Town besieged by cougars

The hunters became the hunted in a southern British Columbia town menaced in recent days by three cougars — two which had their baleful gazes fixed on children.

Last Friday, only the quick-thinking actions of a Princeton resident prevented two kids swimming in a river from a likely deadly attack.

The man, who lives near the river, saw the 16-month-old male feline stalking the children and shot it dead, with follow-up investigation by Mounties concluding the firearm discharge was warranted — not to mention life-saving, said Cpl. Dan Moskaluk.

“There’s certainly little question that he may have saved that kid’s life, one of them at least, because it probably would’ve scooped up one of them and taken off,” he said.

“When you see a cat in that mindset of watching prey, regardless of whether it’s a house cat or a cougar ... it must have been very unnerving for the guy looking out at the riverbank.”

The close call came less than two weeks after conservation officers killed a cougar prowling amongst campers in the town 790 km southwest of Calgary.

And if those two incidents weren’t enough to put Princeton residents on a claw’s edge of tension, yet more feline fear erupted the next day.

A decidedly bold big cat was spotted prowling at a town park, with a swimming pool full of children and six baseball teams, on Saturday afternoon.

A panicked resident ran to the nearby RCMP detachment, with officers quickly holstering up to deal with the hungry predator.

“The guy was pounding on the detachment door, all he could get out was ‘Cougar! Cougar! Cougar!’” said Moskaluk.

“As they were walking up to the park area, this thing was crouched down and it was watching them as they approached.”

The animal, a 16-month-old female, was also put down.

Making matters more unsettling is the fact the fearsome predators are not generally apt to wander into town, said Princeton Mayor Randy McLean.

“To hear about one around town is amazing, to hear about three is surreal ... it’s just so hard to fathom,” he said.

“I’ve lived here all my life, I hunt, I fish, I Ski-doo, I quad ... and I’ve seen one cougar in my life and that was on the highway at two in the morning.”

Police are warning residents to be alert and on the look-out for these dangerous predators pictured below.