Author Paula Wild Speaks About Living In Cougar Country April 3

Vancouver Island is known not only for having the highest density of cougars, but also the most aggressive cougar population in North America.

Join author Paula Wild as she gives presentation about her book that explores our evolving relationship with this enigmatic animal: The Cougar: Beautiful, Wild and Dangerous (Douglas & McIntyre).

This lecture and slideshow takes place at Vancouver Island University’s (VIU) Deep Bay Marine Field Station in Bowser, as part of the Brant Wildlife Festival, on Thursday, April 3 at 7 pm.

Wild’s book has recently been nominated for the 2014 Book Prizes’ Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award.

“Cougars, mountain lions, pumas - no matter what you call them these powerful animals are undoubtedly impressive,” says Wild. The cougar is the largest cat in Canada, weighing in at up to 230 pounds, 90 per cent of which is pure muscle. They can leap nearly six metres up from a stand-still, and 14 metres across. Their large padded paws allow this elusive predator to travel great distances in near silence and they’re absolute masters at blending in.

The book includes tales of bounty hunters like the infamous Cougar Annie who shot a cougar on her 73rd birthday, and attack stories like that of the woman living in a logging camp in the 1950s who was attacked two separate times by the same cougar in one day.

However, as Wild says in The Cougar, “co-existing with cougars isn’t about fear, it’s about knowledge.”

The Cougar blends natural history, scientific research, First Nations stories and first-person accounts to explore our evolving relationship with this powerful and intriguing predator. It also includes amazing photos and up-to-date information on cougar awareness and defense tactics for those living, working or travelling in cougar country.

Wild explores what makes this animal that has both fascinated and frightened Vancouver Islanders throughout history so beautiful, so dangerous, and why cougars remain such an important and valuable part of our environment.

Wild is the author of several books, including One River, Two Cultures, The Comox Valley and Sointula Island Utopia, winner of a BC Historical Federation Certificate of Merit. She has also written for numerous periodicals, including Beautiful British Columbia, Reader’s Digest and Canada’s History Magazine. She lives in Courtenay, BC, with her partner, Rick James.

Tickets for this event are $10 each, and available at the Welcome Centre at VIU’s Nanaimo campus, or by calling 250-740-6611, or at the Salish Sea Market in Bowser and Courtyard Café in Qualicum Beach.

Doors open at the Field Station at 6 pm. Gourmet snacks and treats prepared by VIU’s award-winning Culinary Arts students will be available for purchase.

The Deep Bay Marine Field Station is located at 370 Crome Point Road, Bowser, about half an hour north of Parksville. For more information and driving instructions, please contact the station at (250) 740-6611, or email <http://deepbay@viu.ca/>, or visit <http://www.viu.ca/deepbay/>

For a complete schedule of events during the Brant Wildlife Festival (March 1 to April 22), visit www.brantfestival.bc.ca


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Note to Editors: For more information, or to schedule an interview with author Paula Wild, please contact Heather Lohnes at Douglas & McIntyre by emailing heather@harbourpublishing.com or calling 604.254.7191.