Cougar Races Through Ephrata Before Being Tranquilized Inside Home

A cougar smashed through a screen door and into a home in Ephrata, Washington, on Tuesday, May 25, after authorities pursued it along residential streets. Wildlife officers eventually sedated the cat.

According to local media, local residents spotted the cougar leaping over fences into backyards, prompting a search involving the Grant County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) and wildlife officials.

The video here was captured by a GCSO deputy as he pursued the cat down an alley. A short time later, a resident called Ephrata police to report that the cougar was inside his house.

Ephrata Police arrived and were followed by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials, who shot the cougar with tranquilizer darts. The cat then fell unconscious in the kitchen sink, before being carried away to a containment trailer, photos showed. It was then taken to Douglas County and released back into the wild, reports said.

A spokesperson for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife police, Becky Bennett, told The Spokesman-Review, “It was an adult male, healthy, nothing wrong with it,“ and added: "This was probably a wrong time, wrong place, wrong house situation.” Credit: Grant County Sheriff’s Office via Storyful