A Port Alberni man brought good luck to a black cat after running over the cougar that was attacking it on Tuesday afternoon.
Bob Cole was leaving his house to go pick up a friend to play golf when he saw two felines scrapping on the road – a black housecat and a cougar.
"I thought, that cat's dead if I don't do something. I was going to jump out, but that's not a good idea. Then I thought about blowing my horn but that would still leave a cougar in the neighbourhood, so I decided to run it over – it was a split second decision," said Cole.
The cougar, who had been stalking people and pets in the Lakeshore Road neighbourhood for two weeks, was injured, but the frisky black cat was unscathed.
"I looked in my driver's mirror and I see the black cat running back down the driveway of the house it belonged to," said Cole.
Cole was late to pick up his friend and asked his wife to lead conservation officers and RCMP to where the injured cougar laid. It was destroyed and taken away for an autopsy.
According to Cole, the reaction of people in the neighbourhood has been one of relief, with a bit of teasing.
"I got some jokes, people saying that it was their pet cougar, but they are pretty happy," said Cole. "When the cougar was in the neighbourhood, with the kids, cats, dogs and people walking around – they were all in jeopardy."
This is one of many recent cougar incidents in B.C. in a matter of months.
Three cougars were destroyed in Squamish, B.C. earlier this month after conservation officers say they became habituated to the community and unafraid of humans.
