PORT ANGELES — A cougar that may have been invading west Port Angeles neighborhoods for the past month is dead, a state Fish and Wildlife Department officer said.
An 18-year-old woman killed a cougar at about 8 p.m. Thursday off Black Diamond Road to protect her kitten, Fish and Wildlife Sgt. Kit Rosenberger said Friday.
The woman saw the 60-pound female cougar following the woman’s pet out of the woods behind her house, he said.
The woman grabbed a hunting rifle and shot the animal twice, firing from 50 to 100 yards away, Rosenberger said.
“She was obviously afraid for her animal’s safety,” he said.
The woman declined to comment about the incident and did not want to be identified, Rosenberger said.
He said she was lawfully protecting her property.
The cougar “may very well be the same animal” that area residents have reported seeing for the past month or so in west Port Angeles, Rosenberger said.
“It had a patch of fur missing at the tip of its tail, so it resembled some of the descriptions that we had.”
Sightings have occurred near Lincoln Park and along Tumwater Creek drainage inside and outside the city limits.
The animal was shot about 3 or 4 miles south of previous, recent cougar sightings.
Fish and Wildlife officers have been investigating recent cougar sightings, Rosenberger said.
“We’ve had reports of missing cats and pets, and we talked to one individual who watched a cougar kill a chicken up Black Diamond Road,” he said.
Port Angeles Police Chief Brian Smith also noted a recent surge of cougar sightings that have been circulated on social media.
“We live in an urban interface area, so we’re going to have predators,” Smith said. “That’s what we all accept.”
Rosenberger said he contacted the Lower Elwha Klallam Fish and Wildlife Department and gave the dead cougar to the tribe.
“I didn’t want it to go to waste,” he said.
A tribal member will use taxidermy to prepare the cougar for educational purposes, Chairwoman Frances Charles said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
