Cougar kill at Squaw Creek Estates

In the "old days" deer killed by cougar would go relatively unnoticed by most of the people living in the Sisters Country. Not anymore.

Last week, a deer heading back to its summer haunts from the winter range in the Crooked River grasslands met up with a hungry cougar near Squaw Creek Canyon Estates.

As bountiful "producers" in the world of nature, deer - under normal conditions - produce a surplus of their numbers. Predators, such as cougar, depend on that surplus to keep themselves going, and while doing what they do they maintain healthy, alert deer populations. For we human deer-hunters that means better hunting and healthier venison.

Russ Morrison, who lives on Appaloosa in Squaw Creek Canyon Estates, found the fresh-killed mule deer right outside his bedroom window and was sure it was a cougar kill. His Jack Russell sleeping in it's pen - a breed of dog that usually doesn't miss much - didn't raise a fuss about the cougar cutting the deer down so close to home. This just goes to show how well a cougar knows its business.

Morrison called the sheriff, worrying about the safety of kids and old folks, and the sheriff in turn sent agents out from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

It was a positive cougar kill. Since then, several more deer kills have been found, and cougar tracks have been seen on the porch of a resident near Morrison's home.

Charlotte Nicher, who lives in Squaw Creek Canyon Estates, has also seen cougar in her neighborhood. One cold day in December of 1999, she and her son David watched with awe as a cougar materialized out of a flowing river of fog coming down the canyon - a sight most people wouldn't see in a lifetime.

Most times a cougar will give way to an interfering human, having learned through experience that humans can also be very deadly predators, but you never know what a cougar is thinking or may do.

Several years back Walt Paul, who lived near Camp Polk, reported a cougar-kill near his home and tracked the cat to where it stashed the deer under some juniper slash. Walt was looking over his shoulder all the time.

That's the way cougars operate; the kill is usually dragged to an out-of-the-way place where it can be consumed at leisure over three or four days. Apparently, the cougar - or possibly cougars - foraging at Squaw Creek Canyon Estates was interrupted before the kill could be dragged off.

There are hundreds of people living around Sisters where mule deer and cougar interact. That means the chances are now favorable for someone to come head-to-head with a cougar arranging a banquet. If this should happen to you, it would be a very good idea to retreat (without turning around) and leave no question in said cougar's mind that you are a deadly Homo Sapiens species.

DO NOT RUN! You can not outrun a cougar. Face the animal and shout. Wave your arms over your head. Make a lot of noise, and let it know you're bigger than it is, and you will not put up with it coming after you. And do it with great gusto.

One of the world's experts on big cats, Maurice Hornocker, a man who has been studying cougars for over 40 years, says that another very important aspect of a cougar confrontation is to never lose eye contact. Stare it down. Be the boss.

Never turn your back on a big cat.

If you have a personal cougar experience, you should immediately call the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife in Bend at 388-6363 and report the incident. If it is past regular office hours, call the Oregon State Police at 388-6213 and report it to a wildlife officer. If all that fails, call 911 and make a report.

If wildlife biologists and/or law-enforcement agencies think the confrontation is a threat to the human community, they will take appropriate actions. In the meantime stay alert, keep your camera handy, and enjoy our beautiful Sisters Country.