A cougar took down a fawn next to the home of a West Kootenay conservation officer (CO) Friday, Sept. 4.
Kyle Bueckert, who handles wildlife concerns in the Boundary area, said he attended the grisly scene at his neighbour’s front lawn in the city of Grand Forks early Friday morning.
It was supposed to have been his day off, he said, but Bueckert stayed with the carcass until it was removed by a city crew a short time later.
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“The fawn had obvious puncture wounds to its neck,” he explained, adding that the cougar had “fed on” the young deer’s leg.
Bueckert said he set up a security camera over the kill site, but didn’t capture the predator on video over the weekend.
COs won’t attempt to trap or kill the cougar because it doesn’t pose a threat to Grand Forks residents or their pets, he explained.
“You gotta let ’em do their thing,” he said.
“It’s not surprising that this cougar came in to town — maybe from [nearby] Observation Mountain — killed a deer, had a feed, and then left.”
It’s natural for cougars to prey on local deer, he said, stressing that the fawn had been killed at night, when big cats normally hunt.
He estimated, very roughly, that there are between 200-300 deer in the Grand Forks area.
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laurie.tritschler@grandforksgazette.caLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
