Niagara (WKBW)- At least 1 resident and a Town of Niagara police officer have spotted a large "cat-like" animal in the woods near the airport off Niagara Falls Blvd. The sightings happened early Wednesday morning in the Cayuga Village trailer park. According to Niagara police, a resident of the community was walking his dog around 4:00 A.M. when he spotted the animal, which he called a cougar, and heard it growl at him. The residents immediatly called police. The police officer who arrived also saw the animal, "the officer believed it was a larger animal-- with a long tail-- larger than a coyote, as he described it" said Niagara police chief James Suitor.
The Department of Environmental Conservation is now investigating. A D.E.C. spokesperson says the agency receives several similar sightings every year in the state but has yet to find any "cougar" or "mountain lion." Regardless, investigators are now talking to witnesses and taking the claims seriously.
Police have also notified the management at Cayuga Village and told residents there to call police with anymore sightings.