Fear of Predators

Today is a wonderfully snowy day, one of the ones when the air is dense with fat flakes that drift down gently. Kenya and I walk around the lake to pick up Remi and it is warm enough for me to take off my mittens. I am dressed in snowpants and a parka because we will be in the woods where the snow is untouched and I want to be able to play too, but I don't need the warmth they provide since there is almost no breeze at all.

In the woods the dogs delight in the piles of new snow. We walk as far as the waterfall and I pull up my hood, sit down, lean against a snow pile and watch as the dogs romp around me. They play fight and Remi puts his great mittens of paws around Kenya's neck, pulling her to the ground. I remember when he was 7 weeks old and Kenya was massive compared to him. Now at 7 months he is her size and just as strong. I like the way they play ... boisterously but ever mindful of just how far is far enough.

I look up into the trees toward the sky. The tops look as if they are brushing it. The branches are laden with snow but it is dry enough to fall off in puffs today. The trees here are too big to hug (yes, I tried) and my mind turns to cougars which might be resting in their branches.

Cougars are a hot topic in the Gatineau Hills just now. One seems to have adopted a family in Lascelles and all kinds of people are weighing in on the argument of whose rights come first: those of a member of an endangered species or those of the humans who have to live in its proximity. My logical side tells me that one cougar in Lascelles does not mean that everyone in these hills is in danger. If I were the family in Lascelles I would likely be happy to see it live-trapped and removed to a less populated area, but I live several miles from Lascelles, so you would think that the problem would be far enough removed for me to be quite relaxed about it.

Not so. So much discussion has ensued, and so much fear been expressed, that I checked out cougars on-line. Did you know that an adult male cougar weighs between 63 and 90 kg (140-200 lbs)? Or that they are most active at dusk and dawn but can be found hunting at any time of the year, and at any hour? I was not happy to hear that they attack their prey from behind, and from a height, or that small women and children of all sizes are most vulnerable. The cougar's primary prey is deer, and since the deer population is increasing, we can expect to see larger numbers of cougars in the future.

The other night I went into the village to meet some people for coffee. Off and on all evening I thought about my return trip. I was pretty certain I would have no trouble getting back home as the temperature had dropped and the snow was hard. But the thought that kept drifting into my consciousness, and the one that dominated my drive home was whether or not I should park in my customary location or whether I should park closer to the house. I was thinking about the fact that I have a quarter kilometre walk through a heavily wooded area before I reach the hill down to my house. What if a cougar were prowling in the vicinity?

We have practically tame deer on our lake now. Most people I know have been charged by them this year. When I went to have my own car's damage repaired, the body man suggested I just get the headlight fixed because I'd probably be back in before summer with another dented fender, there were so many deer crashing into cars these days. I sure hope that doesn't mean that next year we will have a cougar hanging out of every second tree! I remember the year the frog population exploded and hundred of black water snakes hung off bushes, draped themselves on rocks, and drowned in minnow traps.

I made the decision to park in my usual spot but I felt real fear trickling down between my breasts as I made my way along the road, moving my flashlight from left to right, illuminating the woods on either side. The snow crunched beneath my boots and I felt very very vulnerable. I wished I were carrying a shovel instead of a flashlight. Apparently your chances of survival are greater if you can make yourself look bigger than you are and if you fight back.

Of course there was no cougar in my woods. The only one around is apparently still in Lascelles, and successfully avoiding being caught in the live trap baited with a deer's head. The trap has so far caught four raccoons and two dogs.

Speaking of traps in which dogs are being caught, I just heard today that a dog I know was out with his owner, Andrea, her friend and their other dog on an abandoned railway line in Low that forms part of the Trans-Canada Trail. Because she has trained her dogs not to defecate on trails used by people, her dog went four feet off the trail and had his face caught in a kill trap. Apparently such traps are legal and the trapper had permission to trap along this trail whose sole purpose is recreational. She and her friend tried without success to free the dog. Finally a snowmobiler came along and the combined efforts of four people succeeded in opening the jaws in order to free the dog. What if she had been out with children instead of dogs? What if no snowmobile happened along?

The dog is all right. Andrea treated him for swelling and bruising as soon as possible, but the vet said it was lucky that the trap closed on soft tissue rather than bones or teeth.

I've never heard of a cougar killing or harming anyone's child or pet up here, but that is the third story I have heard of a dog caught in a kill or leg hold trap. Two-legged predators should scare all of us more than cougars do.