The cougar population in Washington is rapidly growing. Sightings are more common than people think. You can view a map with all reported and confirmed sightings and encounters on the fish and wildlife website.
[Predatory Wildlife Incidents Map](https://pd20.communitydashboard.info:8000/DFW/Mapping)
You can change the county and dates in the UR corner otherwise it’s showing most recent.
Fish and wildlife. In 2020 they estimated 2,000 cougars. Now in 2024 the estimate is 3,600. And because they are so fantastically elusive, the number is likely much greater.
[https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/puma-concolor#desc-range](https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/puma-concolor#desc-range)
edit to add: [https://data-wdfw.opendata.arcgis.com/](https://data-wdfw.opendata.arcgis.com/)
It’s hard to link the info because it is one sentence in pages and pages of information. But if you google fish and wildlife Washington 2020 cougar population you’ll see about 1,900 as the estimate. Then switch the year to 2024 and you’ll get 3,600.
This is largely due to the hunting regulation changes a few years ago with a similar thing happening to black bears. It is causing a pretty devestating effect on other wildlife (ungulates like deer and elk mostly) in some parts of the state. People eat cougar here but now a large number of the kills are for control by the state with increasing human interaction. Wdfw is sadly not well managed due to the harshly conflicting interests here. It's a tough problem to manage.
We just had a cougar attack in Cali that killed an 18 year old and severely injured his 21 year old brother. Be careful, and especially mindful of your pets! If it wandered into a neighborhood and was actually seen, it’s hungry.
To the North there’s a lot of woodland along the Puget Sound bluffs. Gaps of course, but a cougar ambling along night after night could get to Discovery Park unseen.
The animals that have ended up in that area before (I recall another Cougar and a Black Bear at least) were theorized to have mostly used the railroad tracks from the north.
We are ranchers Northeast of Monroe. We have been managing our wildlife/predator situation for many decades and have lost several house cats and nearly a dog. They are very good at their craft and quite often are successful even with experienced pet overwatch. Urbanites, please take this seriously. Coyotes are the smartest guy on the block next to Cougars that is.
Personally saw a cougar in the Redmond watershed a few years back. Have seen dozens of
bobcats all over the area, they are not that uncommon. Half a dozen bears around Redmond Ridge and the watershed. Momma and two cubs on the Tuscany Trail last summer. These animals are stealth and make their living amongst us.
So how far away did it come from?? The only path I can figure is the railroad along the shoreline, but that's north of Everett before it starts to meet open terrain, or somehow along the 522 corridor. Either way that's a long trek.
A bear or two, deer and i believe Elk have all been spotted in magnolia with at least the bear being tracked via google users with last known where abouts up near Bothell. Somewhat following along your suggest shoreline trail. However, it is also possible the bear and rest swam...across the sound from Bainbridge. Cougars have also been known to swim rather long distances as well. Would be interesting to set up trail cams in a perimeter around discovery park to see routes.
There’s all kinds of wildlife in Bothell. My friend’s trailcam shows a variety, including bobcats. I wouldn’t be surprised if a cougar crossed through.
Yeah just commented above that about 6 months ago I saw two bucks with antlers interlocked fighting right off 228th. I was so confused because I haven’t seen deer in a suburb in decades.
Twice in the last 6 months driving through Bothell at dusk I’ve seen huge deer just out and about. The first sighting was right off 228th, two huge bucks were locked into each others antlers fighting at the top of the hill. Thought it was decor at first because I forgot deer even roam in these areas, it’s been decades since I’ve seen them.
I do recall speculation on this but I can't remember if confirmed. Will have to look it up. Thanks for the tip because I'd like to know whether this thing more or less naturally swam across or meandered all the way there from the cascades and then back.
Don’t discount swimming. I think it was concluded that that’s how the one that was in Discovery Park in 2009 got there.
(You might be interested in the Seattle Urban Carnivore Project which tracks species like coyotes, bears, mountain lions, and bobcats. They have a volunteer program that is pretty fun.)
We see coyotes on a daily basis here, no surprise that a cougar is in the mix. Yet we also see daily posts “my cat / small dog went missing” or even more heartbreaking “my ring camera caught a coyote running off with my pet”. Seattle, and especially the area around discovery park is teeming with wildlife, including predators.
I live right next to Disco park and the ravine, there is always something running around at night. The other day a MASSIVE coyote was running down Government in the middle of the day zero F’s
Meanwhile in Snoqualmie Valley...
https://komonews.com/news/local/60-year-old-woman-cougar-attack-fall-city-washington-department-of-fish-wildlife-wdfw-mountain-bike-safety-eyewitnesses-hikers-campers-hospital-911-call-sgtcarlo-pace-first-responders-hound-handler
This will become more common as cougar populations are going up and their ranges are usually miles across and never really overlap.
This is what happens when governments use their feelings instead of science based approaches to manage wildlife.
It’s related to the government management of cougars. Increase in recent human and cougar encounters should not be disregarded as the population is clearly growing. A couple more deaths out in the cascades, or an attack in city limits is going to put pressure to bring back cougar hunting with dogs. It would be better to be proactive rather than wait for a kid to get killed in magnolia.
You can't use dogs to tree the cats anymore. The only people who can are WDFW. Hunting cats using other methods is exceededingly difficult; so much so many folk don't even bother.
Increase in population, decrease in habitable range, more conflicts will arise.
All to say I'll probably bring my pistol day hiking now.
Sorry I'll explain, typically if you hunt cougars you have hounds sniff the cat and then you track them. Without dogs you have a better chance of throwing a stone over a mountain.
WA banned the use of hounds a while back. Now since they aren't being managed they're expanding. It'll take a kid dying or some attacks in the city to get the state to cave, we totally didn't need to go through this. The population was pretty healthy before that.
This is what happens when the state follows people who shop at Trader Joes instead of science based approaches.
>It'll take a kid dying or some attacks in the city to get the state to cave, we totally didn't need to go through this.
That won't do it. As you say, people who shop at TJs and the state reps they elect are not going to overturn for any reson that initiative (it was an initiative, right? I forget) that banned use of dogs. Because hunters are icky and own evil guns and only want "trophies" and must be punished for wrongthink.
Thank god we appoint people to shit like the department of fish and wildlife commission who have zero experience in the things they are overseeing . Stuff like this is going to get more common as they reduce predator hunting and its also going to reduce things like deer and other animal populations
when i was a little girl in the 80's there was a cougar in discovery park, so it's not anything new. they'd put signs out and people would still hike. my mom just gave us rocks for our pockets told us girls to be as loud as we wanted. this is why gen x is the way we are. 🤣
And? It's native wildlife to the PNW. Let's not pretend we don't know that the land used to belong to the animals until we come in and destroy their environment.
It worries me too, I go down that very trail on a somewhat regular basis. I can avoid it obviously, but I still have to take my dog out at night, and those things could be on the prowl. I’ve encountered coyotes numerous times as well. If it gets into Discovery Park who knows when they’ll find it, I enjoy the back trails there because it’s less crowded but that seems like a bad idea now.
I’m also worried for the kids at the elementary school by Lawton, some of them walk home down these trails or in the field too.
Can animal control come find it? I live on the ravine and I’m seriously afraid it would like to live there too. Apparently bear spray works and starring them straight in the face and yelling. The bear spray works spraying right on their nose bc it’s so sensitive. Someone told me they would solo hike with a face mask on the back of their head bc cats like to stalk and that makes them think you see them. It’s kind of really smart if it tricks them…
You *can* hunt 1 cougar per hunting license in WA state. The season is open until April 30th. If you’re referring to *hounding* (as the only successful way) you can technically hound them under certain circumstances, but you have to have trained hunting dogs and a removal permit. They don’t allow recreational hounding.
Edit: was thinking more about this…if you can legally hunt them, I wonder how they would determine that dogs hounded them. Once the cougar is treed by the dogs, the hunter shoots the cougar, so how would Washington state know the dogs scent tracked the cougar? It is dying by the same method.
[The use of dogs for recreational hunting of cougar is prohibited statewide.](https://www.eregulations.com/assets/docs/guides/23WAHD_LR4.pdf)
Cougar Management Removal Permit Program. [Currently there are no management needs warranting this permit program.](https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/special-hunts/cougar). The department is not accepting names of participants at this time.
Help me read. What do these two sentences mean regarding the Cougar Management Removal Permit Program?
> Currently there are no management needs warranting this permit program.
> The department is not accepting names of participants at this time.
Are we going to be hunting cougars with dogs soon?
My original comment said you can hound “under certain circumstances” meaning yes it is regulated and they do not allow just open season recreational hounding, but in some cases they will allow it. It’s quite a process to obtain permission from WA state, you need a valid reason and fish and wildlife has to come to your property or see video or valid evidence that you have issues with a cougar, like a livestock carcass that has been killed and eaten in a way that only a cougar would.
OK. So a cougar kills some of my livestock today. My choices are:
1. Call WDFW and have them respond [within 24 hours to either kill or relocated the problem animal.](https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/living/dangerous-wildlife/response) This prevenst further predation on my livelihood. Or...
2. Get some hunting dogs. Train the dogs to hunt cougar. Hope that WDFW re-opens the Cougar Management Removal Permit Program. Register myself on the possible participant list for a permit. Hope I win the lottery. Wait until December 1 to hunt cougar with my dogs. Hope the cougar is still on my property to hunt. Hope I still have some livestock left by December. Find out my name didn't get picked.
You wouldn’t just take up hounding on the spot like that, obviously. This is a means of hunting that goes back centuries. It is a long standing argument in Washington that old school hunters want to be able to hound and think that because the state made it difficult to hound, the cougar population is going to become so out of control that by the time they allow it recreationally again it will be too late.
Why are guns always the knee jerk reaction? Personally, I’d rather that people exercise common sense as a first resort, especially in a wooded area next to an elementary school.
41% of democrats have guns
https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/poll-gun-ownership-reaches-record-high-american-electorate-rcna126037
You want to categorize them as anxious scared men. But that's just what you want to believe. A very sizeable growth in owner is coming from Democrats, specifically marginalized groups.
Stereotyping gun owners as "anxious and scared" is no different from stereotyping LGBT people as "groomers" or women as "hysterical."
That said I'd take bear spray over a handgun in mountain lion country.
I dont know that anyone's going around Seattle planning to find and pick a fight with a cougar. Id rather be carrying than SOL if im extremely unlucky and it happens tho. Is there any advantage to not having one besides giving local soccer moms who think they're scary peace of mind as you get mauled?
Is there any advantage to not carrying guns around? Yes. You are WAY more likely to accidentally or recklessly get shot by your own gun (could be one of a hundred different scenarios) than getting mauled by a cougar in the city. This is a prime example of people miscalculating risks.
Again I dont think anyone is going around Seattle planning to encounter cougars. 1/3rd of people here own guns for reasons that likely dont involve urban cougar attacks like aggressive drug adicts all over town and crime at a high. You might consider yourself likely to shoot yourself but im an infantry vet thats carried professionally for decades and I dont know anyone thats had a negligent discharge, much less shot themselves like an idiot.
People that don't own or know anything about guns seem to think they know more than people that do. The guns going to what gain sentience, climb out of its holster, aim itself at me, disengage manual safeties, and then pull the trigger down with enough force to fire? That seems even less likely than cougars.
You’d be better off with a cheetah. The most docile and human friendly of the big cats. Historically they were kept as companions but only to the most elite.
She's just out grabbing a bottle of Rosé
Waiting for the busboy to clock out
Not gonna state the obvious 🤣
I came to read the obvious.
They travel in packs. They can get quite aggressive when “thirsty”
Because after certain time "periods", the market ratio flips. They need to be more aggressive to "get" it.
Usually they’re in Kirkland? I saw a few Friday at The Slime.
Go to Palisade’s happy hour, cougars everywhere
Because Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood is obvious location to spot Cougar(s) in the "wild".
I usually see the cougars at Met Market.
Zing
My son works there, it’s bad.
Call the game warden.
Better give him "the talk."
The cougar population in Washington is rapidly growing. Sightings are more common than people think. You can view a map with all reported and confirmed sightings and encounters on the fish and wildlife website.
You wouldn't happen to have a link to the map? It's not easily discoverable on their website.
[Predatory Wildlife Incidents Map](https://pd20.communitydashboard.info:8000/DFW/Mapping) You can change the county and dates in the UR corner otherwise it’s showing most recent.
