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Cougar confirmed in Mission

Christine Morrison, Dewdney and Hatzic Elementary Schools are keeping students in at recess and lunch
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One cougar is confirmed to be in the Mission area.

There is at least one cougar in Mission, amid a number of false sightings.

Cody Ambrose, a local conservation officer, said he has confirmed a few reports of a cougar, but couldn't say whether it was one or several.

One resident posted a Facebook picture of what appears to be a cougar spotted Monday evening at 7 p.m. at Dewdney Trunk Road and Cemetery Avenue.

Ambrose said he found cougar tracks around Stave Lake Road and Parr Avenue, a greenbelt area opposite to where the picture was taken.

Other unconfirmed reports include a cougar attacking a house cat on McEwen Avenue in Hatzic Tuesday morning, one near Rockridge in Hatzic on Saturday, and two adults and a cub at 12 Avenue and Cedar Street.

But Ambrose said not every call is legitimate.

"We've received numerous calls about cougar sightings and a number of them are false," he said, before adding it isn't unusual. "The Mission area is cougar territory. It backs onto the mountains."

Tracks found last week likely belonged to a coyote, said Ambrose.