SEQUIM — A near-miss incident for two teens reportedly stalked by a cougar Sunday afternoon has drawn the attention of state wildlife officers and increased concerns of people living in more remote areas of Clallam County.
Sarah Butler and Stephanie Baker, both 16, said they were followed by a cougar and eluded it by jumping into the Dungeness River near Butler’s house on River Road, west of Sequim.
Their encounter prompted the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to respond to the scene rather than merely record the incident as a cougar sighting, said Paul Mosman, an enforcement officer with the agency.
Mosman was working out of the area Monday and was not one of the team of agents investigating the report.
But he was brought up to speed on Tuesday, he said.
“I got the full brief and have been dealing with the fallout,” Mosman said. “We have a lot of concerned citizens out there today.”
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The rest of the story appears in Wednesday’s Peninsula Daily News.