High-tech gear vs. Maui mystery cat
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui Bureau
KAHULUI, Maui — A big cat was expected to be heard in Olinda last night. The only question is: Was it the real thing?
Wildlife officials ventured to the rural Upcountry community last night on a mission to play a tape of jaguar sounds through a megaphone in hopes of getting a response from the elusive creature.
Newly arrived big-cat expert Bill Van Pelt of the Arizona Game and Fish Department yesterday said he would lead the expedition with equipment that includes night-vision gear, a camera and a tape recorder.
The goal is to identify the animal, not capture it.
"If we're successful in getting it to respond tonight, we think we'll be able to do it again," Van Pelt said at a morning news briefing.
Van Pelt, who arrived on Maui late Saturday, made his initial visit to Olinda on Sunday, setting up a "camera trap" that snaps a picture when an animal breaks its infrared beam. Next to the camera, he deployed a "squeaker" that emits sounds like a wounded rabbit or rat.
"We want it to believe it's getting a free meal," he said.
Van Pelt on Sunday also interviewed several people who have reported seeing the big cat, including one who heard dogs barking and saw "a shiny, dark-colored animal with a long tail" crossing her lawn within 12 feet of her window on Saturday night.
While the witnesses described varying cat descriptions and sounds, he said, it does appear some kind of catlike creature is out there, possibly a leopard, jaguar or mountain lion.
Van Pelt, Arizona's nongame mammals program manager and a veteran tracker of jaguars, said rain washed away any obvious signs of a big cat during his initial inspection of the steep, rugged terrain where most of the sightings have occurred.
The plan yesterday was to set up additional "hair-snare" stations designed to attract a big cat and snag its fur to help in identification. The stations are being scented with urine of a serval, an African wildcat. The deployment of more camera traps were planned as well.
Van Pelt also plans to set out "track plates," shallow discs filled with sand and chalk and designed to capture paw print molds.
The jaguar audiotape would be played in the 3-mile-by-1-mile region where most of the sightings have been reported. The goal is to record the animal's answering calls or make a visual identification, Van Pelt said.
Residents were notified by phone, and the operation was expected to wrap up by midnight, said Deborah Ward, state Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman.
If the animal responds, wildlife officials will follow up today with a sweep of the area to look for more signs, Van Pelt said.
"I think I'll stay indoors tonight," Olinda resident Hugh Starr said yesterday.
A neighbor, Tom Fahsholtz, said he hopes no one gets shot.
"There's a lot of fools around here with guns," he said.
Both residents said they're happy Van Pelt is on the job and ready to kick the big-cat search into high gear.
"It has altered our lifestyles," Starr said. "We keep the animals inside more, and we think about it a lot. It's definitely on our minds — not to the point of paranoia, but, believe me, I'm more wary."
A meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. tomorrow in the Seabury Hall cafeteria for Olinda residents to hear from Van Pelt.
Van Pelt, meeting with reporters yesterday, said his primary mission is to identify the species. "You first have to ascertain what the animal is before you can decide what to do."
If the evidence points to a big cat, Van Pelt will likely recommend setting up snare traps designed to humanely capture an animal by the leg. He previously thought hounds might work to tree the cat. But yesterday, after eyeing the rugged gulches the day before, he said he doubts they would be effective.
"This animal appears to be using a fairly small area at this point in time," he said. "It's finding all the resources it needs right there. That makes this a little easier."
