Saratoga Cougar Captured

Living in rural areas such as Saratoga, interactions with wild animals are a given. In many cases, it’s that interaction which attracts people to the area.

These interactions go beyond the “town deer” which live in town limits or the occasional moose making its way through. Such is the case with the mountain lion recently captured and relocated by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD). According to Teal Cufaude, Saratoga Wildlife Biologist for the WGFD, this is possibly the second mountain lion which has tried to call the area home in the past several months.

Lion or lions?

“It’s difficult to tell how many lions we might have been dealing with over the span of the winter. We started getting phone calls regarding mountain lions and people capturing videos or photos of mountain lions this winter,” said Cufaude. “Early November was when our first reports started filtering in, not necessarily of encounters but folks capturing those videos or photos.”

Advancement in home surveillance technology, such as Ring doorbell cameras, seems to have led to an increase in such sightings and reports, said Cufaude. Despite these increased sightings, Cufaude said she was hesitant to claim there was an increase in the amount of large predators coming into Saratoga. According to the wildlife biologist, over the past five years Saratoga has averaged around two mountain lions a year in town limits.

One of the first mountain lion encounters in the winter occurred in November when one was struck by a car. According to Cufaude, due to the injuries sustained by the large cat, it was euthanized.

“We did receive sporadic reports of mountain lions through January, early February. After fresh snow, we would hear about potential tracks on the east side of town, maybe over by the (Saratoga Hot Springs) Resort, up at the (Saratoga Inn) Overlook. It was really hard to establish a pattern or to know if this lion, or lions, were in town or passing through town,” said Cufaude. “We waited for those reports to come in. If we had the opportunity to resolve those potential encounters, we would, but it was just difficult to set up a pattern of mountain lions.”

Finally, after a winter of periodic mountain lion sightings, Cufaude said a more sustained stream of reports allowed the WGFD to begin establishing a pattern. Videos and photos from Ring doorbell cameras showed the large cat in the subdivision behind the Saratoga Hot Springs Resort and trail camera photos appeared to show the same animal in west Saratoga.

“Hard to say if it’s the same mountain lion but just based on the images I’ve seen from the Resort side and the mountain lion we ended up capturing, I’d say it was the same mountain lion,” said Cufaude. “Because we’re dealing with Ring door bell imagery, it’s difficult to say if we’re dealing with the exact same lion but I’m pretty confident that the mountain lion we just captured is the one we’ve been seeing on the west side of town and the one that’s been frequenting the Resort over the last couple of months.”

Urban Conflicts

According to Cufaude, it is not unusual for mountain lions—especially younger males or females—to make their way into urban areas such as Saratoga. Part of the reason, said Cufaude, is that the territory of a mountain lion depends on the location of prey. With a population of deer in town, this attracts not just mountain lions but other large carnivores.

“For the most part, the mountain lions we have got our hands on tend to be sub-adult animals. That can be sub-adult females or sub-adult males,” said Cufaude. “This most recent mountain that we handled was a sub-adult male, less than four years of age. Typically we’re dealing with those sub-adults, those younger animals dispersing from where mom may have kicked them off and setting up a territory elsewhere.”

While deer serve as a main prey source for large carnivores such as a mountain lion, they aren’t always the only—or easiest—option. According to Cufaude, domestic pets such as cats and dogs can also potentially become prey for these larger animals. The wildlife biologist encouraged the use of leashes on animals in public places such as parks.

“We understand that folks have fenced yards, they want to kick their animals out. I think that’s fair, just be aware,” said Cufaude. “Especially in the winter time when there’s the potential presence of large carnivores in or around town, make sure you’re keeping an eye on your pets.”

Case-by-case basis

Cufaude said this most recent mountain lion was relocated after its capture, but added that’s not always the case with these large carnivores. WGFD typically examines the history of conflicts of an animal rather than keeping a “rap sheet” of offenses.

“We evaluate each case. I wouldn’t say we have a systematic number of offenses but we do look at the history of the animal, if it does have a history. This particular mountain lion, we don’t know of it having any history besides just showing up this winter,” said Cufaude. “We do look at the history of the animal (and) evaluate that. We chemically immobilize (sedate) them so that we can assess their body condition. We want to make sure that if we are going to potentially release an animal back into the wild, that it’s in good body condition. We don’t want to set it up for failure.”

To keep track of that history, it is common for the WGFD to place a yellow ear tag on mountain lions or any other large carnivore. This allows the department to determine if an animal is returning to more urban areas after being relocated. It is also a way for hunters to contact the department if they harvest the animal to determine if recent sedation of the animal means it could be safe or unsafe for human consumption.

“We do recognize there is some ability for that cat to move back into a place where it’s having encounters with people or pets and it’s got a history at that point. That’s something that does go into our evaluation as to what we do with it the next time, if it does show back up,” said Cufaude. “We feel confident we probably found a niche for it where it’s going to be just fine.”

That location, said Cufaude, is in the Sierra Madre Mountain range between the Platte Valley and Little Snake River Valley.

See something, say something

Cufaude added the Platte Valley residents have become better about making reports to WGFD when sightings of large carnivores have occurred.

“Folks have gotten really good about relaying information about where they’re seeing large carnivores to us,” said Cufaude. “We try to resolve these situations as we can. Sometimes it takes months for us to catch up with a mountain lion or a bear. Just the nature of working with wildlife, it’s not as easy to capture wildlife as it may seem.”

Any sightings of large carnivores in Saratoga can be made to the WGFD, the Saratoga Police Department or the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office.