Camera snaps pic of 8 cougars in Central Washington

alkinative said on February 29, 2012 at 11:24 AM

As far as I know, there are still WAY enough deer to sustain the cougar population, even if it's growing. I think deer over-population is a bigger problem than cougar over-population -- if either really are any problem at this point, which I doubt.

hannah said on July 25, 2011 at 8:08 AM

great pictures love wildlife never want to see that many up close and personal

metalcherries said on February 23, 2011 at 2:37 PM

They were just getting together for thier quarterly meeting.

goamerica said on February 18, 2011 at 7:07 PM

murigen2.... The fact that they will eat so many deer IS the reason for concern. Not for the sake of hunting or competing for the deer (which I do hunt, by the way), but for the cougar's sake. Most hunters, like myself, not only like hunting but hold the outdoors and the animals they see during their hunt paramount to the actual kill itself. We love the nature and love the full experience of being out in it. Seeing eagles, bears, racoons, deer, cougars, coyote, snakes, etc. etc. is what its all about. We are the only predators that take conservation seriously and into account when it comes to hunting our prey, so that there are more to hunt, as well as enjoy seeing, in the years to come. Cougars and other predators don't care about conservation, they only eat when their hungry, therefore, with increasing numbers could eat themselves into extinction and therefore cause a HUGE imbalance in our ecosystem, and thats when you find them in your neighborhood looking for food.

xxx87 said on February 18, 2011 at 5:23 PM

nurigen2 - while its true that I hunt deer, I'm more interested in the balance of all the species. One of the reasons we have a Wildlife Dept. is to regulate that balance. I have no problem with cougars (or wolves) if the desired balance isn't pushed out of kilter. P.S. Don't be so confrontational.

gravel said on February 18, 2011 at 4:21 PM

I am not going to profess that its good, bad or otherwise. Just want to state that it is an amazing set of pictures!

murigen2 said on February 18, 2011 at 4:08 PM

@xxx87...and that's bad why? Deer are part of their natural diet. They are suppose to eat deer. Oh, you mean that will interfere with hunters shooting deer. Oh well, too bad.

qh_person said on February 18, 2011 at 3:07 PM

Using the 90's isn't a good comparison to current time, the population is larger and the fact is humans have spread out into what used to be forest in the search for rural living, which hasn't worked because once one person goes there eventually other people will too. I do agree hunting CAN be beneficial, it's certainly nothing I will ever participate in and I respect the hunters who actually hunt for food vs hunting for trophies to display but at the end of the day as long as everyone respects the laws and the animals they're hunting by making sure they do their best to not make the animal suffer by shooting the best they can, it's most likely a better end than they'd meet in the wild. It is quite unusual to see so many Cougars together like that, I am very curious why they grouped up like that. They're gorgeous animals though, I don't have a good enough eye to know for sure, but they sure look like they're in good condition, which is nice. Maybe it was a holiday party.

omgrofl said on February 18, 2011 at 2:38 PM

Maybe they're from the same litter brought into this world by their mom, Octopuss?

aa214 said on February 18, 2011 at 1:56 PM

lydiagaebe ... Actually i would hope he IS hunting them for thier sake. with that many in one area the food supply will dwindle dramatically. Evne though people diagree with it, hunting is helps keep animal populations at bay. A good example of that is bears and cougars, since they banned hunting with dogs, you have seen an explosion in the populations. Bears are on the news often for being in residential neighborhoods. that wasnt the case in the early 90's. Last spring i came across 2 different bear carcasses that appeared to be winter kill. Here in Washington bears don't necessarily hibernate like other states. Last year was also the first year i got alot of video footage of Cougars. before 2005 i had seen maybe 3 cougars since I was 12-13 (I am 35 now). In 2010 i saw 9 different cats. the population is starting to get a little high in my opinion. A check with the Game dept would probably say the same thing in successful hunters. He photographed 8 cats but has 1 tag!

fleetwood said on February 18, 2011 at 11:41 AM

I am still in awe given the habits of these animals versus what I see them to be doing as in gathering. I assume wildlife experts can fill in the blanks to my question. Do they actually group like this?

gooddeeds said on February 18, 2011 at 11:31 AM

Very interesting, For those who know the area well, as I do having grown up in the Valley 25 yrs, this pow wow was happening not far from Lincoln Rock State Park. Guess where I WON"T be camping this summer! Anywho...................... Go Cougs!!!

xxx87 said on February 18, 2011 at 11:03 AM

rooster1981 is right - these cats may be neat to look at but they will kill approx. 416 deer over the course of a year. For all the wolf lovers - they will kill the same amount of deer.

fleetwood said on February 18, 2011 at 10:01 AM

First picture of its kind I've ever seen. Resembles a pride and very peculiar indeed.

ringer said on February 18, 2011 at 9:10 AM

I was at a bar last night and it was full of cougars

lydiagaebe said on February 18, 2011 at 8:26 AM

Let's pray he wasn't hunting those beautiful cats! They could have been congregated for mating season. House cats go into full bore "silly season" about now, and I imagine cougars do the same thing.

rooster1981 said on February 18, 2011 at 8:06 AM

According to biologists One adult male cougar dominates 20-40 square mile area. With this many cats living together what does that tell you? each one of those cats has to eat one deer a week or the equivalent of that to survive at a healthy level. These are facts anyone can find out but many people dont care. If things keep going the way they are, these animals wont be able to survive on the eco system that is in place. Over populating is a bad thing in the animal world. Pkbagr hit the nail on the head.

tootoo said on February 18, 2011 at 7:31 AM

New recruits for the football team?

yessir said on February 18, 2011 at 7:10 AM

was there a spent keg of beer nearby?

pkbagr said on February 18, 2011 at 5:38 AM

Ban hunting with dogs and the population will grow.

shuksan said on February 17, 2011 at 10:46 PM

You can find at least 8 cougs together in Pullman.