When the first Europeans reached Canada they, too, began to view the cougar as an enemy. Cougars earned this status by making raids on settlers' livestock and by occasionally attacking human beings. The cougar virtually disappeared in the east. Fortunately, sufficient wilderness remained to enable the western cougar to survive. Bounties have been removed and today, with enlightened management, cougars are repopulating former ranges.
Cougars are extremely elusive and usually avoid direct contact with people.
Masters of camouflage, they often remain hidden when approached closely on foot. While tracking a cougar one winter day, a researcher stepped within 1 m of its hiding place beneath a large spruce tree, before the cat exploded from beneath it, heading away. Such a rarely seen animal, tracks in the snow are usually the only sign of a cougar's passage. Reading list Banfield, A.W.F. 1974. The mammals of Canada.