Mountain lions have been the talk of the island this week after two unverified sightings were reported near Roche Harbor and one near Snug Harbor. Local and state agencies responded with safety guidelines for hikers and residents, while more information is being sought to verify whether it was, in fact, a cougar. A study conducted in 2022 following a mountain lion traversing the Salish Sea to visit islands suggests cougars can swim to San Juan Island.

Sighting

On August 4, Leslie DeGasparis, who was visiting Roche Harbor from Seattle via boat with her husband and friends, went for a run on the White Point Road loop near the harbor. An avid runner who usually has safety gear with her, like bear spray, DeGasparis felt okay about taking her San Juan Island run without it that day. She did, however, look over her shoulder periodically, as has become habit over the years for the safety-conscious athlete.

“So I run past this fallen tree log, and run about five or ten more steps, and look back like I always do over my shoulder,” she told the Journal. “And I saw the same stump, but it was much bigger. And it had a face. Oh my gosh, it had a big face! And I knew exactly what it was.”

In the time it took for DeGasparis to come to a stop and turn around, she said the animal had jumped off the branch and was approaching her. She was terrified and backed away slowly, but says it came within 10 feet of her at one point when it stopped and crouched.

She slowly backed away, ultimately sliding down a hillside where she lost sight of what she feels certain was a cougar. DeGasparis acknowledges that her next move was probably unwise, but the fear took over – she ran.

“I just dashed and I jumped on this porch and banged on their door, acting like a lunatic,” she said, remembering how kind the sweet locals were who immediately ushered her in and ended up driving her back to the harbor.

DeGasparis reported her sighting to the resort, the Sheriff’s office, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Because there were no photos/video of the incident and it wasn’t seen by law enforcement or a wildlife professional, it is considered unverified.

However, later that same day came another report, in the same area. A local woman, who grew up in Colorado and is very familiar with mountain lions, was 20 yards from what she identified as a cougar. Because it was so close and so surprising, and she had her dogs with her, she immediately got to safety rather than worrying about a photo. It was only after she got back to her car, according to her husband, that she heard there had been an earlier sighting.

Authorities’ Responses

The Sheriff’s office released a statement publicly with information about the sightings and safety guidelines about mountain lions.

“Without a photo confirming the appearance on our island, WDFW said there is nothing much to do right now,” Sheriff Eric Peter told the Journal. “The Sergeant on San Juan Island is supposed to be setting up a trail camera in that area sometime [Tuesday] evening to see if we can catch a photo of this alleged mountain lion. If we catch it on camera, I will send it to Fish & Wildlife and update my post to the community.”

When asked about the next steps if there is a verified report at some point, WDFW said it’s hard to speculate on the future.

“Cougars are native to Washington state and can be found statewide, so the presence of a cougar on its own is not necessarily cause for management action,” said Chase Gunnell, communications manager of WDFW. He added that it’s important to avoid conflicts with wildlife by not feeding wild animals and securing pets and livestock.

“While a cougar may occasionally ‘take a wrong turn’ and end up in an unfortunate location, it’s more typical that WDFW becomes involved when that animal has begun to view livestock or pets as food. In these instances, especially chronic occurrences, the cougar often has to be lethally removed to help protect public safety.”

Kassie Quackenbush, Registered Vet Technician and Wildlife Rehabilitation Manager of San Juan Island’s Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, agrees with Gunnell’s wrong turn theory.

“If it is a mountain lion, it’s likely passing through,” she said. “They’ll come in, look around, see that it’s not really a good place to hang out and get food, and then keep moving. Generally, they are really, really seclusive – they don’t like to be bothered or their personal space threatened. I would guess it’s going to try and find a way off the island pretty quickly.”

Quackenbush went on to explain that even if it is an actual mountain lion here, the chances of it being aggressive toward a human are extremely low.

“We are bigger, louder, and scarier than a deer or rabbit,” she said. “The risk versus reward is not well balanced. They know how to take down a deer, but a human could pose a threat to them, and they could get injured, and it’s not worth it for them. Still, be aware of safety precautions. Stay in pairs, secure your animals.”

Both Roche Harbor Resort and the San Juan Island National Historical Park have posted signs on the trails in the area to warn about possible mountain lions.

2022 Study

A study conducted in 2022, published by the Northwestern Naturalist, titled “Island Hopping Cougars in the Salish Sea,” predicted that situations like this could be possible. The study tracked a local mountain lion named Nolan, which swam from the Olympic Peninsula to an island 1.1 km away. Through their observations and mathematics, the researchers suggest that “3808 of 6153 islands in the Salish Sea could be accessible to cougars, and we confirmed cougar presence on 18 of those islands. Four islands with confirmed sightings required swims closer to 2 km.”

“Young male mountain lions often undertake difficult and long journeys in search of new territory, as was the case for Nolan,” said a National Geographic article about the study.

The most recent sighting was reported to the Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 7 at around noon, this time near Snug Harbor. It was reportedly “just walking across the street.”

Residents are advised to follow safety protocol and report sightings directly to WDFW by calling 877-933-9847 or online at wdfw.wa.gov/about/enforcement/report. Safety information can be found here.