Gibsons residents are being reminded to keep an eye on their pets after a too-close-for-comfort skirmish between a cougar and a four-and-half-kilogram "maltipoo" named Muppet last Sunday. Muppet, thankfully, won the day.
Fran Vandenberg, Muppet's owner, said her husband was just about to take the dog for a routine walk at their home on Avalon Drive before the incident played out.
"He was taking the dog for her evening duties and she was going ballistic inside the house. When he opened the door, she ran out, and there was a cougar standing outside the garage," she said. "I think the dog probably just startled, it and my husband saw it race up the cliff."
Vandenberg said it was probably a case of Muppet having the element of surprise as opposed to asserting canine supremacy over felines but said she is glad the situation ended the way it did.
"Dogs can usually smell something when we can't. I'm just really grateful the thing didn't take a swipe at her, because she would have been mincemeat," she said with a laugh.
Vandenberg said she wants her neighbours to know there has been a cougar in the area.
Conservation officer Murray Smith said he has had no report of a cougar sighting near the Gibsons bluff and that cougar reports are down this year, but he said he takes cougar calls very seriously.
"It's really important that the public calls. We're really a complaint-driven operation these days and where we have lots of problems in an area, then we'll probably attend to and see if something needs to be done."
He said a single sighting of a cougar isn't necessarily a red flag, as the cat may simply be curious or passing through the area, but cougars tend to stay in an area if they've had success in hunting there. Cougars' favourite prey, Smith said, are deer, dogs and cats.
He said that means people have to keep a very close eye on their pets when they're out on their own or walking with their owner.
"You've got to keep your pets in and you've got to keep them close by. The farther the pet gets away, the more vulnerable it is," he said.
He said the same applies to small children.
"If you see a cougar, raise your arms up above your head and make yourself look big and talk aggressively. Be aggressive with it. Make noise and back away. You can swear at the cougar," he said.