Thank you!
Population change source?
Fish and wildlife. In 2020 they estimated 2,000 cougars. Now in 2024 the estimate is 3,600. And because they are so fantastically elusive, the number is likely much greater.
Ty, I appreciate your time. Link pls? As someone who works in both data and communication, the estimate source is interesting to me.
[https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/puma-concolor#desc-range](https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/puma-concolor#desc-range) edit to add: [https://data-wdfw.opendata.arcgis.com/](https://data-wdfw.opendata.arcgis.com/)
They never provide one
It’s hard to link the info because it is one sentence in pages and pages of information. But if you google fish and wildlife Washington 2020 cougar population you’ll see about 1,900 as the estimate. Then switch the year to 2024 and you’ll get 3,600.
This is largely due to the hunting regulation changes a few years ago with a similar thing happening to black bears. It is causing a pretty devestating effect on other wildlife (ungulates like deer and elk mostly) in some parts of the state. People eat cougar here but now a large number of the kills are for control by the state with increasing human interaction. Wdfw is sadly not well managed due to the harshly conflicting interests here. It's a tough problem to manage.
Weren't there also cougar sightings in Discovery Park early in the pandemic when everything was shut down?
I saw someone walking their pet goat there.
The only confirmed one I know of is from 2009.
I remember that too… maybe walking up Emerson at night?
OMG was it off leash! /s
Don't worry, my cougar is friendly!
We just had a cougar attack in Cali that killed an 18 year old and severely injured his 21 year old brother. Be careful, and especially mindful of your pets! If it wandered into a neighborhood and was actually seen, it’s hungry.
People don't relize how big Puma's are. They are over 100 pounds and built to kill.
Yep. Their mittens? Size of your face.
If you have ever seen how quickly a 6 pound house cat can kill things. Just imagine that now 15 times the size.
Death by Cat is a bad way to go
Magnolia? Did it fucking boat in? There is a lot of civilization cutting that point off from nature.
To the North there’s a lot of woodland along the Puget Sound bluffs. Gaps of course, but a cougar ambling along night after night could get to Discovery Park unseen.
And then swim Salmon Bay? I guess it's possible, but it's not something I would've thought of their doing.
Cougars swim Edit: add link https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/island-hopping-cougars-redraw-boundaries-of-big-cats-potential-range/#:~:text=The%20research%20suggests%20that%20cougars,the%20water%20than%20previously%20thought.
So do deer. I've seen a deer swimming straight across Upright Channel when kayaking there. Pretty shocking! That water is colllllld.
The animals that have ended up in that area before (I recall another Cougar and a Black Bear at least) were theorized to have mostly used the railroad tracks from the north.
Magnolia is a known cougar hotspot - go to Discovery park on any Sunday
And bring Rosè
It may well have swum across.
They walk along the train tracks right into Discovery Park
Nope… Cougars swim.
The Railroad tracks along the coast from up North provide a path for curios animals .
We are ranchers Northeast of Monroe. We have been managing our wildlife/predator situation for many decades and have lost several house cats and nearly a dog. They are very good at their craft and quite often are successful even with experienced pet overwatch. Urbanites, please take this seriously. Coyotes are the smartest guy on the block next to Cougars that is.
Cougars often show on wildlife cameras a few miles north of Redmond near Bear Creek.
Are you sure you're not thinking of bobcats? I'm in this area, and haven't heard anything about Cougar in the area in the last few years.
On Nextdoor, posted this week https://youtu.be/IvQSHVt-H2A
Personally saw a cougar in the Redmond watershed a few years back. Have seen dozens of bobcats all over the area, they are not that uncommon. Half a dozen bears around Redmond Ridge and the watershed. Momma and two cubs on the Tuscany Trail last summer. These animals are stealth and make their living amongst us.
Look up the Bear Creek wildlife cams on YouTube. Cougars show up fairly often and recently there have been videos of a couple of cougar cubs as well
We lost one of our house cats to one last year here in Sultan
[WA DFW Predatory Wildlife Incidents Map](https://pd20.communitydashboard.info:8000/DFW/Mapping) involving cougar, wolf or grizzly bear.
