Colwood cougar encounters prompt warning from B.C. conservation officers

British Columbia conservation officers are monitoring the area and reminding residents to be vigilant after multiple reports of cougar sightings in Colwood over the weekend.

In one instance Sunday, a cougar was preying upon a dead deer in the driveway of a home on Matilda Drive, between Esquimalt Lagoon and Royal Roads University.

Chelsea Amaris Lee told CTV News she spotted the cougar in her driveway around 7 a.m., when she recorded video of the encounter and posted it to the Colwood Community Association Facebook group as a warning to others.

The cougar eventually moved on to a neighbour's yard while wildlife authorities collected the deer carcass from her driveway, she said.

Other community group members posted photos and videos of a pair of cougars in the area through the day and into the night.

The B.C. Conservation Officer Service says it receives "relatively few" reports of daytime cougar sightings in Colwood each year, but human encounters with the animals do occur.

In January, the West Shore RCMP issued a warning after three cougars were found in the backyard of a home on Colwood's Latoria Drive. Earlier that week, another Colwood resident reported that a cougar came onto her ground-level patio and killed her son's cat as it sat on their hot tub.

Two months earlier, a jogger called 911 after a cougar approached and followed her while she was running stairs in Latoria Creek Park.

Homeowner Chelsea Amaris Lee told CTV News she and her family spotted the cougar in their driveway around 7 a.m. Sunday, April 23, 2023. (Chelsea Amaris Lee)

"We will continue to monitor activity in this area, but residents in close proximity to large wilderness spaces should be vigilant at all times," the conservation officer service said in a statement Monday.

"Pet owners should be cautious of allowing cats out from dusk till dawn in areas where cougars are known to be."

The B.C. government advises anyone who encounters a cougar to stay calm, keep the cat in sight and pick up small children.

"Children frighten easily and the noise and movements they make could provoke an attack," the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change says. "Back away slowly, ensuring that the animal has a clear avenue of escape. Make yourself look as large as possible and keep the cougar in front of you at all times. Never run or turn your back on a cougar."

Anyone who is followed by a cougar or notices the animal showing other predatory behaviours is advised to maintain eye contact, show teeth aggressively, make loud noises and pick up rocks or sticks to use as weapons.

"If a cougar attacks, fight back, convince the cougar you are a threat and not prey, use anything you can as a weapon," the ministry says. "Focus your attack on the cougar's face and eyes. Use rocks, sticks, bear spray or personal belongings as weapons. You are trying to convince the cougar that you are a threat, and are not prey."