A higher-than-normal number of reports of cougar attacks on livestock in the Toandos Peninsula and near Quilcene has prompted the state to allow private hunters use hounds to track cougars during a selective hunt.

A public safety hunt has not been allowed in the area since 2003, said Sgt. Phillip Henry of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“We’ve had a number of incidents,” in an area that includes the isolated Toandos Peninsula Henry said, adding that “we’ve had cougar issues in that area for the last couple of years.

“This year seems to be worse than normal years.”

The state will accept applications until Oct. 19 for special permits from big-game hunters who are licensed to kill cougars and own cougar-tracking dogs.

The permits will be valid between Dec. 1 and March 15 for a small portion of Game Management Unit 624.

That unit extends over an area that is between Quilcene, Port Townsend and Port Angeles, but cougars will be permitted to be hunted with dogs only from state Highway 104 south to the Quilcene River near Quilcene, Henry said.

Up to two cougars

Up to two cougars will be allowed to be killed during the special hunt, the state said.

Hunters are chosen at random, and they must complete a training program.

Voters banned routine private hunts with hounds through Initiative 655 in 1996, which prohibits bear-baiting and the use of dogs to hunt bears, bobcats and cougars.

State agents can use hounds to hunt animals that pose a threat to livestock or public safety, the initiative allowed.

In 2000, responding to public complaints about cougars, the state Legislature approved a measure allowing the state to call for a public safety hunt when a sufficient number of livestock or pet attacks have been documented in an area.

There must be 11 confirmed reports, with at least four being serious in nature, Donny Martorello, Fish and Wildlife carnivore, furbearer, and special species section manager, told the Kitsap Sun.

“It’s more than just a sighting,” Martorello said, referring to seeing a cougar in the woods. Typical incidents would be seeing cougars in residential areas, or cougar attacks on livestock or domestic animals.

“We want to err on the side of public safety,” he said.

Number of attacks has grown

Henry said that the number of complaints about cougar kills have grown in the public safety hunt area over the last two years.

A 120-pound cougar blamed for the deaths of several domestic animals was killed Sept. 8 by Coyle resident Bill Thomas.

Henry said that the cougar Thomas shot was responsible for killing three goats on Sea Home Road the day before, and three miniature horses in August.

He wasn’t certain that it was the same animal that killed three alpacas and a milk goat owned by Mark and Aly Stratton, also in August.

Those most recent reports were only some of those that have triggered the public hunt.

Several attacks on livestock in the area were reported last spring, Henry said. Sheep were killed on Tarboo Road, while geese north of Quilcene off Rice’s Lake Road also were cougar’s prey. Goats also were found dead and presumed to be killed by a cougar, just across the boundary of the game management unit, in Quilcene.

This year, up to six cougars may be killed in Western Washington. The other authorized area is in Game Management Unit 407, which includes Everett, Mount Vernon and Bellingham. Four cougars can be killed there.

Permit application forms are available at http://tinyurl.com/ye4frf4.

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Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.