SANDY, Ore. — Surveillance video from a neighbor on Dreamcatcher Avenue in the Sandy Bluff community shows a cougar walking across a driveway just after midnight early Friday morning.

Neighbors say they've never had to worry about this before, especially in a neighborhood they say is saturated with kids.

Karen Anderson lives in the Sandy Bluff neighborhood.

"Oh my gosh, scary. I'm just glad I was in bed," said Anderson, who has lived in Sandy Bluff for two decades. "It freaks me out. But I don't go out at night. But I worry about if any of them let their animals out. This is a tight neighborhood; everybody watches out for everybody."

This is just one of at least two sightings in Sandy the past several weeks.

The other was less than a mile northwest of here on American Street in the same time period.

"I woke up this morning to a ginormous kitty walking along our driveway, and we have video footage of it walking through our front yard and pacing around our front door and walking down the street," said Tori, whose surveillance camera captured the cougar.

Tori says she's surprised to see it in a residential neighborhood like hers.

"We have young kids, so we definitely talked to them about not going outside while we're not with them, and we definitely have concerns over our neighbors and their small pets," she said.

About two miles away, signs posted at the Tickle Creek trailhead warn hikers a cougar was spotted there at the end of May.

Oregon Department of Wildlife officials say the Sandy River corridor and its many parks and greenways are good habitats for cougars. However, it's not just Sandy where cougars are showing up.

Last week, the Hood River County Sheriff's Office reported several sightings in populated neighborhoods.

Earlier this month, a cougar was killed in Cascade Locks after a sighting in the Gorge.

A spokesperson for ODFW says they've seen an increase in sightings over recent years. The cougar population is approximately around 6,600 -- more than double its target population of 3,000. He adds cougars are moving into unoccupied areas looking for prey, which sometimes includes urban areas. ODFW doesn't set traps unless an animal becomes a threat to human safety and needs to be removed. Crews will use information of reports to track the animal.

Neighbors hope the cougars keep off their turf, but in the meantime, ODFW suggests they get educated on cougars.