ALEXANDRIA, Va. — After a week of searching, wild life experts in Fairfax County didn’t find a cougar in the area near Riverside Elementary School in Alexandria.
Dr. Katherine Edwards, a wildlife expert with Fairfax County police, says that for a week, wildlife cameras have been posted in the area around the school to catch any animals in the area.
Also, her team searched the area near the school by foot, looking for evidence of a big cat such as paw prints and droppings.
“The only animal presence we’ve documented on the site is white-tailed deer, domesticated dogs and fox[es],” she said.
Reports of the sighting had the neighborhood talking.
Longtime Alexandria resident Billy Rorer says his to-do list included a new bullet point last week.
“On the little piece of paper I said, ‘look out for the cougar,'” he said with a laugh.
Yet no cougar was found, and that’s good news, says Arthur McCormic of Alexandria.
McCormic said the murmurs of the sighting had him wondering about something he heard in the early morning hours near his home.
“I looked across the street and there was some activity over there, now, it could have been a squirrel,” McCormic said.
Edwards says police have now removed the wildlife cameras, but she reminds everyone to take all reports seriously. If anyone sees anything, don’t approach it and call police.
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