Community Corner

A Bad Week for Wildlife on Local Roadways: Cougar and Bald Eagle Killed in Separate Road Incidents

A cougar was struck and killed on an Interstate 405 on-ramp two days before a bald eagle was killed after flying into the windshield of a King County Metro Transit bus on State Route 520.

A young male cougar hit by a car and killed Sunday on an Interstate 405 on-ramp in Bellevue was probably the same wildcat sighted several times over the previous week in Woodinville and then Medina, says a local wildlife agent.

“I suspect this is the same cat we had several reports about from Woodinville,” said Sgt. Kim Chandler, longtime local agent for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. “It was hanging around the area near (Interstate) 405 and (state Route) 522.”

The cougar met its fate Sunday night on the Coal Creek on-ramp to 405, and was undoubtedly the same cat spotted several times earlier in the weekend by residents in Medina, Chandler said.

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The death came two days before a bald eagle who lived on the State Route 520 bridge's lampposts flew in front of a King County Metro Transit bus and was killed during the morning commute. (Read the story in the Seattle Times here.)

According to the Times, the eagle had lived on the lampposts for several years and was a familiar sight to commuters.

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The cougar that died Sunday was sighted several times more than a week ago in the Bothell/Woodinville area. Sightings then stopped for a few days.

Although unusual in a heavily suburban area, young cougars are known to wander widely and are sometimes forced into marginal habitats by older cougars. The cats are extremely territorial, and mature established males will not tolerate other males in their territories. So young toms are forced to find their own niches, which can be difficult.

"He was a 2-year-old male, and that’s typical of young males, trying to find their own spots,” Chandler said.

A State Patrol trooper pulled the unfortunate cat off the on-ramp, and another wildlife agent retrieved its body Monday. The cat was about two years old, and quite healthy. As is customary, the agent later checked the cat’s stomach contents.

“It was full of raccoons,” Chandler said. “He wasn’t hungry.”

The cougar is a species native to Washington and they are still abundant in many areas of the Puget Sound region, on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's web pages here. Bald eagles had long been considered an endangered species, but after recovery over the past few decades, they were removed from the list of endangered species in 2007, according Fish and Wildlife's pages here.


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