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Feral cats add to wildlife conflict Photo by Mark Freeman John Spain hopes the southeast Medford cougar eats the feral cats fed by cat-lovers at stations like this one along Larson Creek. Cougar may visit southeast Medford for such prey By MARK FREEMAN Elusive cougar has death sentence The cougar patrolling southeast Medford will be killed if found by state biologists or police, but it will be tough to catch. While it has been spotted by several people, the cougar has always disappeared before a volunteer houndsman could reach the site and track the animal to kill it, says biologist John Thiebes of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Moreover, the cougar has traversed several pieces of private property during its night-time expeditions, and the ODFW cannot allow its own biologists or trained hounds to cross private property without permission. "We still can't trespass across private property," Thiebes says, "and we won't." ODFW policy calls for killing problem cougars, not trapping and relocating them, for biological and legal reasons. The agency does not relocate them because the offending cougar will either be killed by a more dominant cougar in its new home or venture back to its old haunts, Thiebes says. Also, the agency does not want to assume the liability of releasing a problem cougar that could clash with humans where it is released, he says. Thiebes asks that anyone who sees the cougar telephone the ODFW at 826-8774 or the Oregon State Police at 776-6111. Edith Patrick cares for more than two dozen abandoned cats that call the banks of Larson Creek in southeast Medford home. She feeds, spays and neuters the feral felines, which she calls innocent victims of people's insensitivity toward pets. "These cats didn't ask to be here," Patrick says. "I just do the best I can." But wildlife biologist John Thiebes has a different view of Patrick and other Good Samaritans who care for the neighborhood's feral cats. Thiebes sees their activities as contributing to the prowlings of a more infamous wild cat -- a brazen young cougar that has adopted the neighborhood as its personal dining room. Thiebes believes the unnaturally dense population of feral cats along Larson Creek is one of the main reasons a cougar now ventures regularly into the neighborhood, where residents fear for their safety. "It's seeking a food supply, and the biggest food supply in that area is stray cats," says Thiebes, of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. That possibility irritates some residents like John "Doc" Spain, who says the cougar link is yet another reason to hate the Patrick-fed cats living behind his Creekside Drive apartment along Larson Creek. "Everybody wants to be a good Samaritan," Spain says. "But they forget about the people." Many people have been surprised to hear of a cougar prowling southeast Medford over the past month. Residents have spotted the cougar in daylight throughout the summer in this neighborhood where new subdivisions abut old orchards, open fields and old creek drainages that were once home to hordes of wildlife. The cougar has ventured as far as a field across from Rogue Valley Medical Center, and two weeks ago followed a woman walking on East Barnett Road until it came within a stone's throw before the woman flagged down a passing van. The cougar has surfaced as recently as Thursday morning, strolling toward homes north of the new Albertson's store on Barnett Road, according to ODFW reports. At 2 a.m. Sunday, three people saw it at Orchard Hill Elementary School along Juanipero Way about four blocks from where Patrick feeds her cats. Though the cougar has shown no fear of humans, it so far has not threatened any. "Fortunately, (the cougar) hasn't decided humans are a prey source -- yet," Thiebes says. But it has likely decided the area's stray cats are prey -- as are the artificially large collection of blacktail deer near Hillcrest Road -- in part because of its lineage, Thiebes says. The cougar is likely a male offspring of a local cougar and has grown up accustomed to seeing people, Thiebes says. Moreover, it has adopted as much as 30 square miles of outlying east Medford as its home territory because older, more established males have claimed all the more remote lands and will kill any male that encroaches there, he says. The area's deer unnaturally spend their summers near the valley floor to take advantage of food and water left by residents, Thiebes says. These deer likely lure the cougar closer to town, where it has prowled in to dine on feral cats without leaving a trace of its meal, Thiebes says. "You won't see a munched cat," Thiebes says. "A cougar can run away with 100 pounds in its mouth and jump a six-foot fence. A cat is probably one night's meal." Patrick says the cougar might very well be lured by the area's cats, but she believes it is "stupid" to blame her or others who feed the strays. The problem, she says, lies with those who do not spay or neuter their pets, and dump unwanted animals in places like Larson Creek. "(Thiebes) can blame it on me, but there are colonies all over," Patrick says. "If the cougar gets them, he gets them." And that would make Spain's day. "If that cougar can find those cats for dinner," Spain says, "be my guest." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA