Yellowknife (May 07/04) - A pair of suspected cougar sightings have wildlife officers wondering whether the feline predators are making their way to within Yellowknife city limits.

Scott McQueen and a friend were visiting a cabin about 30km outside of Yellowknife on Highway 3 last Friday to check up on a dog that had been leashed up there.

No sooner had they exited their truck when they noticed large paw prints in the freshly fallen snow. It was not long after that when they heard blood-curdling screams.

"I thought it was a wounded animal," said McQueen. "It was like a scream almost."

Moments later, a large animal -- which McQueen described as a size between a fox and a wolf -- was spotted on a ridge above the cabin.

It looked like a cat, he said, but unlike its more common cousin the lynx, it was larger and had a long tail.

"I only caught a glimpse of it," said McQueen, noting that it was past 11 p.m. and getting dark. "But it had this long tail."

The animal didn't leave immediately. Instead, it darted through the bush, crossed the highway, and moved around to the other side of the pair. "It seemed like it was circling us," said McQueen.

As for the dog, it was nowhere to be seen. "It was there a couple days before," said McQueen. "Somebody else might've taken it in."

McQueen said he wasn't frightened during the encounter, but was surprised. "We were right next to the truck," said McQueen.

"I was just along for the ride and got a little surprise."

Ernie Campbell, a wildlife officer with Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, later paid a visit to the site.

He didn't see the animal, but did find some large paw prints in the snow.

"They were fairly large tracks," said Campbell. "It definitely could've been a cougar."

Other sightings

Campbell said it was the second suspected cougar sighting in the past couple weeks.

A woman from Rae reported seeing a cougar near the highway junction to the community about two weeks ago, he said.

Dean Cluff, a mammal biologist with the department, said there have been other sightings across the North Slave in recent years, although none as close to Yellowknife as the one reported by McQueen.

A cougar was believed to be spotted near Rae in 1994. Other reported sightings include one at Chan Lake near Fort Providence, another near the bridge spanning the Stagg River, and one near the Snare Hydro dam.

Sightings are much more common on the other side of Great Slave Lake, where the cougar's more commonly sought-after prey live.

"Normally, cougars will eat deer -- that's their main food source," said Cluff.

"They could be preying on woodland caribou or bison calves. I suspect that's what they're eating, but I don't know."

He said the average cougar weighs about 50 kg. They have long tails and are usually tan-coloured.

If encountered in the bush, Cluff said one should try to give it ample room to escape, but maintain eye contact and never run or play dead. If it attacks, fight back.

All sightings should be reported to RWED.

"They are very hard to verify," said Cluff. "They're very elusive. It's hard to get the evidence."