Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).
A nighttime trail camera confirmed what city staff have been hearing for months: there’s a cougar patrolling Minto-Brown Island Park.
On Thursday, parks staff pulled footage from trail cameras on different game trails and access roads throughout the 1,205 acre natural area near downtown Salem. It showed blurry images of the cougar taken in October through Dec. 1, said Matthew Johnston, Salem’s parks field supervisor.
City staff advise people to use caution at the park, and avoid the area at dawn and dusk when the big cat is most active.
Johnston said that the city’s park ranger had also seen a video of a cougar taken by a park user about a week ago. The parks department had gotten several reports in the past few months of sightings, but oftentimes park users mistake the resident bobcats for cougars.
“This is the first confirmed sighting we’ve gotten,” Johnston said of the trail camera review. It’s the first confirmed photo they’ve gotten since monitoring began around 2018.
City staff are monitoring the situation and consulting with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“It hasn’t shown any signs of aggression or anything,” Johnston said, but staff want to be aware when they’re in the park.
Cougars are native to Oregon. Johnston said the Minto-Brown cougar appears to be following deer, which are plentiful in the park.
A large cougar will kill a deer or elk every 9-12 days, and can wander 15 miles in a single night while hunting, according to Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Parks staff have found a couple deer carcasses, Johnston said, but they can’t confirm it was a cougar kill. He said the pictures of the carcasses he saw looked more like a coyote’s meal.
“There’s all kinds of wildlife in Minto, not just mountain lions,” he said.
While the cougar is on the prowl, Johnston recommended using a buddy system and avoiding the park at dawn and dusk. He also said to stay on designated trails. The park is closed to the public after dark, which is when the cougar has been captured by trail cameras.
To prevent attacks, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife recommends hiking in groups and making noise, keeping dogs on a leash and carrying bear spray or an air horn.
If a cougar is spotted from a distance, the department advises people to calmly leave the area.
If confronted up close, pick up small children without bending down or turning your back on the cougar, keep eye contact with it and slowly back away. People should raise their arms to appear bigger. If the cougar appears aggressive, start clapping.
Cougar attacks are rare, but if it happens the department advises fighting back with anything on hand, like rocks, sticks, or pepper spray.
It’s not the first time a cougar has been seen at Minto-Brown. In 2021, a man walking his dog reported coming within 15 feet of one, which was ultimately startled off by a nearby group of hikers.
Trail cameras also captured a rare elk sighting at the park this spring.
CORRECTION: The city reached out Friday afternoon to correct an incorrectly shared date. The most recent photo of the cougar was taken on Dec. 1, not Nov. 1 as stated in an earlier version of this story.
Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251.
A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE.
Abbey McDonald joined the Salem Reporter in 2022. She previously worked as the business reporter at The Astorian, where she covered labor issues, health care and social services. A University of Oregon grad, she has also reported for the Malheur Enterprise, The News-Review and Willamette Week.
