A wildcat, either a bobcat or mountain lion, has apparently been living in Rock Springs and has gained a local fan base.
That’s why folks don’t like having her — the cat’s usually referred to as female, but nobody knows for sure — being talked about too much on social media, resident Katrina Ann Fleck told Cowboy State Daily.
Fleck said her young adult daughter was concerned when a flurry of posts about the wildcat popped up recently.
“She said, ‘Man, I hope they don’t bother her because of that post,’” Fleck said, adding that she’s not sure why the cat is assumed to be female.
“Everyone just always says ‘her.’ She is always alone,” she said.
She’s been around awhile, it seems. Another local, Lynell Williams, managed to get some photos of the big cat from about 150 yards away, posting it’s “not a bobcat.”
She also says a neighbor reportedly saw her with a cub and believes “she has a den in this area.”
One Mountain Lion Report
A recent post on the Sweetwater County Rants and Raves Facebook page warns of a recent backyard spotting of “the local female,” which the poster swears is a mountain lion.
Several others commented that they are familiar with the wildcat and warned folks to keep a close eye on their small pets.
Rock Springs authorities occasionally get reports of mountain lions in or near town, Animal Control Officer Lydia Gomez told Cowboy State Daily.
There’s been only one such report recently, she said.
“We got a call about a week and a half ago, but nothing additional since then,” she said.
That mountain lion was reported behind somebody’s house in the White Mountain area on the edge of town. It was reportedly walking along and not threatening anybody.
“We went out and patrolled that area and tried to find it, but we couldn’t,” Gomez said, adding that there have been no recent reports of bobcats on the loose made to Rock Springs Animal Control.
Reports to the local Wyoming Game and Fish Department have also been sparse.
“We had one unverified report on July 13 behind Bellview Drive in Rock Springs,” Game and Fish Green River Region spokeswoman Regina Dickson told Cowboy State Daily.
Game and Fish recommends taking precautions in towns near mountain lion habitat, including keeping a close eye on pets and small children, and making sure yards are well-lit.
And if you run into an urban mountain lion, Game and Fish recommends playing it cool.
“If you encounter a lion, talk in a calm and firm manner. Move away slowly. Make yourself look bigger by raising your arms. Don't run. Sudden movement may stimulate a lion's instinct to attack,” the agency states in its mountain lion safety tips.
Observe And Report Only
A mountain lion in town is hardly unheard of in Sweetwater County, said Gomez, who previously worked as an animal control officer in the neighboring community of Green River.
“A few years ago in Green River, we had a mountain lion walk right through town and everybody freaked out,” Gomez said. “But we never saw it again after that.”
As officers did when the mountain lion was reported near White Mountain, animal control will respond when a big cat is reported in or near town.
However, if they track it down, animal control won’t try to catch it. That’s a job for Game And Fish, she said.
“We can’t really go out and throw a catch pole loop around mountain lion like we would with a dog,” Gomez said.
So, animal control officers will keep an eye on a mountain lion until game wardens can show up.
Game and Fish wardens typically tranquilize mountain lions, load them into cages and take them to remote locations to be released back into the wild.
That was the case with a mountain lion found lurking in a Laramie resident’s backyard last summer.
Just Leave Her Alone
If the big cat rumored to live in Rock Springs has eluded authorities so far, it’s probably because many residents don’t want her caught and relocated, Fleck said.
As far as Fleck and many others are concerned, the mountain lion (or bobcat) has earned its place in the community and has stayed out of trouble.
“Us old-timers love Wyoming and she is part of it,” Fleck said. “(We) just feel like people should mind their own business and leave her be.”
She added that the wildcat also scares coyotes away, which she appreciates.
“Now, them coyotes are bad, they need to go,” Fleck said.
A Batty Year
Gomez agreed that coyotes must be kept out of town.
And while she and her staff leave mountain lions and bobcats up to Game and Fish, they do catch some smaller wild critters.
Those include rattlesnakes, skunks, raccoons, bats and even urban badgers.
“We do get some badger calls,” Gomez said. “Those are my favorite, because they’re sort of adrenaline-producing. Badgers aren’t afraid of anything.”
But so far, 2024 has been mostly batty around Rock Springs.
“It’s been a bad bat year,” she said. “We’ve gotten more bat calls than anything else.”
Animal control prefers to capture wild animals alive and set them free in remote locations, Gomez said. But if an animal is suspected to have a transmissible disease such as rabies, it must be euthanized so the carcass can be tested.
In the meantime, Fleck and others who want the mysterious Rock Springs wildcat to stick around, they advise that if you see her, resist the urge to tell everybody.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
