06/13/07 Cougar study

I just read about a cougar study conducted by my alma mater and I have to tell you about it. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in one minute. Rob Wielgus, director of the Large Carnivore Conservation Lab at Washington State University heads a cougar study which covers two areas in northeastern Washington and one in a more central part of the state. Wielgus believes his studies prove cougar populations are not exploding, it's just that hunting pressure kills dominant males in an area then the adolescent males don't have any restraints on them and they become more visible. Well, even though I'm a graduate of WSU I'm a little skeptical of this article. Mr. Wielgus says "the science is the science" cougar population are not exploding people are just seeing more. He says you have a belief-test the belief. Ok, I believe our area has way more cougars than every before. Cougar sightings were very, very rare until ten years ago when they became numerous. Tracks were seen where no tracks had been seen. I talked with a neighbor who had trapped coyotes sixty years ago and he had never seen a cougar or a cougar track in our area. All these sightings were before any cougar hunting occurred. The same fall rides that used to turn up about 100 deer have receded until we saw around 30 head this year. When I see three cougars in one place at one time, tracks in places I never saw them before, and a declining deer herd, I have a real hard time believing a cougar population is not expanding. I'm Jeff Keane. Washington State Magazine Summer 2007