A group of five cyclists were riding on a trail in Fall City, Wash., when they were attacked by at least one cougar this past weekend.
A group of five cyclists were riding on a trail in Fall City, Wash., when they were attacked by at least one cougar this past weekend.
“ Officers euthanized and removed one young male 75-pound cougar on arrival”
That is bullshit.
Why? Because we keep sprawling outwards into wildlife’s territory and act surprised when humans get attacked by the animals we’ve infringed on that are only doing what they do in nature and finally instead of relocating the animal we murder it instead?
Yah, that is some grade A bullshit.
Didn’t read the article?
Mountain lions rarely, rarely attack humans. We have Florida Panthers here, and not a single attack on record in this county. And this is one of the oldest inhabited areas in America, let alone Florida.
They don’t see humans as food or competitors. A hulking, and beautiful, male came across me on a lonely creek. Probably paused to have a look, but I didn’t see him so much as glance at me.
The very reason this is news is because it’s so rare.
The article does nothing to refute what I said.
I live in the area where this happened. I am aware attacks are not frequent, but they keep developing and building homes further out into the hills and forests here. A day or two prior to this attack, there was a different mountain lion walking around another community (Buckley, I think) that has pushed outwards a bit more just like Fall City/Snoqualmie. Buckley/Enumclaw is just a bit south, but similarly pushing into the hills with their sprawl.
Mostly what happens is that we have “sightings” or see the cats stalking, but no attack. More of that will happen because we are pushing outwards further into the forests. It isn’t rocket surgery. Our home is much further west “in town” but still well forested, so we see bobcats, bears, deer/elk and of course coyotes are everywhere. We do not let our pets remain outdoors.
I am sad they shot the cat and I am sad we put the cat in that situation.
And what would you have done? Release an apex predator back into the wild? One who has shown no compunction as to attacking humans?
Perhaps we should cordon off 30-125mi^2 (typical range) for an indeterminate time?
Sounds good to me. Maybe humans should stop riding their bikes through its territory. Would you ride your bike where you knew grizzly bears roamed around? I hope not.
Literally, unironically, and enthusiastically YES.