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Ron Baker’s sheep are understandably fearful after a wily cougar killed 11 from the flock over the past two months, including three this week. They’re even more nervous because one of the dead sheep remained tied to a tree just outside their pen, with three traps around it hoping to snare the cunning cat, which seems to have a taste for fresh meat rather than three-day-old carcasses. “He’s killing just because he’s bored,” Baker said. “That’s scary when they get like that.” The 77-year-old Baker runs Roxy Ann Hogg Farm on his “mountain-family” retreat off Hillcrest Road just past ever-encroaching subdivisions. He grew up with his family in his tiny cabin, and his father was a local miner and trapper. Baker left the area in his youth to manage orchards in California and eventually retired to his boyhood cabin, which doesn’t have electricity except when he fires up a generator. He still relies on an outhouse, proud of the original seat he used when he was a kid. His cougar problem is part of a recent trend in the valley, where the graceful killers have been prowling through urban areas, a situation Baker says is partly because there are fewer deer and less food available in the wilderness. The city of Medford has issued a warning to residents in west Medford that another cougar is roaming through neighborhoods, with a video showing a cat cutting through a parking lot along Columbus Avenue. Dan Ethridge, assistant district wildlife biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said he’s viewed the video of the cougar. “I don’t live too terribly far from there,” he said. Though a Gresham woman was killed by a cougar in September on Mount Hood — the first cougar killing of a human in Oregon — cougars generally stay clear of people. “In general, we get cougars running around the outskirts of cities all the time,” Ethridge said. “People just don’t complain.” If you encounter a cougar in the wild, stay calm, stand your ground and maintain eye contact while giving the animal room to escape, according to ODFW. Raise your voice and clap your hands, do not run and do not bend down. If the cougar seems aggressive, raise your arms to appear bigger. Baker said that through all the years his family owned the cabin, this has been the biggest threat he’s experienced from a wild animal. He’s enlisted the help of Cricket Peyton, an authorized wildlife agent paid by Jackson County to deal with pesky wild animals, particularly cougars and bears. Peyton tied some of the dead sheep to a tree as bait, including a ewe just off the road. “She was due to have babies,” Baker said. “It makes me sick.” Baker has some reservations about killing a “beautiful animal,” noting, “Everybody’s got to eat.” But this particular cougar, which he estimates is 120 pounds, is not just taking his sheep for a meal. Baker theorizes it is more interested in satisfying its hunting instinct. He said this is particularly worrying because of the subdivisions a short distance from his cabin, subdivisions that seem to be filled with urban deer and children. “People need to be aware of this and protect themselves,” Baker said. He’s received reports from friends around the valley who have noticed cougars growing bolder. “There’s just a ton of cougars in our Rogue Valley area,” he said. After trying to lure the cat in to munch on the dead sheep used as bait, Baker said it was time to bury the carcasses Wednesday because they were starting to rot. He thinks his cagey cougar has been keeping a close eye on him and his animals. “I’d say he probably knows my every move,” Baker said. “They are smart. I think he came around last night and circled around us but didn’t kill anything.” He said he was alerted Tuesday night by his dog, and Baker said it’s been difficult to sleep because he’s on “high alert.” Without the dead sheep to lure the cougar, he worries the big cat will make another attempt to snatch a live animal. The cougar attempted to lift one sheep over a fence, but the weight of the two animals snapped a two-by-four, causing the cat to abandon the sheep, left slumped against a fence. If the cougar gets caught in one of the “humane” traps, he said he will first call Peyton and get the approval to shoot the cat. “I guess this is just the stuff you have to deal with when you’re farming,” said Peyton. He’s got a menagerie of animals on his property, from pigs and piglets to sheep and chickens. Baker used to slaughter them, but with health regulations, he sends them off to be butchered. Marlene Hageman, who helps out on the farm, said more than $1,000 worth of sheep have been killed in a day. “It’s unreal what a cougar can do,” she said. But she has confidence that Peyton will kill the cat. She’s also concerned about cougars prowling into urban neighborhoods. “They’re right in town,” Hageman said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected]. Follow him on www.twitter.com/reporterdm.