The Olympic Peninsula supports a healthy population of cougars, also called mountain lions, the region's largest predator. Solitary and elusive, they follow deer and elk through the forested lowlands and mountains and range over large territories. Sightings are very rare despite their presence, as the cats avoid people and move largely unseen.
Somewhere in the timber off to your left, almost certainly watching the road and absolutely unseen, is the peninsula's top predator: the cougar. These mountains shelter a good many of them, big tawny cats that can weigh as much as a grown man and range for miles in a single night, trailing the deer and elk through the deep forest. Hardly anyone ever lays eyes on one. They are that good at not being found. But make no mistake, on a drive like this, the cougar has almost certainly seen you long before you'd ever see it.
Photo: shankar s. from Dubai, united arab emirates · CC BY 2.0
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