Kids’ imaginations invent Sumas Mountain cougar spotting

Children thought unseen cat spooked three deer in Abbotsford.

The imagination of children led to reports of a cougar sighting Sunday on Sumas Mountain.

The imagination of children led to reports of a cougar sighting Sunday on Sumas Mountain.

A cougar reported to have been spotted prowling Sumas Mountain Sunday afternoon turned out to be nothing of the sort, according to the Abbotsford Police Department.

Several kids reported to their parents that they had seen the animal Sunday around 1:15 p.m. in the Eaglecrest Drive area on Sumas Mountain. Those parents then called police. But when officers interviewed the children later that afternoon, it turned out that they had, in fact, only seen three deer.

When those deer ran off after being spooked, the kids came to the conclusion that an unseen cougar had caused their flight.

“They projected an image that a cougar scared the deer,” MacDonald said Monday.

Abbotsford News