Some readers here may remember my May 16th post about the mountain lion captured in a Santa Cruz aqueduct. Sadly, he was killed by a car while crossing our infamous Highway 17 early Thursday morning. After his May capture, "39M", as researchers rather unimaginatively dubbed him, was tagged, thereby allowing scientists to track his movements. He is not the first big cat to lose out to the battle with vehicles on 17, and he probably won't be the last. But at least the Land Trust of Santa Cruz county and others are looking into making an underground tunnel at one of the most frequent crossing points. The whole story can be found in the Santa Cruz Sentinel article HERE.
Goodbye, 39M. Our fates seemed slightly commingled on the day of your venture downtown. Selfishly, perhaps, I must hope that they don't continue to be.
(This is not the actual mountain lion, but one graciously supplied by one bslmmrs at Flickr Creative Commons. Still, a good stand in, I'd think.)
Goodbye, 39M. Our fates seemed slightly commingled on the day of your venture downtown. Selfishly, perhaps, I must hope that they don't continue to be.
(This is not the actual mountain lion, but one graciously supplied by one bslmmrs at Flickr Creative Commons. Still, a good stand in, I'd think.)
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Sad indeed. In all kinds of ways.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it will never matter to him, I'm kind of sad that they didn't even manage to give him a name. As the Sentinel article which I will now fix the link to says, though an earlier mountain lion killed on that road also had a tag, he was dubbed "Atlas".
ReplyDeleteThis hits as a heavy dull sadness. Remembering my brief, magical sighting of a bobcat last year. Every time I walk that trail I wonder if the bobcat is staying away from the streets. Just a small understanding of your loss.
ReplyDeleteWe found ourselves following along behind a bobcat once on a trail out of Big Basin, once, Nancy. We were a bit nervous, because we weren't really expecting it, but as it ignored us and eventually went off on its own course, it was quite a memorable experience to have.
ReplyDeleteAnimals and cars, its a sad situation in general.