What's behind the viral pictures of the cougar on the roof

AUMSVILLE, Ore. — A Bandon woman said she was surprised by what looked to be a cougar Monday morning watching her take a smoke break but that's not the whole story.

“I was out going to start my cigarette,” Alysha Sifford said.

She said she looked up and saw a full size cougar sitting on the roof of her neighbor’s garage looking right at her.

“He or she looked mad,” Sifford said. “It stayed on the roof and watched me for a minute. I’m not afraid personally, just alarmed.”

John Forrest who lives in Aumsville 10 miles east of Salem tells News 10 it's his lioness and all of the pictures going viral online are of his property.

"It's my resin lion we mounted on the roof," Forrest said. "We thought it was kind of cool."

That's right. It's a fake garden statue made of resin that Forrest bought from a local gardening store. But where he put it may be part of the hysteria.

He got his friend Dean Panther to help him put it up on the roof as a marketing gimmick for Treasures Trondhjem, an antique business he runs out of his garage.

Forrest who lives in the 500 block of North 11th Street in Aumsville said it's caused quite a commotion since he put it up about two months ago.

"Somebody posted a picture a couple of days ago. Thousands of people are reacting and sharing. It's my house. People are calling me a liar that it is photoshopped."

He said people drive by slow down and react and Forrest usually waves at them.

"One lady was screaming at me not to come out of the garage because there is a cougar on the roof. She was on the phone with 9-1-1," Forrest said.

Forrest said he lives in a rural areas where cougars are known to be so it's only natural to react that way.

"This is a lion not a cougar. The driveway is 130 feet away and people drive by at 30 miles per hour and people turn around," Forrest said.

Now Forrest uses the picture for his Facebook page so local people know it's him.

"I've been enjoying reading about it," Forrest said.

Bandon Police Chief Bob Webb tells News 10 fake cougars are not criminal.

"I'm not aware of any law that would bar you from keeping a fake cougar or snake on your roof," Webb said. "There are people that put carved bears in their front yard but there is nothing criminal about it."

The seriousness of cougars in Oregon is well known as last year the state had it's first fatal cougar attack in the Mount Hood National Forest. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates there are more than 6,600 cougars in the state.

The City of Ashland created an online mapping tool for residents to track cougar sightings, deer they kill and leave behind as well as bears spotted in the city.

Wildlife officials suggest anyone who comes across a real cougar should remain calm, face the cougar and step away slowly but do not run. You should give it some space and never approach it. Then give the authorities a call.

The original story was updated with Forrest's comments.