A cougar who has been stealing into farmyards in the Oyama area and killing goats and sheep was tracked down by the conservation officer service and shot Wednesday.
The first attack was reported March 12, said CO Ed Seitz, so they set up a trap for him, but he refused to be taken in.
He killed three sheep and a goat in that attack.
They finally removed the trap, and the cougar returned and killed again Tuesday, killing several more goats at the farm.
Conservation officers brought in hounds to track the cougar and he was found within a mile or so of the farmhouse.
Seitz said he was a big male cougar, about 120 to 130 pounds, in very good shape, so it’s not clear why he wasn’t doing his hunting in the wild. “He was very brazen,” commented Seitz.
Cougar populations must be on the rise, he speculates, because there have been a number of complaints this winter north of Vernon, with the big wildcats killing both livestock and dogs.