Cougar sighting in residential Trail
By Kyra Hoggan
A Trail resident got a better reason to put some juice in her daily run this morning, when she spied a cougar right beside the Gyro Park walkway where she and her dogs were jogging.
“I was out for a run this morning around Sunningdale along the Gyro walkway, when my dogs just started going crazy,” said Celina Iachetta, adding she couldn’t see what was upsetting the canines at first. But when she looked up at a pile of loose rock on the side of the road, things became clear. “There was a big cougar sitting on the little rockside. It’s literally just past Gyro Park, close to the bus stop there.
“There are houses directly across the street, and people walk or jog this loop all the time,” she said, adding the cat wasn’t frightened away but her presence or the barking dogs. “I thought I should let the media warn people, just in case.”
Conservation officers have also been called, but The Champion was unable to reach an officer for comment – but, in related story two days ago, conservation officer ben Beetlestone told The Champion that this sort of sighting generally is benign, with the animal literally just passing through.
This comes on the heels of an incident just outside Castlegar, in which three juvenile cougars were hunting in a residential area in broad daylight, and were dispatched by conservation officers. See http://trailchampion.com/news/shooting-robson-cougars-only-humane-option-rumours-fourth-cougar-false-24947#.UaeoEpxarB8 for that story in its entirety.
