Cougar-coyote confusion clarified by cops
By Kyra Hoggan
Trail RCMP top cop Sgt. Mike Wicentowich said Teck Cominco kindly allowed him to enter their reservoir compound to photograph a “cougar” decoy that made healdines yesterday – only to discover it was a coyote, not a cougar (as seen above).
“Due to the popularity of the story, and media inquiries, I was able to arrange to take this close-up photo from with the secure area of the reported ‘stuffed cougar’,” he said. “As you can see, I was able to get close with my telephoto lens and confirm it is a plastic coyote/fox type animal. I believe the investigating officers viewed it from some distance outside the secure area and thought it was a stuffed cougar from the general shape and colouring.
“I am not sure how a member of the public managed to spot this.”
The critter is in place to deter bird populations.
Previous coverage:
When RCMP received a call about a cougar floating on a box in a lake, Trail top cop Sgt. Mike Wicentowich said he thought, “Well, that just doesn’t sound right”.
“On March 10, 2021 at 1:38 p.m. Trail and Greater District RCMP and the BC Conservation Officer Service received an unusual report that a cougar was sitting atop of a floating box in the middle of the reservoir at the water treatment plant on Warfield Hill Road in Trail,” he said.
Officers from both agencies attended and discovered that it was, in fact, a cougar – a stuffed animal attached to a floating platform used to scare birds away from the reservoir.
“Teck Cominco installed it there to try to control the bird population,” Wicentowich said.
No humans, wildlife or stuffies were injured in the encounter.
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