By Jim Peek

I’ve seen quite a few cougars over the years, but the biggest one was in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in Idaho. 

My way to cool off from the spring semester at the University of Idaho was to borrow Maurice Hornocker’s two pack mules, saddle my horse, and have the agriculture school’s stock truckers take me to Selway Falls and drop me off. I would then ride the 50 or so miles to White Cap Creek. It was May, when the shrubs were in bloom and nobody else was in there. 

I usually checked with the Forest Service about whether the trail was avalanched shut or if it was open. When they invariably told me it was impassible, I always went regardless and never dropped a pack. 

One time at the site of the old Bear Creek Ranger Station, the forest opened up into a park. As I rode into the opening, a cougar slowly loped across the park and disappeared into the forest. My stock held so I had a good look at him. He was a faded tawny grey, obviously old. His large size made me think he was a “Big Tom.”  

I saw a smaller rufous-colored cougar a few weeks later, but that one didn’t excite me like Big Tom did. 

I wonder how many people ever got a look at Big Tom? I suspect he got a lot of looks at people over the years. 

Another time we came across a freshly killed elk calf on a trail in the Middle Fork Salmon country—deep in the Wilderness. You just know that cougar was watching, but even with a close look around we never saw that one.  

In the same country, one time we found a mule deer doe being buried in the rocks and snow on a trail. The cat fled to a big tree where its tail hung down to where I could have grabbed it. Later we watched that spot, along with a couple of bald eagles, many ravens, and two coyotes—all very silent. The cat had moved the carcass, and we couldn’t see either. I wouldn’t be surprised if all the other watchers saw both.    

Another time, while eating breakfast at the Taylor Ranch on Big Creek in the River of No Return Wilderness, we watched four mule deer running across a slope and across the river in a big hurry. Then a long-tail showed up, laid down on the slope, licked its shoulders just like your pet cat does, and then took off after the deer. We didn’t think it was really into the hunt, more into a slow chase.  

If you spend enough time in Wilderness, you are likely to experience wildlife in ways that stick in your noggin. Big Tom in the Selway-Bitterroot remains my most prized experience with these big cats.

Jim Peek has unique 20-year records of plant production and nutrient content—including before and after fires—in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho.

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