As a Flores Island woman recovers in a Victoria hospital after a vicious mauling by a cougar, other island residents are recounting run-ins with what they believe is the same predator.
The 60-year-old woman had her skull crushed by the cat, but is in stable condition and expected to recover from the attack on the remote island in Clayoquot Sound. Her name has not been released.
Island resident Bill Dennis, who was working Monday at the Ahousat General Store, said he believes the same cougar responsible for Sunday鈥檚 attack chased him and a friend June 19 after it swam across a channel to a float near the store.
鈥淢e and another guy saw what we thought was a wolf or a dog in the bay and we went to check it out. I got within 100 feet of the float and it jumped out of the water like a fish and I thought 鈥楬oly crap, that鈥檚 a cougar.鈥� 鈥�
In a phone interview, Dennis said the cougar challenged his friend on a ramp and then came toward him.
鈥淚t chased me up the other ramp and I didn鈥檛 bother turning back. I ran as fast as I could to the top. It was pretty spooky.鈥�
Dennis said the cougar then turned away from him and went after his colleague again. 鈥淲ith everyone yelling and screaming, it went back toward the other fellow. It wasn鈥檛 backing off. But it just went right by him into the bush.
鈥淚 would think it鈥檚 the same cat because they saw it again a month later swim back across after supposedly stalking a schoolteacher. It was also bothering a tourist on Wildside Trail. Now, this last incident.鈥�
Dennis noted that there were other complaints in recent months of a cougar stalking and hanging around. 鈥淚鈥檝e been stalked before by cougars and you never get used to it.鈥�
The woman was working outside her cabin Sunday afternoon when she was attacked from behind by the cougar, said Troy Haddock, maritime coordinator with the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria.
The woman鈥檚 skull was crushed and half her scalp was missing following the attack, he said. She also suffered several puncture wounds before her common-law partner 鈥� who heard her screams and quickly came to her aid 鈥� stabbed the cat repeatedly with a spear and chased it off.
Conservation officers and a cougar hunter with a specially trained tracking dog landed on the island Monday and quickly found the body of the cougar about 50 metres from the attack site.
It is believed the cougar, a three-year-old male, died from spear injuries, but a necropsy will also be performed on the animal to determine what may have prompted it to jump on the woman.
One B.C. conservation officer is marvelling at the man鈥檚 bravery for attacking a cougar with nothing but a spear.
鈥淚鈥檓 pretty sure that this is the first time in B.C., if not Canada and maybe even North America, where someone has stopped an attack by a cougar with a spear and killed it with a spear,鈥� said conservation officer Sgt. Ben York. 鈥淚 understand why he did it, but it still takes a lot of bravery to do what he did and I鈥檓 glad he was there to rescue her,鈥� added York, noting that the cougar appeared relatively healthy. 鈥淵ou know it could have turned out a lot differently if he hadn鈥檛 been around.鈥�
York said a coast guard ship was used to ferry the woman from the island to nearby Tofino. She was then airlifted to hospital in Victoria.
York said they may never know why the cougar attacked because sometimes cougars look at people as if they鈥檙e prey.
He said the couple had some encounters in the last few months with a cougar that had been acting aggressively towards them. He believes it was the same animal that attacked the woman Sunday.
York said it appears likely the man tried to prepare himself for any kind of event and kept the spear handy.
鈥淚t may be that he just looked around for what he had available and made it ready just in case, and as it turned out it was a good idea.鈥�
York said it was obvious the man wasn鈥檛 going to let the cougar have the woman without a fight.
鈥淭his was his partner of some years, so there鈥檚 no way he was going to let that cougar have its way.鈥�
Dennis said that while the woman attacked Sunday was not a close friend, he鈥檚 met her a few times. 鈥淪he was very private and reclusive. She came by the reserve to get supplies every two or three months.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e nice people. They鈥檝e lived there 30-plus years.鈥�
Iris Huebner, who also works at the store, also described the woman and her partner as 鈥渁 very nice couple.鈥� She had heard of the cougar鈥檚 behaviour before the horrific attack.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 afraid of people at all. The parks guy said they had to take a lady out because it got too close to her and she was very concerned.鈥�
