Happy trails

Down the trail with "Moe"

The weather was beautiful and we took a ride yesterday in the big forest adjacent to Misty Isles Farm.  Other than wildlife, we always have the place totally to ourselves, which is pretty amazing just a quick ferry ride away from crazy Seattle.  The trails are broad and mostly level without underbrush.  Like a park, really. Moe is a steady and tractable little trail horse, so this is my kind of relaxed riding. 

Vashon Island still has large tracts of open space. It is overrun by deer and one lone male cougar who swam over from the Kitsap Peninsula about a year ago. Yes, cougars will paddle across icy water in search of greener pastures (sorry, mixed metaphor.)

Click here to see the news story.

Being Vashon Island, people have passionate opinions about the cougar one way or the other. 
Cougars take the bad rap for many dog, coon and coyote attacks, but in the case of two pet alpacas last December, the evidence was pretty clear.  Public sentiment turned a bit sour at that point. 

Cougar attacks on horses are extremely rare. There was quite a bit of excitement yesterday because a pony at our barn was the victim of a "failed attempt" this weekend. His neck was covered with claw marks, and the local experts came out and verified it indeed came from the only big cat on the island.  Fortunately the scratches were superficial and the pony is fine. 
 
What to do? Wildlife officials make the decision to euthanize or relocate a cougar on a case-by-case basis. Cougars are more likely to be relocated if the animal they killed was out at night, like the pony. They are likely to be euthanized if the animals they killed were kept in at night or behind big fences during the day.

Many islanders now say they would like to see the cougar relocated, but these attempts are usually unsuccessful.  Male cougars have large territories and do not share, so reintroduction usually leads to the death of the introduced male.  In many instances, cougars return to the location they were removed from, walking (or swimming) long distances to do so.