A woman living in Deschutes River Woods spotted a cougar Monday morning in her backyard.

The animal was apparently feeding on a small bird behind the home in the 19000 block of Shoshone Road in the subdivision south of Bend, said Deschutes County Sheriff’s Lt. Kevin Dizney.

The animal walked away after seeing people.

“I think the cougar took the bird with it when it left,” he said.

The woman reported the sighting to the Sheriff’s Office around 9:45 a.m. Deputies searched for the cougar for about a half-hour but did not locate the animal, Dizney said. Deputies found tracks that indicated there was one cougar. Because the cougar didn’t show an interest in people, deputies won’t be looking for it again, although the Sheriff’s Office is alerting Deschutes River Woods residents that a cougar may be in their neighborhood.

As deer move to lower elevations close to town for winter, cougars will likely follow them, said Steven George, district wildlife biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in Bend.

“Where you see deer is where you have a high chance of seeing what eats them,” he said.