First on Magnolia Voice: Wildlife officers captured the cougar in Discovery Park early this morning. Dogs were able to track the cougar’s scent in the rain, and they chased it up a tree. Wildlife officers successfully tranquilized and captured the animal. Photos and coverage follow below:
UPDATED 9 a.m.: The cougar is starting to wake up and wildlife officials are getting ready to take him to Snohomish County where he will be released into the wild. These pictures show that he is lifting his head and moving around in his enclosure.
Wildlife officials are monitoring him carefully and say that he is doing very well.
UPDATED 8 a.m.: Discovery Park will reopen at 11 a.m. today. The cougar is now sedated and resting in a truck. He is about three years old and weighs 138 pounds. He was captured at 2 a.m.
Department of Wildlife officials received information about another sighting from someone working at the Daybreak Center at 7pm and officer Nicholas Jorg came in at midnight to hunt the cougar.
Even with the pouring rain, they were able to pick up the scent and the dogs found the cougar. He was on the road that leads to the cultural center in a big leaf maple tree.
Updated 7:30am: Here are the first pictures of the captured cougar:
The elusive cougar that has been spotted in Magnolia and Discovery Park has been caught. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials tell us that they brought dogs in around 2 a.m. today, the dogs caught the scent of the cougar and chased it up a tree inside the park. Officials used a tranquilizer gun and got the cat out of the tree. We’re told that the cougar is fine and will be released this afternoon.
Follow our ongoing coverage of the cougar’s capture on Magnolia Voice by clicking to the home page or by visiting our latest stories:
- Cougar equipped with device that will send out text messages
- Neighbors relieved with cougar’s capture
- Cougar arrived in Magnolia “by accident,” officials say
39 responses so far ↓
1 WestViewmontWayWest // Sep 6, 2009 at 7:34 am
Wow, thanks for the wonderful news! This blog has been so great for keeping the community updated!
I can't wait to hear how much it weighed, etc.
2 Silver // Sep 6, 2009 at 8:10 am
I'm guessing that the collar and ear tag were put on him after he was caught and were not already on him when he was caught?
Sure would be interesting to know what area he came from!
3 Silver // Sep 6, 2009 at 8:52 am
Can you update your excellent cougar sightings map with the site of his capture?
4 Laura // Sep 6, 2009 at 8:54 am
What a great blog, thanks for the updates! Can't wait to here more on how they think he got here or from where. Laura from Queen Anne!
5 Elroy // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:00 am
Hey, I can feel his pain. I too woke up after a bender in Vegas to my own dismay with a pierced earring and a tattoo. Man is he gonna take some crap from his buddies!
6 john // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:02 am
It bothers me that “they” needed to dress up the cougar in a bed for ferns to show the animal to the public. It's obvious that the cougar doesn't realize that it is “comfortably” bedded in ferns. Why didn't they put a nice red bow around its neck…sort of like a high school prom photo.
It appears that everything is political first and practical last.
Apparently, it's become the nature of our civilization that the line between wild animals and “organized” society be blurred with ferns.
7 pleasantvalley // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:02 am
This seems amazing. I used to run in and around Discovery Park a lot. I don't remember the cougar in Discovery Park in 1981.
When I was in the army in the late 1960s I was actually assigned to
Ft. Lawton. When I went to report in they told me that Ft. Lawton was in the process of being closed down, and I was reassigned to Ft. Lewis. For awhile when I was at Ft. Lewis I worked on a task force to move the closure process along. There was still quite a bit of activity there then and quite a bit of housing. I am sure there were no cougars then.
For quite a bit of my teaching career I taught at a couple of Magnolia schools (Magnolia and Lawton). From there I would run around Discovery Park.
Does anyone have any ideas about the path the cougar might have followed to get to Discovery Park?
8 magnoliashopper // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:02 am
Your reporting has been great. We're lucky to have a resource like the Magnolia Voice in our neighborhood. Thanks!
9 ballardg // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:06 am
maybe they put the cougar in the bed of ferns for his sake, not ours. I imagine they would want him to wake up *somewhat* comfortably and recognize something.
10 dreamlandpicnic // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:09 am
What a beauty! Farewell, big kitty. We'll be talking about this for years!
11 Silver // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:10 am
John - they may not be being as sleazy as you think. That trap with the ferns in it also has wheels on the bottom. It doubles as a transport vehicle. I think that's how they will carry him back to the wild.
12 NW Angel // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:11 am
Well at least now my neighbor won't have to endure any more teasing about closing the park when she goes there for stalks.. I mean walks.. . It was a real cougar!
Single men can rejoice.. now only the other kind of cougar will be in the park.
13 Lee Hauser // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:12 am
The bed of ferns was there from the beginning, I think, so the cat wouldn't enter the trap to get to the oh-so-yummy smelling dead salmon and be spooked by a cold, hard metal floor.
14 jimmieboyce // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:14 am
I am happy this encounter ended well, here in Arizona they just kill them because someone got scared when they heard the animal warn them not to enter their space. Again I am glad that cooler heads prevailed and the animal was moved away so all could live in peace and quiet.
