{"id":128867,"date":"2025-08-08T11:05:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T11:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/128867\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T11:05:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T11:05:17","slug":"3-cougar-sightings-on-san-juan-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/128867\/","title":{"rendered":"3 cougar sightings on San Juan Island"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Anyone who sees a cougar is asked to notify the San Juan County Sheriff&#8217;s Office and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.<\/p>\n<p>ROCHE HARBOR, Wash. \u2014 Three people reported cougar sightings on San Juan Island over the last three days, according to the San Juan County Sheriff&#8217;s Office (SJCSO).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The first two sightings occurred on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A woman reported to 911 that she saw a cougar sitting on a stump when she was running along White Point Road.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The second call came in around 7 p.m. A man reported that he and his wife were walking around the Roche Harbor Quarry with their dogs when their dogs started barking. The woman noticed a cougar about 30 yards away. The cougar was scared off by the dogs.<\/p>\n<p>A third report came into 911 on Tuesday at around 9 p.m. A homeowner heard a noise rustling outside their home and checked their yard with a flashlight. They saw a pair of &#8220;glowing eyes&#8221; low to the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The SJCSO notified the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. The department is tracking sighting reports and has notified its problem animal officers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here are WDFW&#8217;s tips for if you come across a mountain lion:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\nDo&#8217;s:                    <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Stop, stand tall, and face the lion: Do not run. Running can trigger a predatory response.<\/li>\n<li>Make yourself look large and threatening: Open your jacket, raise your arms, and speak firmly and loudly.<\/li>\n<li>Back away slowly: Give the lion an escape route. Do not turn your back.<\/li>\n<li>If you have children, pick them up: Hold them securely without turning away or bending over.<\/li>\n<li>If you are with pets, keep them close and on a leash.<\/li>\n<li>If the lion acts aggressively, fight back: Use anything available as a weapon (rocks, sticks, your backpack, etc.).<\/li>\n<li>Protect your head and neck: If attacked, try to stay on your feet and fight back aggressively.<\/li>\n<li>Report the sighting to the WDFW: This helps them monitor and manage wildlife populations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\nDon&#8217;ts:                    <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Don&#8217;t run: Running can trigger a predatory response.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t turn your back: Maintain eye contact and back away slowly.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t crouch or bend over: This makes you appear smaller and more vulnerable.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t approach the lion: Give it space and an escape route.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t corner or trap the lion: This can escalate the situation.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t offer the lion food or try to feed it: This can habituate the lion to humans and make it more likely to approach in the future.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anyone who sees a cougar is asked to notify the San Juan County Sheriff&#8217;s Office and the Washington&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":128868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[159,67,132,68,837],"class_list":{"0":"post-128867","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-united-states","10":"tag-unitedstates","11":"tag-us","12":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114992822650402351","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}