Another round of cougar sightings is being reported on social media but the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) still says they have nothing to go on to confirm that a cougar has taken up residence in the Legacy Ridge area. A posting to the Liberty Lake Community Facebook page on Tuesday, August 28 warns community members that a cougar was spotted in the parking lot of the new Legacy Villa Apartments under construction outside the Legacy Ridge development.
While another Facebook user said a friend who lives in the apartments also saw the big cat, WDFW says they have not been able to confirm that what was seen is an actual cougar.
“We did get a report on Monday afternoon about a cougar sighting that occurred; looks like it was that morning at 2:30 in the morning,” said WDFW officer Jolynn Beauchene in a voicemail. “No, we didn’t go out and look at it (the site) because a substantial amount of time had lapsed since between the sighting and the report and it was also raining and stuff.”
Beauchene said WDFW followed up on an earlier report from July on a cougar in the area and found no evidence to confirm that what was reported was an actual cougar. Video submitted at the time of a supposed cougar turned out to be of a very large house cat on closer examination.
Wildlife officers are still monitoring the area though.
“But we still do have a camera in the area,” Beauchene said. “We haven’t picked anything up with that.”
At this time, WDFW doesn’t have plans to pursue a possible cougar unless more sightings are reported.
