Ghosts Forest of the
by Kyle Owens Fisheries and Wildlife student, Oregon State University
SL - SPRING 2015 8
I
n my lifetime I have seen seven cougar–while most people who cherish Oregon’s backcountry have never seen a single one. I spend a lot of my time outdoors, alone, and mostly looking at the ground in deep thought. Perhaps I look like an easy target? In the forest I think about how everything in nature is an interconnected network. The energy transferred within this web of life is finite and therefore never wasted. Every organism has a purpose and an ecological role. There is always a reason for a behavior. So why do cougars waste energy stalking me if they are not going to eat me? My last cougar encounter took place near Saint Helens, Oregon where a forest meets the Columbia River valley and provides an interesting mix of flora. The brushy oak savannah areas that pepper this landscape are encapsulated by Douglas fir old growth forest and springfed mud bogs. Most elk and deer trails lead to these arid oak savannah islands. I remember walking through the largest savannah and quietly snaking my way through a vast network of tall, narrow corridors of scotch broom and blackberries. Periodically, the brush maze opened up