Friendly Neighbourhood Cat

Washington State is an area renowned for its natural beauty and an abundance of animal and marine life. The State has a rich diversity in topography including rainforests, mountain ranges and semi-deserts. Despite 60% of the population residing within the Seattle metropolitan area, the city maintains a close affinity with its natural surroundings and environment, and nationally is often referred to as the Evergreen State. This affinity is probably best illustrated by the abundance of parks, lakes, canals and waterways that available for public use across the city. As such, outdoor activities including hiking, mountain biking and sailing are part of everyday life and are fair sized local industries in their own right.

I live close by to the city’s largest park, Discovery Park that at over 500 acres is only a few blocks over from my current address. The park has attracted a lot of media attention over the last week or so following numerous sightings of a cougar. For those unappreciative of wildlife, such as myself, a cougar is also known as a puma or mountain lion and is a stalk-and-ambush predator. Primary food sources include ungulates such as deer, elk, and bighorn sheep, as well as domestic cattle, horses, and sheep but it also hunts species as small as insects, rodents and unsuspecting British students.

The animal was reportedly seen climbing trees, investigating driveways and trash cans in the neighbourhood surrounding the park. Fortunately, officials from the Department of Fish and Wildlife, with the assistance of tracker dogs, trapped and then tranquilised the cougar in the early hours of Sunday morning. The animal was reported to be around 3 years old and weighed just less than 140 pounds, which translates to about 10 stone of agile, muscular animal. Not your average friendly neighbourhood cat!

Check out the links for more on the story and some excellent photos of Seattle’s second newest resident:

http://www.magnoliavoice.com/2009/09/06/cougar-caught-in-discovery-park/

http://www.magnoliavoice.com/2009/09/06/cougar-got-to-magnolia-by-accident/

And just before I thought it was safe to take a nice stroll through the park this afternoon, a second animal has reportedly been seen in the northern outskirts of the park. I’m thinking of either buying a large dog or taking up my second amendment rights to keep and bear arms…