BELLINGHAM, Wash. — It is a sight few have seen. So Jordan Kirbyson did what any 21st-century man would. He whipped out the camera gear he happened to have with him and started recording.
"We see this object in the water," said Kirbyson. "So I stand up and say, 'Hey, there's something in the water.' Yeah, I thought maybe it could be a deer."
Kirbyson and a neighbor, Chris Quinlan, had just finished water skiing on Lake Whatcom Sunday morning; his dad was acting a spotter.
"So I just flipped around and we slowly approached it," said Quinlan.
"And it wasn't until we got closer," said Kirbyson, "That we actually saw the cat's ears. And we're like. It's a cougar. So it was pretty incredible."
The cougar was swimming in the same lake they had just water skied.
"We're pretty much amazed," said Quinlan. "Never seen a cougar live; that we were seeing one swim right in front of us in front of the boat."
A local fish and wildlife officer told KIRO 7 there are lots of cougars in the woods surrounding Lake Whatcom. But in his 20 years on the job, he has never heard of the big cat caught swimming.
Neither has Quinlan and he has lived there 22 years.
"I didn't even know cougars swam except maybe if they fell in to swim to shore," Quinlan said. "This was probably good half-mile out crossing for the cougar."
They kept a respectful distance.
"And we followed it all the way across," said Kirbyson. "And just kind of in awe of the majesty of this beautiful creature that we get to be part of."
There is a downside to this story.
They say they watched the big cat swim to the popular Hertz trail, and disappear into the woods. A few minutes later, they saw people.
But no one else has reported seeing the cougar.
Cox Media Group
