If a cougar sighting is reported in Franklin County but no tracks are ever found, does it really exist?

Probably not, say Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife officers.

A cougar was reportedly seen Friday on Glade Road North near Lamb Weston in rural Franklin County and Thursday near Chiawana High School in west Pasco, but officers say the four-legged animal spotted was likely just a dog, large house cat or even a coyote.

"There was no physical indication that there was a cougar out there," said wildlife Officer Kerry McLerran. "There were no tracks, no droppings — cougar poop. There was no physical evidence there has been a cougar present."

Officers spent at least five hours in the near freezing rain Friday morning searching a large field near Lamb Weston and fields around Road 68 near the high school Thursday after the calls came in.

Nothing was found either day to give them any cause for concern about a big wild cat roaming the area.

"If we felt there was a concern, we'd be out there with cougar-hunting dogs," McLerran said.

A majority of cougar calls are unfounded, McLerran said, noting that especially in this area, "nine times out of 10, it won't be a cougar."

Cougars are elusive and especially avoid contact with humans. Even in the wild — in the mountains in cougar territory — it's rare to see them, he said. So it makes it unlikely a cougar would have been in either area where the sightings were reported because of all the traffic, he said.

"It has happened. Cougars do come down in human areas on occasion, but it's very rare," McLerran said, noting that there are many open areas without humans for cougars to roam. "There's not really a whole lot of reason for them to come into human areas."

Since 2005, there have been four cougar sightings reported in Franklin County and eight in Benton County, according to the WDFW website. Just one sighting was confirmed and most were considered unlikely.

The one confirmed sighting was in 2005 when a pet cougar was found inside an auto repair shop in Kennewick. The cougar, later named Kennewick, has since been living at the WildCat Haven sanctuary in Sherwood, Ore.