Cougar stories have traveled far and wide on the island this summer, but leaders of the Vashon Nature Center are saying they believe the animal may have left.

Kelly Keenan, who is working with the center on cougar sightings, said they have not received a substantiated sighting since the middle of this month.

Since then the center has received other possible reports, including from people who believe they have heard the cougar, but other animals may have made the reported sounds, Keenan said. A fawn killed, possibly by a cougar — with the photo posted on a community Facebook page over the weekend — was likely killed by a coyote, Keenan added. The nature center sent the photo of the carcass to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, she said, and those experts also believe a coyote was the likely predator by the way the fawn was eaten and that it was out in the open and uncovered.

The cougar could still be on Vashon, she added, and people should act accordingly.

“We still want people to be aware but not be too excited,” she said. “Every encounter it has acted appropriately, leaving when it was asked to do so.”

She added if the cougar has not left, she expects it will not be on the island long.

“We believe it is going to move on soon and find a mate and have a family,” she said.