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nStop, pick up small children and don't run. Cougars instinctively attack running prey.
nFace the cougar and talk in a strong voice while backing away.
nGive the cougar a way to escape.
nMake yourself bigger. Open your jacket or shirt to look bigger. Stand next to other people.
nDon't hide, turn your eyes away from the cougar or crouch.
nNever walk toward a cougar.
nIf the cougar acts aggressively — crouches, holds its ears back, bares its teeth, hisses or twitches its tail — shout, wave your arms and throw things at it.
nIf the cougar attacks, fight back. Stay on your feet. If you are aggressive, the cougar will run away.
nFor more information, go to http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/ living/cougars.htm.
Source: State Department of Fish and Wildlife
The Olympian
Neighbors keep eye out for cougar
By Chester Allen | The Olympian
Grass Lake Refuge neighbors aren't panicking about the cougar that is living in the 164-acre nature area in west Olympia.
But they've also got their eyes wide open.
"You can't avoid living with wildlife out here," said Frank Agulto, who lives in a small neighborhood that borders the densely wooded refuge north of Yauger Park near Lake Louise. "I see deer — I plant a lot of stuff in the back yard, and they come and eat it.
"We live near wild animals. The humans are the intruders in their neighborhood, so we have to live with them as co-equals."
Children reported seeing a cougar in the refuge Saturday, and the cat could be the same animal that was recently spotted near Yauger Park, said Marian Snyder of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Fish and Wildlife enforcement officers are patrolling the refuge, and signs warn visitors of a possible cougar, Snyder said.
The ground is too dry to track the cougar with dogs, Snyder added.
Grass Lake is in a rural area with lots of open land, forest — and access to Capitol State Forest, which is cougar country, Snyder said. The cougar could be a young animal that has left its mother and is trying to stake out a territory, or it could be an older animal pushed out of its territory, Snyder said.
Tamara Barnhart, who lives across the street from Grass Lake Refuge, said the cougar clawed her window screen, tore boards from her gate and ripped up window trim early July 4.
"I thought someone was breaking in," Barnhart said.
Barnhart said the cougar probably panicked when it couldn't find a way out of her yard, which has a 7-foot-tall fence.
People in the neighborhood suspect that the cougar lived in a timbered area that is now being clear-cut, Barnhart said.
"We're kind of in the path of nature out here," she said.
An Olympia police officer came to her house, and cougar tracks and claw marks were found, Barnhart said.
Barnhart said she isn't worried about the big cat, but people in the neighborhood are taking precautions, such as keeping their children from playing in Grass Lake Refuge.
Barnhart said she won't walk in the refuge without her husband or a friend.
Another Grass Lake neighbor, Cindi Swearingen, painted her house Monday afternoon — and kept a close eye on her little dog.
Swearingen said she knows she lives near a lot of rural land, and cougars are part of the deal.
She said she knows what to do if she sees a cougar, and she's not panicking.
"But am I thinking about this?" Swearingen said. "Yes, definitely."
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