Cougar sightings reported near Lochside Trail

Posted By: Keith Vasson: June 07, 2015In: News

Conservation officers and Saanich Police are urging the public to be vigilant, but not overly alarmed after a pair of cougar sightings near the Lochside Trail Saturday night.

The two close encounters happened just a few hours and a few hundred metres apart, suggesting a big cat could very well be in the area.

The first reported encounter happened just after 9 p..m., when a caller told Saanich Police they had heard a growling noise and movement in bushes just off the trail south of Blenkinsop Lake. Police searched the area but didn’t find a cougar.

Then just before midnight, a separate report came in. A security guard working at a BC Hydro substation just off the trail, says several girls ran up and told him they had seen a cougar. The guard says he drove his vehicle and saw a large cat in a tree near several other people.

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'Puma' Spotted On Arthur’s Seat By Police Helicopter

While searching through undergrowth for a missing mum with infrared camera, Inspector Whyte set eyes on what he is convinced was a puma

Yahoo News. – Mon, Jun 8, 2015

The big cat was reportedly sitting on Arthur’s Seat - the peak of a group of hills in Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park - in 2012 by a police helicopter.

Inspector Nick Whyte was one of the officers on board the helicopter, that was dispatched to search for a vulnerable mother in the middle of the night after a two-year-old baby was discovered abandoned close to St Leonard’s police station.

While searching through undergrowth with infrared camera, Inspector Whyte set eyes on what he is convinced was a puma.

He told the Edinburgh Evening News: “We detected a very large heat source that we thought was possibly the mother.

“As I directed a female police officer towards it, the heat source got up and it turns out it was a big cat–we think a puma or something like that.”

Describing the animal as “three times the size”of a nearby female police officer, Inspector Whyte is certain this was no domestic cat.

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Video of mystery animal recorded in Norwalk enhanced by tech company

By Venusse Navid, Whittier Daily News

POSTED: 08/06/14, 12:09 AM PDT 

This screen grab from a security camera video on the City of Norwalk's Facebook page shows a possible mountain lion. 

A mysterious animal recorded on a residential security camera roaming a street in Norwalk on July 29 still has city officials scratching their heads wondering if they really do have what may be a lion living among them.

The creature has gained international attention attracting news agencies from as far as Japan that have contacted city officials wanting the scoop on the unidentifiable animal.

“It’s incredibly intriguing,” Norwalk Mayor Marcel Rodarte said. “We want to make sure someone isn’t keeping an illegal pet and that they know how dangerous it can be for the community.”

With the help of ClearView HD InfoTech North America, a San Luis Obispo-based company, a grainy residential surveillance video depicting a cat-like creature wandering the 11700 block of Tina Street, has been enhanced with a clearer image of the animal.

“We saw (the story) on ‘The Today Show’ and started making calls,” Mitch Peterson, InfoTech North America sales engineer said.

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