A woman riding an e-scooter from Heritage Ranch to Bower Ponds on Saturday night rounded a band and had a shocking wildlife encounter.
Sometime around 10 p.m., she came upon a large cougar standing on the path in front of her, just before the pedestrian/bike bridge over Red Deer River.
"Acting quickly, she honked her scooter's horn, startling the animal, which then fled into the surrounding bush," stated an account of the incident that was posted on on social media.
The woman, who does not wish to be identified, later contacted RCMP and Fish and Wildlife about the cougar sighting.
According to the description provided to the RCMP, "it was a big cougar with a long tail, it wasn't a bobcat," said Corp. Troy Savinkoff, a spokesperson for RCMP K-Division.
Local police officers were sent to search for the cougar, but no cat was found, he added
Savinkoff believes urban encounters are fairly rare since cougars are "solitary, private animals" that usually stay away from humans. Even while working in the Cochrane area, which is closer to the mountains and has more reported cougar sightings, he has never personally seen the large predatory cats.
But cougars have occasionally been spotted in the Red Deer area. The last one that was reported in the Advocate was in January 2020, when someone reported a cougar near 32nd Street and 47th Avenue.
Over the years, area residents have also spoken of seeing cougars in the Riverside Industrial area, by the river, in Maskepetoon Park, or in Red Deer County, just east of the city.
According to the provincial government's website, cougar sightings have been on the rise over the past decade due to humans moving into their habitat, and also because of healthy populations of prey animals — such as the deer that live in Red Deer's parks and travel via river and creek corridors.
The large cats prey mainly on deer, elk, moose, bighorn sheep and small mammals. But they can be a threat to small pets and children.
Carol Kelly, executive-director fo the Medicine River Wildlife Centre, said cougars that resort to eating pets or chasing humans are invariably starving — either too old or too young to hunt down deer and other more usual prey animals. A necropsy she once attended on a juvenile cougar that had been shot for posing a threat to humans or pets was in fact found to be starving.
She confirmed that it isn't overly unusual to spot cougars in the Red Deer area. They usually follow deer along river corridors into the city, she explained.
Indigenous Elder Lyle Keewatin Richards believes running into a cougar in Red Deer is entirely possible because there are resident cougars who live in the area.
While they are active at all times of day, the large wild cats tend to move into open areas or places where they may encounter humans at night.
Although cougar attacks are very rare, residents who are are leery of possible cougar encounters should travel in groups, stay alert, and make noise on the trails to avoid surprising wildlife, states Alberta Fish and Wildlife.
The provincial website provides tips on what to do if you encounter a cougar: Don't run, don't turn your back. Stay calm and keep pets and children close. Make yourself look big, wave your arms, open your jacket. Do not crouch down, but do make noise and use bear spray if you have it.
Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers are currently monitoring the situation at Heritage Ranch, and remind the public that cougar sightings in a residential area can be reported by calling1-800-642-3800.