NEW TOWN Reports of mountain lion sightings in the New Town area have been keeping Three Affiliated Tribes Game and Fish Department on the go in recent days.

Fred Poitra, director of the Game and Fish Department, said on Monday afternoon tracks and deer remains were found north of the town past the water tower.

"We believe it's a female with a kitten," Poitra said. He said the remains of a deer were found below the hill and there were many tracks there where the animals must have been feeding. He said it appeared the cats had settled in that area. "It looked like a runway down there," he said. He said it appears the cats now were heading north toward the buttes.

Poitra said they responded to a call on Friday of a mountain lion sighting near the Three Affiliated Tribes' Head Start and WIC buildings in the north part of New Town. A person at Head Start who was inside the building saw the mountain lion outside and contacted authorities, but when officers got there they did not locate the mountain lion.

The day before, on Thursday, Poitra said they had a call of a sighting across the golf course, which is west of New Town. Officers watched the area where there were some deer and also saw two coyotes but no mountain lion.

But Poitra said, "They're around."

Earlier this month, Poitra told The Minot Daily News they were getting reports of sightings, mainly in the Mandaree area and in the Lucky Mound area south of Parshall.

In December, two mountain lions were killed by hunters in Dunn County on the Fort Berthold Reservation. The hunters had a furbearers license from the tribal Game and Fish Department. The Fort Berthold mountain lion season has a five mountain lion season limit. The season opened in September and will close in late March.

Poitra said it would be helpful when people call in sightings of mountain lions that they would leave their name and phone number. He said it would also be helpful if they could wait at the site where they spotted the mountain lion until officers can get there.