When the human world was put in a time-out by the covid lockdown last year, an elusive predator came out of the woods to walk around in our cities; The cougar, a.k.a. puma, wildcat, mountain lion, etc. is afraid of humans, especially human noise and activity. When things got quiet during covid, the fear factor was reduced and these wild predators walked freely among our buildings. That is according to a new research study conducted by UCSC’s Chris Wilmers of the Santa Cruz Puma Project. Wilmers estimates there may be as many as 50 mountain lions living in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Fun fact: you have about as much chance of being attacked by a puma as you do being impaled on your toothbrush, and don’t even ask me how that would happen. Find out more fun facts in this thirty-minute interview with the founder of the Puma Project.
More on that story can be found here: https://news.ucsc.edu/2021/06/pumas-pandemic-lockdowns.html
Mountain Lion (Puma concolor) biologist, Anna Nisi, holding five week old female cub for collaring, Santa Cruz Puma Project, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
