Firefighters save a cat from a tree. Also, the cat is a cougar.
Firefighters saving a cat from a tree is a bit of a cliché — but what happens when the cat in question is a full-size cougar? Victoria firefighters had to pull a cougar out of a tree Friday afternoon after the animal found itself deep in the city's Gorge-Burnside neighbourhood. Victoria police said earlier in the day that the cougar was spotted on Gorge Road East, near Gorge Road Hospital, a long-term residential care facility. Conservation officers and police tracked the animal with the help of dogs and chased it up a tree, said Conservation Officer Scott Norris. Then, they shot it with a tranquilizer dart. The cougar went down for a super-sized cat nap and then it was up to fire crews to get the big kitty down. "A good news story at the end of the day. It's in good condition," Norris said. "I think it's just a younger cat looking for territory. It's afraid of people. It's just looking to get somewhere safe." Norris said the cougar, a male, is likely one that had been seen in the Victoria area several times since Wednesday. Norris said the plan is to release the cougar in the wilderness but declined to say exactly where. "Let's just say a long way from Victoria."
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