Hunt is on for cougar prowling trail near Leavenworth

Brian Klaas was riding his mountain bike on a trail near Leavenworth early one morning last week when he heard footsteps behind him.

First believing it was a dog, he stopped his bike. Then he saw the cougar pursuing him. Klaas put his bike between him and the cougar, which stopped just feet from him.

He yelled and the cougar backed off; but it kept following him for a while before he scared it away a second time.

Today, state wildlife officials have brought in a hunter and hounds to try to track the cougar that has been frightening users of the Freund Canyon Trail near Leavenworth.

Klaas, 45, who lives in California, said he has been riding mountain bikes for 20 years and has had three cougar encounters, but none were as aggressive as the one he spotted near Leavenworth.

"He was running behind me at the same speed as I was riding," he said. "I'd rehearsed this a lot. I jumped off my bike, lifted it and used it as a shield. It came within 6 feet and didn't back off till I yelled."

He said the cougar seemed to be in hunting mode. "There's no way anyone can pedal fast enough to get away."

The Forest Service has closed the trail until the cougar is caught.

Don Youkey, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service, said the incident was the third in six weeks, including one encounter in which a cougar reportedly swiped at a cyclist's bike.

"Typically they're like a lot of wild critters — they see you more often than you see them," said Youkey. "Then they skedaddle." He thinks the cougar is young and curious, and is on the trail because there's a water source nearby.

Youkey said when confronted by a cougar, people shouldn't run, but instead should yell, jump up and down, try to make themselves taller and do anything to scare it away.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com

Information in this article, originally published August 10, 2009, was corrected August 17, 2007. A previous version of this story incorrectly spelled the last name of Brian Klaas. We regret the error.