How past cougars tell us a story about modern attacks

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Ashli Blow

Ashli Blow Jan 30, 2019

Jan 30, 2019

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                <h1>How past cougars tell us a story about modern attacks</h1>
                <h2><p>Cougar attacks are very rare, fatal ones even more so, but we had one in Washington this year — the first in nearly a century. Knute Berger explores the mammalogy collection at the Burke Museum, and asks: What can cougar remains tell us about attacks, past and present?</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/ashli-blow/">Ashli Blow</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Jan 30, 2019</time></p>
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            <figure class="kg-card kg-embed-card"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="100%" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://player.pbs.org/partnerplayer/sx0T3w0ioqRFrJxtwRmFMg==/?start=0&amp;end=0&amp;topbar=false&amp;autoplay=false&amp;endscreen=false" width="100%"></iframe></figure><p>Cougar attacks are very rare, fatal ones even more so, but we had <a href="https://crosscut.com/2018/07/cougar-attack-inquiry-raises-more-questions-it-answers?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">one in Washington</a> this year — the first <a href="https://crosscut.com/2018/05/two-fatal-cougar-attacks-two-very-different-eras?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">in nearly a century</a>. Knute Berger explores the mammalogy collection at the Burke Museum, and asks: What can cougar remains tell us about attacks, past and present?</p>
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Cougar attacks are very rare, fatal ones even more so, but we had one in Washington this year — the first in nearly a century. Knute Berger explores the mammalogy collection at the Burke Museum, and asks: What can cougar remains tell us about attacks, past and present?

By Ashli Blow

Ashli Blow is a Seattle-based freelance writer who talks with people — in places from urban watersheds to remote wildernesses — about the environment around them. She’s been working in journal