Butte Ranch resident's yard by a mini-doxie dog last week was not scared very far away.

It was spotted several times in the upper portion of Black Butte Ranch as late as Saturday, November 22.

Several phone calls went out from those who saw it to neighbors and friends warning that pets should be kept close and not allowed to roam free, as the big cat was still on the prowl.

One observer, Bob Reed, reported that remnants of a goose dinner were found near his house on Candy Flower.

Jerry Kvanvig and his wife, Jackie, were returning from breakfast about 9:30 a.m., Saturday, and decided to follow the tracks clearly marked in the new snow at the bottom of their driveway. They led to a heavy thicket directly behind the sixth tee at the Glaze Meadow golf course.

"As I got within two or three steps of the thicket, out blew this cougar, running full tilt. It ran 50-60 yards up towards our house, crossed Hawks Beard and headed for the National Forest," he said."It was pretty good size."

A cougar in this region will generally be about six feet long and weigh between 90 pounds (female) to 150 pounds for the male.

After Kvanvig made sure all was secure, he backtracked the cougar's trail to where he found the goose kill seen by Reed.

"A year or so ago we had a deer killed by a cougar not too far from here," he said.

He also thinks that this animal may be the same one spotted recently in Camp Sherman.

"They cover a wide range of territory," he said.

Another resident said she saw the mountain lion (as a cougar is often called) "sauntering up her street," Arvensis, not far from the Reed's house.

The cougar was originally spotted a week ago when Judy Osborne let her mini-dachshund dog out at 6:30 a.m. and saw the cat about 20 feet away. Maxine, the mini-doxie, went after the cougar which was scared away -- perhaps as much by Osborne's scream as by the ferocious attack of her 11-pound, five-inch high dog.

The Osbornes live on Partridge Foot, about in the middle of the ranch.

Cougars are usually a tawny brown and go by the name of puma, panther or mountain lion in different parts of the country.