Hi all, I couldn't resist commenting on Joan Macdonald's great sighting of a
Bobcat on the plateau-- I would have loved to see one of those kitties tearing
up a tree after a squirrel.
I am far from an expert on this subject (Kelly McA?) but I have comments(!).
I have heard of sightings from Bellevue and Disco Park over the years, but I
think Bobcats are always a treat in this state. I've been told they reach
max. densities in Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties in 2-5 year old
clearcuts.
They are talented generalists, so kitties aren't necessarily safe.
In general, we need to toss out the old way of thinking about wildlife, for
instance thinking that a species prefers "wilderness," or that seeing wildife
in the suburbs automatically means it's been pushed out of its home. There's
a sea-change going on with wildlife throughout America where critters of many
species are suddenly not facing a hunting or trash-shooting threat due to
suburbanization and the attendant changes in culture and land use. Therefore
these species are themselves readjusting their flight distance, which sets the
stage for an invasion of the suburban zone at the same time the suburban zone
is unfortunately coming out to greet them (vote no on 745). There's plenty of
prey in the suburban zone for a Bobcat, but whether they survive there or not
will boil down to the issue of whether the machinery of the state will be
brought to bear against them for "crimes" such as killing pets or scaring
parents. We all can help by never sympathizing with a pet owner who has lost
an outdoor pet to a wild predator, except of course in a non-political,
human-to-human "I feel your pain" kind of way.
Sincerely, Ed Newbold Beacon Hill Seattle, where no Bobcats have been sighted
recently and where the squirrels all run painfully slow,
newboldwildlife at netscape.net


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