Regular sightings of cougars in Destruction Bay have Brenda Guthrie and others - including the local elementary school - adjusting their routines.

"One is really big, and the other is a smaller version," Guthrie said today of the two cougars who are walking through her yard almost daily.

Regular sightings, but nothing like daily, began back in August and September 2007, and have continued since, she told the Star.

It's only recently, however, that it's become obvious the large cats are quite content to stick around in the neighbourhood.

The longtime resident of the community of 50-some said residents of Destruction Bay accept that they live in the middle of wilderness.

They are accustomed to making changes to their routines in the summer months when bears are hanging around.

"Normally, it would not bother us," Guthrie said of the occasional cougar sighting. "But it has been sticking around a little too much."

Guthrie said when she's not seeing the cats, she hears them crying.

Their cry, she said, is almost identical to that of a child who's a little hoarse and sick.

"They have fooled me a couple of times," said the mother of a 10-month-old infant and a two-year-old toddler.

"You would think it was a kid crying with croup."

Guthrie said judging by the tracks and the barking of the dogs, one of the cougars or both has crawled under their home on a couple of occasions, though she's not about to go under to have a look.

The larger of the two cats is a cinamon brown, stands about the height of German shepherd, and has a long tail, she said, adding the smaller one is more of a lighter tan colour.

Conservation officer Ken Knutson of the Department of Environment was in Destruction Bay Monday to set up a motion-sensitive camera on Guthrie's property in an attempt to capture the animals on 15-second video clips.

Nothing's on film yet, but the wind has triggered it a couple of time so Guthrie will be relocating it, said the manager of field operations for southern Yukon.

Guthrie said her husband, Dennis, has also ordered a similar but newer model of the same camera to double the efforts to capture images.

Knutson said he has no doubt what Guthrie is seeing is a cougar, but having photographic evidence is just that much more concrete.

Why the animals seem to be hanging around, Knutson is not sure.

He said whether the animals are starving, or are interested in pets, one can only guess.

The indication from the community residents right now is that they don't want to see anything done to harm the cougars, he said.

If they become a significant threat, Knutson added, then something would have to be done, in the very same way wildlife officials deal with problem bears and other animals like wolves preying on pets.

Right now, he added, there is no evidence that the cats are a significant menace.

"That is the whole question, and that's why we're monitoring."

Knutson said if something has to be done, then several questions arise, such as whether you attempt to live-capture and relocate the cats, and if you do move them, will you simply be transferring the problem to somewhere else?

Are cougars like problem bears who like to find their way back?

Knutson said live-capturing them could require recruiting somebody familiar with handling sedated cougars.

Down south, he said, they often use cougar hounds to assist with the capture, but more often than not, they destroy the cats.

Guthrie said she doesn't take her kids outside for walks, and the adults in the community have adjusted their patterns to get out in the fresh air.

And when Guthrie sees one of the cats move through her yard along the area of a common game trails, she notifies the Kluane Lake School.

School principal Rose-Mary Blair said staff were cancelling outdoor recess recently, but Knutson has said it would be OK for the 10 students - Kindergarten to Grade 8 - to be in the large open area near the school.

The routine excursions for students along more wilderness trails have been cancelled for now, Blair said.

Both Guthrie and Blair said local knowledge indicates cougars have been sighted in that area of the Yukon going back decades - but not with the frequency Guthrie is seeing out her window these days.

Last month, there was evidence of cougar bites and scratches on three horses at a farm outside Carmacks, though no problems have been reported from that area since.

Once a rare occurrence in the Yukon, reports of cougars are becoming more common.

Experts say the cougars are simply following the migration of the mule deer further north.