Bus drivers will get cougar safety instructions

The Associated Press
8/31/01 7:33 PM

EAST WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) -- School bus drivers here will get some
instructions on what to do to stay safe in cougar country after one driver
reportedly urged students to run home.

Running away is not a good idea, said Bob Perleberg, an agent for the state
Department of Fish and Wildlife.

"It just triggers a predator-prey instinct in the cat," Perleberg said.
"Stand tall. Put your hands in the air. Look larger than you are. Throw
rocks, sticks, anything. Make noise."

A cougar was spotted near the 20-home Blue Rock Estates subdivision on
Thursday, and two hours later, Eastmont students being dropped off for the
day ran to their homes.

One boy, Cody Moore, 11, said the school bus driver told them to run.

Douglas County Sheriff Dan LaRoche, two deputies and another state Fish and
Wildlife agent were keeping watch at the time, but the cougar wasn't seen
again.

Cody's mother, Penny Moore, grabbed her pet cat, named "Cougar," when she
heard the real thing had been spotted near her home.

As a deputy patroled the area Friday morning, Moore said she didn't think
it was wise to have children running from buses.

Joel Thaut, school district superintendent, said he hadn't talked to the
school bus driver and didn't know if she had told students to run.

He said he would get advice from Fish and Wildlife agents and instruct bus
drivers accordingly.

Fish and Wildlife agents suspect the cougar was just passing through.

LaRoche said it was the third cougar sighting in the neighborhood in the
last several months.

He said the cougar spotted Thursday might have been on its way to the
Columbia River for water. They only stick around if they find something to
eat, he said.

"So if we start losing small animals out there we have a problem," LaRoche
said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in
this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for
non-profit research and educational purposes only.   [Ref.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml]