Photo courtesy of Melissa Davies - Scratch marks from a suspected juvenile cougar can be seen on the mouth of a horse stabled near River Valley Park.

By Alex McCuaig

Cougar sighting

Cougar sighting near River Valley Park

Oct 20, 2019 | 3:03 PM

Redcliff, AB – A suspected juvenile cougar is roaming the River Valley Park with several horses and at least one dog suffering scratches from the feline.

Melissa Davies said one of her horses had what appeared to be claw marks a couple of weeks ago.

“At first we thought maybe we had a badger in the area. A couple of days later we noticed some scratches on one of the other horses,” said Davies.

But the final confirmation came when Davies’ father actually saw the cougar on Thursday morning.

“My dad gets up pretty early and he was out here about four in the morning and he actually saw the cougar right in our yard here,” she said. “So I guess we do have a cougar down here.”

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Davies said Fish and Wildlife as well as RCMP have been notified of the sighting.

A neighbour’s dog was also suffering from a suspected scratch from the cougar.

Cougar’s in southeastern Alberta were largely extirpated (locally extinct) for much of the 20^th century with sightings indicating the felines’ return beginning in the early 2000s and breeding sites in the Cypress Hills confirmed in 2006.

Radio-collared cougars from the Cypress Hills have been know to travel long distances with one finding its way from the inter-provincial park to Moose Mountain in southeastern Saskatchewan.