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SPANISH FORK — Police asked residents to keep an eye out near Canyon Elementary School after a cougar was spotted in the area Tuesday morning.
Spanish Fork police officer Mark Byers said the big cat report came from two construction workers who were working on a home in a subdivision near the school. The men said they saw the cougar cross through a yard and into a field.
In a social media post Tuesday, the Spanish Fork Police Department reported that officers, animal control members and the Division of Wildlife Resources responded to search the neighborhood near the school, 1492 E. 1240 South.
Officers searching the area found no evidence of a cougar, Byers said.
Josee Seamons, DWR wildlife technician, said any call about a wild animal in a residential area is a serious one.
"Any time there is a cougar or bear sighting in town, we always go check them out," Seamons said.
Seamons stopped short of calling the sighting confirmed, noting that when a predator is on the move in a neighborhood, multiple calls generally come in to report it.
DWR responded to a call Monday about yearling bear cub in Spanish Fork near the Spanish Oaks Golf Course and the East River Bottoms neighborhood, Seamons said.
"For bears, it's a relatively busy time of year. They're trying to get fat for the winter and are looking for all the food they can," Seamons said. "It's not super busy this time of year as far as cougars go, but they're a predator, they're always looking for deer."
Nebo School District spokeswoman Lana Hiskey praised how quickly word of the sighting reached schools and the response from Spanish Fork officials, police and the DWR.
Canyon Elementary School was asked to keep students inside, including at recess, until the afternoon, Hiskey said. When students were allowed outside the school, extra supervision was provided while they played.
"There hasn't been a second sighting, there was just one sighting early this morning, but we always want to take precautions and we want to always keep our students safe," Hiskey said.
Anyone who sees the cougar, the bear or any other predators is asked to call police at 801-804-4700.
