Warning: The pictures and details in this story may be disturbing to some readers.
An Alberta family went through a frightening ordeal on Tuesday afternoon when a cougar came onto their property, killed their pet cat and pawed at their back door.
It happened around 12:30 p.m. at a rural property on the southwestern outskirts of Calgary, near the Ann and Sandy Cross Conservation Area, which is located just south of 178th Avenue West and east of 160th Street West.
“I look over and there’s a cougar at our window and he was holding our cat in its mouth,” Jessica Low told Global News later Tuesday afternoon.
“I was physically shaking, I was so scared.”
Low said she had just set up lunch for her five-year-old daughter, Aubrey, when she got a Ring alert on her watch about movement on her property.
“I kind of sat up to look outside just at the same time that she (Aubrey) yelled that her cat was dead,” Low said.
The cougar killed one of the family’s two barn cats, Oreo, then proceeded to hiss and bare its teeth to her and her five-year-old daughter through the back patio window.
“I quickly ran over and it dropped the cat and it kept pawing at the window. It was kind of hissing at us and baring its teeth,” Low recalled.
“I thought it had seen (Aubrey) in the window.”
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Low captured video of the animal at her back door. The video shows the cougar staring through the window for a period of time.
The cougar hisses and paws at the window before eventually grabbing the house cat in its mouth, dropping it in the garden and walking away.
“It was probably between five and 10 minutes that it wouldn’t leave. And I was banging at the glass trying to get it to leave,” Low said.
Low called Alberta Fish and Wildlife, and officers came to her house on Tuesday afternoon.
“They said it’s a young cougar — probably 18 months-ish based on size and some markings on its fur and that it was probably just after the barn cat. But it is a weird time of day for it to be out, so they kind of just told us to keep an eye on things and be safe.”
Global News spoke with the officers as they were leaving the property. The officers said there have not been any other reports of cougar sightings in the area. The officers said after viewing the surveillance video, they believe the animal saw its own reflection in the door, which caught its attention.
A statement from Alberta Fish and Wildlife said the agency is investigating the incident and is working to ensure public safety.
“It is believed that this is the first time the cougar was seen in the area,” the statement said.
The agency said cougar sightings are rare, “as these animals are elusive and generally not found within heavily populated areas.”
Alberta Fish and Wildlife recommends people travel in groups and carry bear spray.
“If you see a cougar in the distance, do not run or turn your back. If the cougar appears to be unaware of your presence, gather children and pets in close, slowly and cautiously back away and leave the area,” the statement said.
Low said her family has lived in the house for two-and-a-half years and she’s never seen a cougar before.
Her kids normally get dropped off at the top of her driveway, but she said she’ll be driving them up and down for the next little while. She will also be putting off the fall cleanup she had planned this week.
“I had just been planning on being outside all day long with her (Aubrey) doing fall cleanup and I kept pushing it off because it looked cold,” Low said.
“What if I was outside? It seemed like it was aggressive. It seemed like it saw my daughter and was going after her. So I just felt sick.”
Low contacted Global News on Tuesday night and said the cougar came back.
“It came right up to the same window Aubrey has been sitting by and banged its head against the window multiple times until it got my attention,” Low said. “Super menacing and aggressive. When I approached the window it ran away, but it’s terrifying.”
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