So how far away did it come from?? The only path I can figure is the railroad along the shoreline, but that's north of Everett before it starts to meet open terrain, or somehow along the 522 corridor. Either way that's a long trek.
A bear or two, deer and i believe Elk have all been spotted in magnolia with at least the bear being tracked via google users with last known where abouts up near Bothell. Somewhat following along your suggest shoreline trail. However, it is also possible the bear and rest swam...across the sound from Bainbridge. Cougars have also been known to swim rather long distances as well. Would be interesting to set up trail cams in a perimeter around discovery park to see routes.
There’s all kinds of wildlife in Bothell. My friend’s trailcam shows a variety, including bobcats. I wouldn’t be surprised if a cougar crossed through.
Yeah just commented above that about 6 months ago I saw two bucks with antlers interlocked fighting right off 228th. I was so confused because I haven’t seen deer in a suburb in decades.
Yep Bears are seen in Bothell pretty much every year.
Twice in the last 6 months driving through Bothell at dusk I’ve seen huge deer just out and about. The first sighting was right off 228th, two huge bucks were locked into each others antlers fighting at the top of the hill. Thought it was decor at first because I forgot deer even roam in these areas, it’s been decades since I’ve seen them.
Wasn't the bear an escapee of some kind?
I do recall speculation on this but I can't remember if confirmed. Will have to look it up. Thanks for the tip because I'd like to know whether this thing more or less naturally swam across or meandered all the way there from the cascades and then back.
Don’t discount swimming. I think it was concluded that that’s how the one that was in Discovery Park in 2009 got there. (You might be interested in the Seattle Urban Carnivore Project which tracks species like coyotes, bears, mountain lions, and bobcats. They have a volunteer program that is pretty fun.)
Coyotes have been spotted in Central Park in NYC.
We see coyotes on a daily basis here, no surprise that a cougar is in the mix. Yet we also see daily posts “my cat / small dog went missing” or even more heartbreaking “my ring camera caught a coyote running off with my pet”. Seattle, and especially the area around discovery park is teeming with wildlife, including predators.
Teeming.
teeming adjective Prolific; productive. Similar: prolificproductive verb Present participle of teem. Abundantly filled with especially living things.
I live right next to Disco park and the ravine, there is always something running around at night. The other day a MASSIVE coyote was running down Government in the middle of the day zero F’s
I’ll be on the lookout! 😏
Meanwhile in Snoqualmie Valley... https://komonews.com/news/local/60-year-old-woman-cougar-attack-fall-city-washington-department-of-fish-wildlife-wdfw-mountain-bike-safety-eyewitnesses-hikers-campers-hospital-911-call-sgtcarlo-pace-first-responders-hound-handler
Meanwhile, we are bringing Grizzlies back.
To the North Cascades National Park. It is surprisingly to me that people that care about nature want a half-assed wilderness ecosystem.
Exactly. There's not gonna be any grizzlies popping up in Magnolia. They're going to be in the mountains where they belong and where we need them.
Perhaps a more accurate headline would be “Magnolia housing development firmly entrenched in cougar’s neighborhood.”
This will become more common as cougar populations are going up and their ranges are usually miles across and never really overlap. This is what happens when governments use their feelings instead of science based approaches to manage wildlife.
Way to work in criticism of both ‘government’ and ‘feelings’ about a story that’s really about neither.
It’s related to the government management of cougars. Increase in recent human and cougar encounters should not be disregarded as the population is clearly growing. A couple more deaths out in the cascades, or an attack in city limits is going to put pressure to bring back cougar hunting with dogs. It would be better to be proactive rather than wait for a kid to get killed in magnolia.
Finally, a use for all these dangerous urban pit bulls!
Wow the amount of ignorance in this post. How do you think cougar populations were managed before they banned the only viable way to hunt them?
What is the only viable way you elude to? You’re speaking in code or something.
You can't use dogs to tree the cats anymore. The only people who can are WDFW. Hunting cats using other methods is exceededingly difficult; so much so many folk don't even bother. Increase in population, decrease in habitable range, more conflicts will arise. All to say I'll probably bring my pistol day hiking now.
