For many of us, one of the rewards of fishing is the chance to encounter the wildlife that live in the places where we fish. Large animals like bears, deer, bobcats, elk and cougars all share the forests with us, mostly unseen.
At the next meeting of the Washington HiLakers, WDFW wildlife research scientist Brian Kertson will present All Things Cougar, his long-term project to tag and monitor cougars on the west slope of the Cascades, their behavior, and how they overlap and interact with humans who increasingly intrude on their habitat.
The HiLakers meet this Wednesday, June 19 from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. at the Mercer Island Community Center, 8236 SE 24th Street, Mercer Island, Washington. If you come, please be sure to introduce yourself.
Bill Henkel, a member of the Hi-Lakers had his dog jumped by a cougar on a fishing trip around North Bend one year. The cat was intending to make the dog food and had it by the throat until Bill scared it off.
Bill Henkel has been a former HLer for several years now, but his encounter with the cougar on Metcalf is one of my favorite club legends.
Bill carried a small .32 cal auto in his fishing vest, so when the cat jumped Beau, Bill's first instinct was to shoot. But he was a ways away and didn't want an errant round to off his dog instead. He kicked his float tube in closer and finally got off several shots, one of which hit the cougar in the haunch. The cat snarled, dropped Beau, and limped off into the trees.
He didn't have a tree farm permit at the time, so he was parked off the county road and had to carry Beau all the way back to his truck. He called the WDFW from the vet in North Bend and they sent out a tracker the next day, found the cougar and killed it.
Beau made a complete recovery and lived many more years before dying of old age. Not one to waste energy on coming up with new names for his many dogs, Bill immediately got another pup and named it Beau as well, the fourth in the line.
Good story. From my experience a gun is great defense...but many times you are far from it (hike away from it) and things happens to fast....hard to cast and have gun in hand. Now I'm talking rifles..pistols a little different I understand. You get a little braver every day you are in the wild from my experience, what you wont do the first day you will the fourth day. They are out there just waiting to get you Glad to hear Beau lived thru it. (Aim and hit...don't spray!!!)
I hear they have a thing for vodka! Ha on another note my cousin and I were fishing up around the Taylor r. And was checked by wdfw,after all checked out,the officer got a radio tag transmitter out,I said what for,he replied couger I said how far,he said 5 miles out,i said goodbye! We went elsewhere....
I'm really wondering how many hi lakers are really in any danger of attention from a cougar. We're struggling to get membership growth in that demographic, but maybe a cougar program would help.
I second that! This thread should not be allowed to degenerate into a "dead cat bounce" of tired old cougar jokes.
Kent, I'm not going to be there, but I hope you will pass on to us any new and revealing info into cougar behavior that you might hear about at the presentation.
You know, anything that will allow us free spirited, single fly anglers to fish fearlessly and unmolested.
My brother's father in law spends a good amount of time tracking cougars in preparation of getting the opportunity to hunt them. He claims 80%-90% of people who spend any quality of time out exploring in cougar country, have been stalked and followed by a cougar at one point in time, without even realizing it. He told me this to put me at ease and explain how illogical it was to purchase a firearm to protect myself from the threat of a cougar attack. I got his point, but it sure makes me uneasy when I get the feeling that something's watching me.
My brother's father in law spends a good amount of time tracking cougars in preparation of getting the opportunity to hunt them. He claims 80%-90% of people who spend any quality of time out exploring in cougar country, have been stalked and followed by a cougar at one point in time, without even realizing it. . . .
I met a fellow once who was an avid hunter. He told me that since cougars prefer to attack from behind an old hunter's trick when hunting in cougar country was to wear a halloween mask backwards. The theory being that cougars would see the 'face' looking at them when approaching from behind and then recalculate. That certainly explains the guys I've seen in bars wearing backwards halloween masks . . .
Back when Bill had his issue with the cougar the population was still growing from the "no hound hunting" law being enacted. There's way more out there now and that's evident by the ones on the edges of Bellevue and Issaquah.
Brian Kertson's presentation last night was outstanding. I absorbed far more useful information about these amazing creatures in one presentation than from the numerous books I have read about them.
If you ever hear of him speaking somewhere again (something he does often) don't miss it. It may or may not quell your innate fear of them but at least you will understand where it comes from.
Again, go see this guy whenever you get the chance. It is clear that he loves everything about his cats and feels very fortunate to be able to revolve a big part of his life around them.
Mountains Goats 1. Cougars 0. Bear 0.
Tally in the past 50 years in WA State.
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