Over the past month and a half, Kelsey Bergerson has seen 10 chickens vanish from her nearly 6-acre property northeast of Washougal.
At first she thought it was a big hawk preying on the chickens, until four lambs came up missing.
Then, on Sunday, her alpaca Elliott was found dead with what she said were obvious signs of a cougar attack. The next day, she and her husband found a full-grown sheep dead, with bite marks on its jaw and throat.
The discoveries were concerning enough to call the authorities, and two officers with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife came out to their home on Southeast 352nd Avenue to investigate.
Sgt. Jeff Wickersham of Fish & Wildlife said that one of the animals showed obvious signs of a cougar attack, but that the answer to what killed the other animals wasn’t as definite.
“We found evidence to indicate it could be some kind of large predator,” he said. “It was hard to tell what.”
Dead sheep used as bait
Wildlife officers laid a trap baited with the dead sheep in an effort to try to catch the cougar. Wickersham said that the plan is to wait a few more days and then re-assess the situation with the Bergersons.
“It doesn’t seem to be stopping,” Bergerson said. “My fear is that there’s a den somewhere and it’s taking the food back to the baby.”
The Bergersons have started keeping their animals and feed closer to their house in order to keep a closer eye on them. But the frequency of the animal attacks has made her nervous in her own home.
“It’s just scary because we have a 20-month-old daughter who loves to be outside,” she said.
Wickersham said that no one else in the area has reported any missing animals. If area residents do spot a wild animal, Wickersham asked that they call the non-emergency sighting line at 1-877-933-9847. If residents feel endangered by the wild animal, Wickersham asked residents to call 911.
