To the editor:

In and around Lawrence, cougars have been observed. Animal droppings were collected that contained cougar DNA. Cougars have been observed in Lenexa and killed in Kansas City.

Protected nationally for 45 years, one cougar needs from 50 to 100 square miles to ensure adequate food supply. A male may share a small portion of his area with a female for breeding, two or three kittens are produced with each litter. As the expanding population seeks food, kittens raised near humans adapt to new surroundings – new prey. They eat to survive.

As Lawrence urbanizes areas that were undeveloped even in 1997, our nation sprawls outward in like manner. The wolf, a cougar’s only enemy, is no longer a factor. The inevitable is obvious. America’s most adept, stealthy predator – the cougar, “ghost cat” – is in our midst. I suggest a wildlife biologist examine attacked pets, measure fang punctures, examine wounds and identify the predators.

I also recommend interested people read “Beast In The Garden” by David Baron, a nonfiction work that provides insight into the psyche and habits of cougars, and describes how Boulder, Colo., through human tragedy, was finally forced to deal with a problem that so far, eerily mirrors what has occurred in Lawrence over the last three years.

Bobcats and coyotes, common to Boulder, were not the problem. We need public education, and measures that discourage cougar activity within our communities, without people or pets or cougars being hurt, without eradicating a beautiful American species. We can learn from Boulder Department of Wildlife; let’s go.

Mary Lou Keim,

Lawrence