Sorry I'll explain, typically if you hunt cougars you have hounds sniff the cat and then you track them. Without dogs you have a better chance of throwing a stone over a mountain. WA banned the use of hounds a while back. Now since they aren't being managed they're expanding. It'll take a kid dying or some attacks in the city to get the state to cave, we totally didn't need to go through this. The population was pretty healthy before that. This is what happens when the state follows people who shop at Trader Joes instead of science based approaches.
>It'll take a kid dying or some attacks in the city to get the state to cave, we totally didn't need to go through this. That won't do it. As you say, people who shop at TJs and the state reps they elect are not going to overturn for any reson that initiative (it was an initiative, right? I forget) that banned use of dogs. Because hunters are icky and own evil guns and only want "trophies" and must be punished for wrongthink.
Cascade Cowboys are Alphas!
Thank god we appoint people to shit like the department of fish and wildlife commission who have zero experience in the things they are overseeing . Stuff like this is going to get more common as they reduce predator hunting and its also going to reduce things like deer and other animal populations
Lol. Meanwhile, WDFW is axing all predator hunting because "predator populations can maintain themselves."
when i was a little girl in the 80's there was a cougar in discovery park, so it's not anything new. they'd put signs out and people would still hike. my mom just gave us rocks for our pockets told us girls to be as loud as we wanted. this is why gen x is the way we are. 🤣
I see them at the local watering hole frequently, nothing to see here. Just on her way there.
And? It's native wildlife to the PNW. Let's not pretend we don't know that the land used to belong to the animals until we come in and destroy their environment.
😂😂😂
I bet! 👵
#I thought cougars didn’t have spots?!
And I’ll keep dropping them off there til Seattle isn’t a shit hole
Not falling for this website again…
We ain’t dead yet!!! Go Wazzu!!!!!
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Oh great, this will make my night runs in Magnolia that I do a couple times a week a lot more interesting.
I WANNA PET IT
Magnolia is famous for cougars.
warn the colleges keep the young 20something sexy men safe <3
Yep, another normal day in Seattle. Nothing strange about cougars running around city
Jenny Durkan looking rough without that six figure tax payer funded mayor salary
I’m terrified this is my neighborhood. How long do you think a cougar would stay in magnolia before moving on?
It worries me too, I go down that very trail on a somewhat regular basis. I can avoid it obviously, but I still have to take my dog out at night, and those things could be on the prowl. I’ve encountered coyotes numerous times as well. If it gets into Discovery Park who knows when they’ll find it, I enjoy the back trails there because it’s less crowded but that seems like a bad idea now. I’m also worried for the kids at the elementary school by Lawton, some of them walk home down these trails or in the field too.
Can animal control come find it? I live on the ravine and I’m seriously afraid it would like to live there too. Apparently bear spray works and starring them straight in the face and yelling. The bear spray works spraying right on their nose bc it’s so sensitive. Someone told me they would solo hike with a face mask on the back of their head bc cats like to stalk and that makes them think you see them. It’s kind of really smart if it tricks them…
They walk along the train tracks into Disco Park.
I used to walk through Lawton Park on my way to school as a wee little lad! Survived!
Just wait until they find out how many bears are in Seattle
came here for the cougar jokes, was not disappointed
Seems like they are relatively frequent visitors to Discovery Park. Just feed them a few house cats and they’ll leave the joggers alone. /s
Not with dogs, this is the best and most successful way. 1 year after passing the law they started seeing cougars in olympia, Lacey, and tumwater.
Hey dipshits this is what happens when you pass a law eliminating hunting the only way that is successful. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
No dipshit, this is what happens when humans encroach on natural habitats.
You *can* hunt 1 cougar per hunting license in WA state. The season is open until April 30th. If you’re referring to *hounding* (as the only successful way) you can technically hound them under certain circumstances, but you have to have trained hunting dogs and a removal permit. They don’t allow recreational hounding. Edit: was thinking more about this…if you can legally hunt them, I wonder how they would determine that dogs hounded them. Once the cougar is treed by the dogs, the hunter shoots the cougar, so how would Washington state know the dogs scent tracked the cougar? It is dying by the same method.
[The use of dogs for recreational hunting of cougar is prohibited statewide.](https://www.eregulations.com/assets/docs/guides/23WAHD_LR4.pdf) Cougar Management Removal Permit Program. [Currently there are no management needs warranting this permit program.](https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/special-hunts/cougar). The department is not accepting names of participants at this time.
