Spring is already here and hiking season has come early. Hikers deep in the forest are in cougar country. To prepare hikers for their next excursion into the forest, the Adopt A Stream Foundation and Snohomish County Parks will present “Cougars” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 26 at the Northwest Stream Center in Mc Collum Park, 600-128th Street SE in Everett.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife cougar scientist Brian Kertson will be conducting an entertaining and informative lecture on cougar ecology, behavior, and management. Attendees will learn how to identify cougar signs in the woods and learn the keys to co-existing with cougars.
After earning his Ph.D. with the Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Washington, Kertson was recruited by the Idaho Fish and Game Department. The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife later drafted him back to Washington. Kertson has 12 years of experience conducting intensive, field-based cougar research in the Cascade mountains. His current research examines the potential influences of expanding housing developments on cougar-human interaction in western Washington.
Cougars are the apex predator of the Pacific Northwest forests. Solitary and secretive, these big cats are often shrouded in mystery, mythology, and misinformation. Brian will dispel all the myths. During his very entertaining presentation, audience members will learn everything they ever wanted to know about cougars: how big they get, how many kittens they have, how long they live in the wild, their favorite foods, their habitat requirements and more.
Kertson will show several “deep forest” photos and audience members will be asked to “find the cougar.” The first one to meet the challenge will receive a prize: a beautiful Adopt A Stream Foundation poster of Sockeye Salmon.
This show is geared for 6th graders to old-timers. Call 425-316-8592 to reserve your seat. Tickets for Adopt A Stream Foundation members are $5 and non-member tickets are $7. Proceeds benefit Streamkeeper Academy. To learn about other Streamkeeper Academy events like the April 11 Spring Nature Walk, April 18 Killer Whale Tales and April 23 House of Owls, go to www.streamkeeper.org.
