Snoqualmie resident Andrea Myrvold spotted something new on the trail cam she has installed in the backyard of her Snoqualmie Ridge home that borders a wooded area – a cougar.
The trail cam spotted the cougar on September 10th around 10:30PM behind the Myrvold’s back fence. Their home is located on Douglas Ave near Dio Street. Andrea said since installing the camera it’s recorded footage of bears, bobcats, deer, foxes, coyotes, raccoons and squirrels, but the cougar is new.
King County Parks reported via Twitter that a cougar was also spotted on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail the morning of September 7th – at the trailhead near 356th and the on the Tokul trestle in the Snoqualmie area.
Note: Wildlife sightings are very common in all areas of the Snoqualmie Valley – and we’ve done many articles about identifying and dealing with our local wildlife neighbors. It is, though, advised to keep pets indoor at night, especially when wildlife has been spotted near your neighborhood.
Although there was a recent fatal cougar attack in the Ernie’s Grove area in May, the likelihood of encountering a cougar – lynx or bobcat – is rare. Until the recent attack, there had only been 20 fatal cougar attacks in North America in the past 120 years.
[Remember, this trail cam spotted the cougar in its natural habitat, NOT in the resident’s yard.]
Cougars are solitary animals and avoid other cats except when mating. Their prey consists of deer, elk, moose, mountain goats, and wild sheep with deer being their preferred food.
Advice for encounters from previous article by wildlife and outdoor enthusiast Melissa Grant:
If you do encounter one – just like with coyotes and wolves – you don’t want to look like easy prey. First, pick up small children, face the animal, while talking softly and try to back away while leaving the animal an escape route. If it advances, stand tall, wave your arms and shout. Throw things at it. Be as assertive as you can to convince it you are too dangerous to mess with. If you are attacked, try to stay standing and fight back. Make it believe it has made a mistake in attacking you. If you regularly hike or bike in the woods, consider carrying pepper spray or a firearm (if you know how to use it).
Comments
It was also spotted sep 9 around dusk lying in the open lot on fury st in snoqualmie about 10 ft from the sidewalk. The person who spotted it, along with some neighbors, knocked on the doors or nearby reaidents with small children notifying them to be careful.
We spotted the cougar in our yard approximately 2 weeks ago. We live off 355th. We think it was hunting the rabbits. It quickly left when I went outside and started making noise. It does not appear to be overly aggressive or starving, just expanding its hunting grounds.
Around a week ago, we found a dead rabbit in a front yard, near Silent Creek and Burke (same general neighborhood). All that remained of the rabbit were its guts and tail. So something relatively large is eating rabbits.