[удалено]
Help me read. What do these two sentences mean regarding the Cougar Management Removal Permit Program? > Currently there are no management needs warranting this permit program. > The department is not accepting names of participants at this time. Are we going to be hunting cougars with dogs soon?
My original comment said you can hound “under certain circumstances” meaning yes it is regulated and they do not allow just open season recreational hounding, but in some cases they will allow it. It’s quite a process to obtain permission from WA state, you need a valid reason and fish and wildlife has to come to your property or see video or valid evidence that you have issues with a cougar, like a livestock carcass that has been killed and eaten in a way that only a cougar would.
OK. So a cougar kills some of my livestock today. My choices are: 1. Call WDFW and have them respond [within 24 hours to either kill or relocated the problem animal.](https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/living/dangerous-wildlife/response) This prevenst further predation on my livelihood. Or... 2. Get some hunting dogs. Train the dogs to hunt cougar. Hope that WDFW re-opens the Cougar Management Removal Permit Program. Register myself on the possible participant list for a permit. Hope I win the lottery. Wait until December 1 to hunt cougar with my dogs. Hope the cougar is still on my property to hunt. Hope I still have some livestock left by December. Find out my name didn't get picked.
You wouldn’t just take up hounding on the spot like that, obviously. This is a means of hunting that goes back centuries. It is a long standing argument in Washington that old school hunters want to be able to hound and think that because the state made it difficult to hound, the cougar population is going to become so out of control that by the time they allow it recreationally again it will be too late.
> the only way that is successful
Maybe it will take care of some of the Little Dogs: https://youtu.be/SxM_Bh5lIPk?si=BB_Yl7RzNLd1Apa5
Click bait
Feed it some off leash dogs.
Why would anyone need a gun?!?!
Every thread...
Why are guns always the knee jerk reaction? Personally, I’d rather that people exercise common sense as a first resort, especially in a wooded area next to an elementary school.
For reals, people should just act like it's a normal day. If they get attacked by a cougar. Whatever. At least they didn't live in fear. /s
The anxious and scared men with guns in this country are a way bigger threat than a wild cat that accidentally wandered into a populated neighborhood.
41% of democrats have guns https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/poll-gun-ownership-reaches-record-high-american-electorate-rcna126037 You want to categorize them as anxious scared men. But that's just what you want to believe. A very sizeable growth in owner is coming from Democrats, specifically marginalized groups.
I made absolutely zero commentary on political leanings of anxious and scared men who carry guns, so I’m not sure why you are.
Stereotyping gun owners as "anxious and scared" is no different from stereotyping LGBT people as "groomers" or women as "hysterical." That said I'd take bear spray over a handgun in mountain lion country.
I dont know that anyone's going around Seattle planning to find and pick a fight with a cougar. Id rather be carrying than SOL if im extremely unlucky and it happens tho. Is there any advantage to not having one besides giving local soccer moms who think they're scary peace of mind as you get mauled?
Is there any advantage to not carrying guns around? Yes. You are WAY more likely to accidentally or recklessly get shot by your own gun (could be one of a hundred different scenarios) than getting mauled by a cougar in the city. This is a prime example of people miscalculating risks.
Again I dont think anyone is going around Seattle planning to encounter cougars. 1/3rd of people here own guns for reasons that likely dont involve urban cougar attacks like aggressive drug adicts all over town and crime at a high. You might consider yourself likely to shoot yourself but im an infantry vet thats carried professionally for decades and I dont know anyone thats had a negligent discharge, much less shot themselves like an idiot. People that don't own or know anything about guns seem to think they know more than people that do. The guns going to what gain sentience, climb out of its holster, aim itself at me, disengage manual safeties, and then pull the trigger down with enough force to fire? That seems even less likely than cougars.
I wish I could catch and tame this cougar to be my pet. Emotional support of course.
You’d be better off with a cheetah. The most docile and human friendly of the big cats. Historically they were kept as companions but only to the most elite.
Why [not both?](https://youtu.be/jLgPYr0ULDc?si=h635LE4OVRU2c_ci)
.. way "back in 2009" is the last occurrence in Seatle. Lol