While both coyotes and cougars are a growing problem for livestock producers, cougars may become a problem directly for humans.
That’s the conclusion wildlife officials voiced earlier this month during a meeting held to discuss the problem of predators.
Officials and producers are having difficulty keeping up with predators that prey on livestock, and in discussions Jan. 7 at the Old Armory in Albany, they discussed the likelihood of cougars eventually attacking a human if they’re not controlled better.
The purpose of the meeting was to talk about the predator problem in Linn County and surrounding areas, said Shelby Filley of the Oregon State University Extension Service.
“We want to work with producers, private citizens, agencies, everyone with an interest in this problem so we can come up with solutions.”
Over the past few months, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has received calls from small producers about predator damage, said Nancy Taylor, district wildlife biologist with ODFW at Adair Village. The problem is they’re calling a week or two after the attack. By then, it’s too late for anyone to deal effectively with the predator.
“One of the pleas I wanted to make was when you have coyote or cougar damage, let us know as soon as possible,” Taylor said. Her office needs to be aware of livestock damage and life and safety issues as quickly as possible after it happens.
Taylor also made a point to clarify what people can do when encountering coyotes, cougars and bears or predator damage because there has been a lot of confusion, especially regarding cougar damage and human safety.
The larger producers are aware of the rules, she said, but the small producers and others are not.
The part people often do not realize is that it is legal to take a cougar in response to livestock damage.
The taking is allowed only on the property where the damage has occurred, Taylor said. No prior permit from ODFW is required. Agents trapping cougars on behalf of a landowner must have a written agreement with the landowner.
Cougars taken for damage must be reported to the Oregon State Police or ODFW, she said. The hide, head and reproductive tract must be submitted immediately to the ODFW for documenting if the landowner or trapper wants to retain the hide to be mounted.
Outside city limits, a cougar may be taken using a valid hunting tag during legal hunting hours. It may be spotlighted and killed when it returns to feed on a prey carcass, which cougars tend to do more often during cold weather. Another person may be hired to trap or kill the cougar. The ODFW can refer the landowner to the Linn County U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Service agent who has access to equipment to track and kill the cougar.
If a cougar is a threat to human safety, even if the person does not have a license or cougar tag, a cougar may be killed.
It is considered a threat if it is showing aggression. Aggressive actions may include, but are not limited to, charging, false charging, growling, teeth popping and snarling.
Other threats to human safety include breaking into or attempting to break into a residence, usually a characteristic of bears,
which are covered under the same rules; attacking a pet or domestic animal; loss of wariness toward humans displayed through repeated sightings of the cougar during the day near permanent structures used by humans. In these cases, the hide may not be kept.
Persons experiencing what they perceive as immediate threats to human safety should contact the police. Reports of threats that are not immediate should be reported to the local district wildlife biologist.
Taylor, who handles cougar information north of Highway 20 in Linn County, may be reached at (541) 740-6338 or (541) 757-4168, extension 226.
Landowners or their agents are allowed by state law to kill coyotes at any time the landowner is aware of the presence of coyotes on the property regardless of whether the coyote has caused damage. No license, permit or notification of ODFW is required.
The cougar population in Oregon has grown from an estimated 200 in the 1960s to more than 3,000 during the 1990s and some 5,500 today, according to the ODFW.
Both human and cougar populations are expanding, according to David Williams of the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Attacks on livestock are happening more frequently, Taylor said, especially as the cougar population expands. Young males expand down the drainages where they may find livestock and pets that are easier targets than deer.
Dallas has been having a problem recently with a cougar being seen during the day and approaching people, Taylor said.
Last year, a young cougar was sighted in a Corvallis neighborhood, but efforts to trap it were unsuccessful.
Last year, several cougar sightings in Sweet Home were reported to police and stories circulatated among residents about sightings. A goat was killed by a cougar off North River Road.
Taylor said she receives a call “every day” that a cougar was seen inside the city limits somewhere in her territory, which includes adjacent counties.
“The whole county is a hot spot,” said 30-year trapping veteran Jim Schacht, Linn County Wildlife Service agent. Cougars are seen everywhere, from Stayton to Brownsville, Lebanon and the Berlin Road area.
These days, he gets almost as many cougar calls as he does coyote calls, Schacht said. “I think this generation of cougars have lost their fear of humans.”
They haven’t been hunted by dogs in years, he said. They’re not afraid.
“They don’t know fear and enter residential areas without fear, and it’s going to continue to escalate.”
Linn County has a single trapper dedicated to handling predators that have damaged livestock funded at about $50,000,
including money from Linn County and the Linn County Livestock Association.
That position has funding dedicated through next year, but producers are concerned that the funding will dry up while the problems are growing.
Predation in Eastern Oregon is at all-time high, said Livestock Association Secretary Joel Pynch, who raises sheep and cattle in the Halsey-Brownsville area. The entire industry is declining, and that is largely attributable to not having an effective predator control program.
Funding has declined steadily over the past decade, Williams said, limiting the amount of resources agencies can dedicate to control.
After a study in the late 1990s, his agency saw a bump in its budget, Williams said. Then during the 2001 recession and changing legislature, funding started declining.
Another producer said that when cougars start eating people, there will be a response.
“That’s why we’re involved in this human-cougar issue,” Taylor said. “I spend a third of my time on this human-cougar issue.”
Protecting against livestock predation, Williams said, has an additional benefit. It helps prevent possible human-cougar issues because the cougars are taken before they start getting into the towns.
“By protecting agriculture, we’re protecting human health and safety,” he said, but he doesn’t know how long government officials can continue as agents are spread more thinly.
One of the steps the ODFW is taking is training volunteer cougar agents, Taylor said, but they won’t be as efficient as federal agents and private trappers. They have to work under her supervision at the site.
“It’s frustrating to say we may be losing more resources,” she said.
To make their cases for predator control, producers discussed the importance of public relations and letting people know about the costs and what could happen if predator populations remain uncontrolled.
The problem isn’t high enough on priority lists, Filley said.
“We need to increase the priority by emphasizing the public safety issue that’s bound to explode one of these days. One day, it’s going to spill over to being a human safety issue.”
Reed Anderson of Brownsville, president of the Oregon Sheep Growers Association, said he has expected what’s happening now as a result of bans on hunting cougar with hounds in the 1990s.
“I knew this day was coming,” Anderson said. “Thank God no one’s been killed yet.”