Two cougar sightings were reported near Cannon Beach Monday, just a few weeks after a cougar traversed the sands to Haystack Rock.
The Cannon Beach Police Department said both of the sightings occurred west of the Oregon Coast Highway between 2nd Street and Sunset Boulevard, according to a statement posted to the agency’s social-media accounts. The first sighting was reported in the morning and the second in the evening.
Cannon Beach police said coyotes and an injured elk were also spotted in the town’s vicinity on Monday.
Earlier in July, officials cordoned off a portion of Cannon Beach to allow a cougar perched on Haystack Rock a safe escape route. The cougar was first spotted by photographers on the morning of July 16, and tracks from the animal led officials to believe the cougar left early the next day.
The cougar likely came down to Cannon Beach the night before it was spotted to hunt birds at low tide, according to biologists with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“While the forested areas along the coast are prime habitat for cougars, it is unusual that a cougar made its way on to Haystack Rock,” Oregon fish and wildlife biologist Paul Atwood said in a statement.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife says Oregon is home to about 6,000 cougars, also known as mountain lions, but sightings are not common. Cougars are lone hunters who prey mostly on deer.
