Keeping deer out of neighbourhoods key to stopping cougar sightings

The conservation officer who shot and killed a cougar in West Vancouver says he was concerned about the animal walking in a high-density, residential area in the middle of the day. He says his office has received several calls about a cougar jumping on to balconies and decks over the past two weeks.

WildSafeBC provincial coordinatorFrank Ritceysaidresidents have a responsibility to make their neighbourhoods as unappealing to the predator as possible.

He spoke to On the Coast's Stephen Quinn about ways to make urban cougar sightings less prevalent.

• Cougar shot, killed in West Vancouver

Why can't cougars be captured and released somewhere else?

The issue is where do you relocate them? Cougars are quite territorial, so when you get a young cougar coming into town, it's trying to find a piece of territory where there isn't a large malealready in charge of the area. There's just no place to put these animals.

What draws cougars into more urban areas?

It's oftenyoung cougarsthatcome down to urban areas looking for territory. Other times they will be following prey like deer. Quite often people feed deer and welcome theminto their neighbourhood without thinking thatcougars will follow them.

Can they become acclimatized to humans?

They can. If a cougar moves into a neighbourhood and is successfully able to target cats and dogs, it'sgoing to stay where the food is.

The cougar is a predator and it'll hunt just about any small mammal.

How can someone discourage cougar from entering a neighbourhood?

The big thing is to discourage deer from the neighbourhood. If you see people feeding deer talk to them about why it's not good to be feeding.

Also be sure to keep your cats and dogs indoors at night.

What happens if you do see deer in your yard?

You're within your rights to shoo them out of your neighbourhoods. Our motto is 'to keep wildlife wild and communities safe.' The wilder we can keep wildlife, the more likely our communities are going to be safer and it'll be safer for the wildlife.

To listen to the full interview, click the audio labelled: Ways to keep cougars out of your neighbourhood.