This was a re-read for me and highly appropriate as I contemplated my response to the Oregon Department of Wildlife’s Draft Cougar Management Plan, which is available for review.

The ODFW does a good job presenting its management plans, but it is always nice to have other perspectives, especially on very controversial animals such as this one.

The book’s editors do an extraordinary job in providing a wide variety of opinions about mountain lions. Essays include one from a mother who became interested in the big cats when one was found in the shrubs on the school ground where her son was playing. Another thoughtful contribution came from the park ranger who had the miserable task of removing from his park the body of Barbara Schoener, the woman attacked and eaten by a cougar a decade ago in California. “A mother attacked by another mother,” the ranger said.

It is well known that dogs (and even bees) kill many more people than cougars. But they don’t eat them.

The two contributions I perhaps enjoyed most were by David Quammen, a favorite nature writer, who published an essay with critical opinions on mountain lion hunters. Don Thomas, an opinionated physician and lion hunter, responded and called Quammen on his “uninformed” opinions.

Thomas is a selective hunter, who hunts with a dog, kills with a traditional bow and arrow, and eats what he bags. He recounts that once he treed near his home a female lion with three yearlings and decided to simply take their picture and let them go – to the chagrin of some of his neighbors.

After a period of exchanging letters, the two men decided to meet and spend some time together. A day of exploring lion habitat, hiking, driving and exchanging views ended with a meal prepared by Thomas. Sweet-and-sour mountain lion and mountain lion with black beans accompanied by a bottle of chardonnay. The two new friends drank “To the Animals.”

Responding with ideas on the draft cougar management plan was a real task because one cannot simply contemplate predators without consideration for their prey. Hence I also read the mule deer, elk, bighorn sheep and Rocky Mountain goat plans as well.

All this reading and thinking was worth it, and for those interested in large, elusive predators, highly recommended is “Shadow Cat.”

Linda Driskill lives near the Strawberry Wilderness where she is happy to have big cats as neighbors. Shadow Cat can be found in the wildlife section of the Grant County Library.