For the second this month, home surveillance video has captured a cougar strolling through a residential neighborhood in the Okanagan.
The latest video was submitted by Lake Country resident Gord Nixon, who says the uninvited guest was captured strolling through his property around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night.
“We’re concerned because a lot of kids and small pets are in the area,” Nixon told global News.
The adult cat wasn’t at all bothered by motion-activated security lights equipped to the residence.
Nixon, a retired doctor, lives along Okanagan Centre Road West in Lake Country and says he’s never seen anything like it.
“We’ve lived here full time for five years, part time for 17 and I’ve never seen a cougar near the property,” he added.
This is the second time in just over two weeks, however, that a cougar has been spotted on residential property in the Okanagan. A cougar was also captured prowling past a home in The Village at Gallagher’s Canyon during the early morning hours of Feb. 1.
Conservation officials say there is nothing to fear as attacks on humans are rare, but measures should be taken to reduce the risk of human-wildlife conflict.
The BC Conservation Officer Service recorded 84 cougar sightings in the Kelowna-area last year.
Cougar and other wildlife sightings can be reported on the RAPP line at 1-877-952-7277.