WATCH: BC Conservation says dead deer found in Esquimalt Friday was not killed by a cougar. It comes after an alert was issued by police. Isabelle Raghem reports.
Esquimalt residents Peter and Carol Ramsay say they were shocked when they discovered a freshly killed deer on their Lampson St. property Friday afternoon.
“I’m not gonna go out in the backyard for a while, let’s put it that way,” said 79-year-old Carol Ramsay Saturday.
The couple reported the dead deer to BC Conservation and Victoria police, believing a cougar had killed it.
But Saturday afternoon, a Spokesperson for the BC Conservation Office Service told Chek News:
“The COS attended this morning to verify how the deer in Esquimalt died. It was not killed by a cougar.”
It comes a day after Victoria police issued an alert, asking residents watch out for a cougar after the dead deer was found Friday afternoon.
ALERT | Evidence of a cougar spotted 600-block of Lampson in #Esquimalt. Fresh deer kill in a backyard. Cougar not actually seen.
— Victoria Police (@vicpdcanada) August 4, 2017
Bowen Osoko, spokesman for the Victoria Police Department, said Friday, ?the deer was quite clearly killed by a large animal.?
The cougar had not been seen but Osoko said police were asking Esquimalt residents to watch their children and pets.
The report of the dead deer came just a few hours after Victoria Police received a separate call of a cougar sighting near CFB Esquimalt.
This is not the first time a cougar has been in Esquimalt. In May, VicPD officers shot and killed a cougar near Rock Heights Middle School.
?It is close to the area where we had to shoot a cougar a few months ago,? Osoko said.
While there have been no further cougar sightings since Friday, VicPD advise to be on the lookout; keeping children and pets indoors and calling 911 if one is spotted.
Isabelle Raghem
