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| Predator Dreams 14" x11" oil on board Katy Widger 2016 |
Just finished this one, so the picture is "shiny" from the wet paint reflections.
The ABQ Bio Park has two cougars, and WildLife West, here in Edgewood, has two young sisters. Their mother was trapped and killed and the young sisters captured and brought to WLW to live out their lives. Observing cougars in captivity bears no resemblance to getting a glimpse of them in the wild, but it's the best option I have. They are top tier predators, and take mostly elk and deer in northern New Mexico, and big horn sheep in southern NM. They are very rarely observed and rarely take domestic livestock because their native prey is plentiful.
Nevertheless...
New Mexico is one of very few states that allows, even encourages, the trapping of animals for sport. It is shameful and horrific. Cougars, foxes and bobcat are the specific targets, and coyotes have long been hunted, trapped, poisoned and shot in coyote-killing contests in this backward state. I have hope that the congress of the US will outlaw trapping very soon. NM sure isn't going to.
