Was late-night prowler a cougar?

When Rick Jones of Alexandria stepped outside his house at 5:30 a.m. on March 3, he noticed a set of animal tracks in the newly fallen snow right off his front steps. He noticed their unusual shape and how closely the paws were set together on each set of prints. And then he noticed the gait – how the hind foot landed ahead of the front foot and the long gap between each set of prints.