Sometimes those footsteps that we hear behind us aren’t human.
Brian Klaaf was riding his mountain bike on the popular Freund Canyon Trail off Chumstick Road near Leavenworth Aug. 7 when he heard those footsteps keeping the same pace.
No, that wasn’t a dog back there. It was a cougar, and mere humans can’t run or pedal fast enough to leave a cougar behind. Klaaf recognized the danger, stopped the bike and held it between him and the cougar, and added yells to the defensive posture until the cougar left.
After this encounter, the U.S. Forest Service closed the trail and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife brought in a hunter and hounds to track the cougar. They were out last weekend and on Wednesday, too, and are still looking.
The wildlife department will decide how to deal with the animal if it’s caught. If there’s more than one cougar in the area, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to determine if the one they find is the bike chaser.
As of Wednesday, the trail remained closed and the cougar remained free to roam its territory.
Cougar vs. bobcat: Enough already from TV announcers who were calling a cougar a bobcat. It’s not the same animal. Look at the tail: cougar, tail nearly 3 feet long; bobcat, tail 6 to 7 inches long.
Wildlife watching: Washington’s wildlife can be seen in the air, on the land and underwater, from golden eagles to Roosevelt elk to giant Pacific octopus.
New wildlife-viewing maps have been released by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. They take visitors from the floor of Puget Sound to the shrub-steppe of central Washington, highlighting prime viewing sites and (yes!) public facilities at each location.
The North Central map covers U.S. 97, and includes viewing sites for big horn sheep and migrating raptors. The map for Western Washington’s I-5 corridor highlights wintering elk, bald eagles, gray whales and butterflies. A Puget Sound dive map offers 45 diving sites with information about marine habitat and what lives there, as well as 10 marine science centers.
The maps are available at some state parks, chambers of commerce and state Fish and Wildlife offices, or online at wdfw.wa.gov/viewing/wildview.htm.
From a reader: Can mosquitoes spread HIV like they do malaria? According to the Centers for Disease Control, there’s no evidence of transmission between mosquito and human. The mosquito only injects saliva, not blood. Malaria can be transferred from a mosquito to a human through saliva.
It can happen to anyone: Experience is the best teacher when it comes to climbing, but sometimes even that can’t help. On Aug. 9, climbing-book author Craig Luebben was scaling a rocky ridge in the North Cascades National Park when a 100-by-20-by-10-foot block of ice fell, knocking him off the cliff and killing him.
Out and about: Black bear season opened around most of the state on Aug. 1. The odds of being anywhere near a bear hunter is slim, but if you’re uncomfortable with the idea, wear something orange, say a safety vest.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
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