Cougar Enters Woman's House With Her Cat In Its Mouth
Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2003 10:04 am
Cougar Enters Woman's House With Her Cat In Its Mouth
POSTED: 7:25 a.m. EDT June 5, 2003
UPDATED: 7:26 a.m. EDT June 5, 2003
BEND, Ore. -- When Linda Bertolani left her front door ajar for her Himalayan cat, she got another feline visitor -- a full-grown cougar.
The cougar sneaked into her kitchen Sunday night and let out a high-pitched scream, Bertolani said. He had her 16-year-old cat, Sebastian, in his mouth.
"You should have seen Sebastian's fur flying," Bertolani said.
The cougar dropped Sebastian, ran from the house and vanished over a fence before the police and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife got there.
Sebastian is recovering at home.
Corey Heath, a Deschutes Wildlife District biologist, said no other cougars have been spotted in the neighborhood since Bertolani's call.
Heath said people should not run if they encounter a cougar, but instead try to scare the animal away by making noise, throwing rocks or waving a coat in the air.
Wildlife specialists say cougars, bears and other wildlife increasingly come into inhabited areas as humans encroach on areas where the animals have always lived.
POSTED: 7:25 a.m. EDT June 5, 2003
UPDATED: 7:26 a.m. EDT June 5, 2003
BEND, Ore. -- When Linda Bertolani left her front door ajar for her Himalayan cat, she got another feline visitor -- a full-grown cougar.
The cougar sneaked into her kitchen Sunday night and let out a high-pitched scream, Bertolani said. He had her 16-year-old cat, Sebastian, in his mouth.
"You should have seen Sebastian's fur flying," Bertolani said.
The cougar dropped Sebastian, ran from the house and vanished over a fence before the police and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife got there.
Sebastian is recovering at home.
Corey Heath, a Deschutes Wildlife District biologist, said no other cougars have been spotted in the neighborhood since Bertolani's call.
Heath said people should not run if they encounter a cougar, but instead try to scare the animal away by making noise, throwing rocks or waving a coat in the air.
Wildlife specialists say cougars, bears and other wildlife increasingly come into inhabited areas as humans encroach on areas where the animals have always lived.