15 laleeloo // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:18 am
Just got back from seeing the great folks that caught him and the big cat himself. He's a gorgeous animal that will do much better in a truly wild area; not an urban park. In my opinion, a very happy ending for all!
16 Huskies Rule // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:18 am
Awesome! The Cougars lost twice this weekend!
17 marthajordan // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:30 am
The credit for the cougar catch goes to the the dogs– Mishka and Colter. Their handlers/enforcement officers Bruce Richards and Nick Jorg respectively. The dogs are Karelian bear dogs, specially trained to work with bears and cougars and wildlife crimes.
Although they work for WDFW the cost for their acquistion and ALL training and care for these dogs is paid for with private donations.
You can read more about these dogs at the nonprofit Tucker's KBD Fund at http://www.washingtonbeardogs.org Please consider helping us help these wonderful dogs protect people and wildlife.
This cougar gets a second chance because the dogs are here.
18 robinfairchild // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:42 am
Magnolia Voice is great. You were the prime news source on this story for all of Seattle. Thanks for the outstanding effort. You provide a wonderful resource for Magnolia, Seattle's prime wildlife neighborhood - only 8 minutes from downtown. A wonderful place to live even considering the cougars.
Rob from Cougarville
19 fiddlefaddle // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:44 am
Thank you for breaking this story, the timely updates and the beautiful pictures. This blog is such a valuable community resource.
20 stlhdr99 // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:53 am
What a beautiful animal. May he find happiness and a mate in the North Cascades.
21 VC // Sep 6, 2009 at 10:09 am
He's such a beautiful animal. Thanks to the DFW for working so hard to capture him (2 a.m. in t he rain!).
22 JimmyJoe // Sep 6, 2009 at 10:27 am
Amazing animal!
23 haole1 // Sep 6, 2009 at 10:28 am
He's cute! i bet he followed the train tracks down the coast form boeing park. its a green belt full of animals and trees.
24 pj24 // Sep 6, 2009 at 10:29 am
COOL CAT
25 Joe Kitty // Sep 6, 2009 at 10:32 am
I wish they would take the collar off. Do we really need to track the cat after release?
26 Silver // Sep 6, 2009 at 11:03 am
It doesn't go with the rest of his outfit, does it?
It's a drag, but these guys sometimes return to the place they were captured, or to another urban area. If that happens, it would be good to have some warning.
27 normgregory // Sep 6, 2009 at 11:13 am
Any evidence of what the cougar was feeding on while in the park?
28 queenofballard // Sep 6, 2009 at 11:26 am
Wildlife Officials capture the cougar in an urban park where it doesn't belong anymore. They care for it very well. They transp0rt it in a trailer cage that they put some natural material in to make the cougar as comfortable as possible and hope that it won't spook him. They don't want him spooked for his own case, not ours as he's safely behind bars and making him unduly nervous is dangerous for him.
Much in this world today is political, but this certainly isn't John. How on earth could you read that into this? What should they have done?
29 bigyaz // Sep 6, 2009 at 11:58 am
John: You're an idiot.
30 ballardbjm // Sep 6, 2009 at 12:53 pm
We wouldn't have to “blur that line” if people stopped encroaching on territory inhabited by animals.
31 griffinteam // Sep 6, 2009 at 1:00 pm
My Grandmother shot a Mountain Lion in the White Mountains. It was about to pounce on Her. It's been a rug ever since..
32 Mr. Spock // Sep 6, 2009 at 3:18 pm
On a social note:
What is with this new term, “cougar”, for slutty, desperate women?
Why insult such nice cats as the one found in Discovery Park?
33 Silver // Sep 6, 2009 at 5:21 pm
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=...
34 Mr. Spock // Sep 6, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Thanks.
I would use the term “lion” as it is the female lions that actually hunt so it would seem to make more sense, but that's just me.
Another world………..married with a kid.
35 Name // Sep 7, 2009 at 12:34 am
My respect goes to the officials, who were clearly concerned with the cougar's welfare as well as with the locals'. They've done a fine job with this matter.
And what a beautiful cougar! I hope it does well in the future over in Snohomish.
36 Caroline // Sep 7, 2009 at 11:22 am
Yeah if you read the previous stories about this you'd see that the trap for the animal was lined with plants and meat to attract him and trick him into walking into it. It seems that they are using this trap to transport the animal after catching him. Its all set up for him with nice dead salmon so why not.
No need to get all worked up about it. “They” need to settle down and not jump to conclusions.
37 mostbette // Sep 7, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Cougar is not the term for slutty desperate women, it is the term for women who prefer considerably younger men. Folks easily accept men desiring and matching up with considerably younger women, but when a woman prefers younger men she is a predatory animal. It's the old double standard, again.
38 briwilley // Sep 10, 2009 at 6:31 am
wow…i cant wait till i can touch one..they are the coolest things ever…
39 briwilley // Sep 10, 2009 at 8:31 am
wow…i cant wait till i can touch one..they are the coolest things ever…
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