Another cougar spotted. This one was on a Kennewick hilltop

A second sighting of a cougar this spring in the Tri-Cities area has been captured on a security camera, this one in Kennewick.

It was at the top of Thompson Hill at the house owned by Jose Chavallo.

“That doesn’t look like a dog,” Chavallo said about his thought at his first glimpse of the video.

It shows a cougar crossing the parking lot by his home.

This is Chavallo’s first sighting of a cougar there, but a neighbor saw one several years ago, he said.

He suspects the mountain lion was just passing through and is long gone.

Last week a cougar also was caught on a trail camera set up near a residence on Old Inland Empire Highway just west of Benton City in Benton County.

Mountain lions spotted in parts of the Tri-Cities area where people live or work likely are passing through, rather than animals who live long-term nearby, according to the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

There are some that live in the wildland habitat of the Columbia Basin surrounding the Tri-Cities, just not many, according to Fish and Wildlife. Most cougars in Washington state live in forested areas.

Young males may mature and be ready to disperse to find their own territories and seek a potential mate in the spring. However, that’s not the only time of year they may pass through since cougars can breed throughout the year.

Fish and Wildlife recommends residents secure garbage and don’t leave out pet food or other food that could draw in wildlife. Garbage and pet food can attract small mammals that, in turn, attract cougars.

Pets should be brought inside at night to prevent them from being prey to a cougar or coyote. Cougars also can prey on small farm animals, including goats and chickens.