> At 09:31 PM 7/11/99 -0700, Ruth Sullivan wrote:

> There been so may reports comming from Bonny Lake area where people got
> attact, and this is not in the wild. So would this be dangerous to chance
> it?

There is one verified fatality from a Cougar attack (1929) and 8 verified
non-fatal attacks in Washington. Most of the non-fatal attacks have occurred
in this decade (all but one). Cougars were seriously persecuted by early
settlers and have been a long time recovering. They are now fairly abundant,
perhaps more abundant than at any other time in the past 100 years. Responding
to reports of Cougars in populated areas is now a huge workload for Fish and
Wildlife officers each spring. At least one cougar was removed from Bonney
Lake but no attack occurred there. I wouldn't approach a Cougar but I would
have no difficulty driving by one and getting out of my car a mile or two up
the road to do some birding, frogging or whatever. They just don't attack
people very often, especially adults. Of the nine attacks mentioned, 6 were
children.

Kelly McAllister