Beth Pratt-Bergstrom > Quotes

“P-22 just may be the Neil Armstrong of his kind. A quick glance at his route on a map shows he had to be a bit mad to even attempt his journey. To get to his new territory of Griffith Park, he must cross two of the busiest freeways in the United States. Imagine soft, padded paws fitted for bounding over snow and boulders touching the asphalt of the first eight-lane highway, known as one of the worst roads in the country. Even in the middle of the night, the 405 never slows, and the highway thrums with mechanical noise and explodes with the mad dance of headlights. When faced with the living, breathing monster of the 405, most cats do an abrupt about-face, or get mangled by a few tons of moving steel. But P-22, with his tenacity, or luck, or both, somehow manages to cross. There is no way of knowing how he navigates the formidable obstacle of the road, whether he uses an under- or overpass or bolts straight across. All have been attempted by other cats, and many haven’t lived to tell the tale.”
― Beth Pratt-Bergstrom, When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors: People and Wildlife Working It Out in California

“In 1990, California residents passed Proposition 117, known as the California Wildlife Protection Act, which reclassified the lion as a “specially protected mammal”and banned the hunting of lions in the Golden State—this even though mountain lions are neither endangered nor threatened in most of California. California is the only state to date that has banned the hunting of lions. Admittedly, not every resident of the Golden State expresses awe and wonderment at seeing the trademark flick of a cougar’s tail, yet even the rare attack does not deter the unwavering support of the majority, who enjoy having cougars on the landscape. P-22 prospering in Hollywoodland serves as just one example of Californians’ affection toward the cat.”
― Beth Pratt-Bergstrom, When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors: People and Wildlife Working It Out in California

“In a state where 90 percent of people live in urbanized areas, where wildlife is running out of space, and where people are becoming increasingly disconnected from nature, the mountain lion in a city park provides hope for a new breed of relationship with nature, not the hands-off, take-care-not-to-anthropomorphize, us-verses-them way that scientists have preached for so long. This doesn’t mean approaching P-22 and giving him a friendly pat. But it does mean seeing wildlife as part of the landscape, as part of our neighborhoods. Wildlife isn’t just about idyllic nature settings, or science or environmentalism, it’s about art and culture and history and spirituality. In Los Angeles, wildlife is about coexistence, about human and nonhuman residents sharing space and adapting to life together in this grand metropolis. It is a coexistence that is fraught with difficulty, and that doesn’t always have a happy ending, especially for the wildlife (don’t fret—just wait for the sequel), but that ultimately can be beneficial to all.”
― Beth Pratt-Bergstrom, When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors: People and Wildlife Working It Out in California

“There is a wildness in California still.…It does not exist only within those areas designated as wilderness or national parks, but also in the ‘back blocks’—the hinterland of lands that are otherwise used for other purposes. There is a feeling that back beyond the next ridge there is still wild country. And even beyond that there is an invasion of the wild into the tame that for some of us brings feelings of security.”—Raymond Dasmann, Wild California: Vanishing Lands, Vanishing Wildlife “What is the message that wild animals bring, the message that seems to say everything and nothing? What is this message that is wordless, that is nothing more or less than the animals themselves—that the world is wild, that life is unpredictable in its goodness and its danger, that the world is larger than your imagination?”—Rebecca Solnit, A Field Guide to Getting Lost”
― Beth Pratt-Bergstrom, When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors: People and Wildlife Working It Out in California

“LA’s 468 square miles of land and 34 square miles of water extend to the Santa Monica Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, include nine lakes, one river, and a million trees. Within its borders are 390 public parks and 15,710 acres of parkland. Surprised? Most people—even some who live in LA—are not aware of the immense connection the city still retains to the natural world. Los Angeles has made nature its own, woven its own unique cultural landscape onto the physical one, and perhaps shaped the tale of Mother Nature into a structure it’s comfortable with—that of a Hollywood blockbuster screenplay. Jenny Price, author of the brilliant essay “Thirteen Ways of Seeing Nature in LA,”writes: “The history of Los Angeles storytelling, if more complicated, still basically boils down to a trilogy. Nature blesses Los Angeles. Nature flees Los Angeles. And nature returns armed.”
― Beth Pratt-Bergstrom, When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors: People and Wildlife Working It Out in California

“The Glendale Bear, affectionately known as Meatball for his successful raids of area homes in search of Costco meatballs, became famous for his neighborhood break-ins, and for the image a live news helicopter captured of the bear startling an unsuspecting resident while he texted on his phone. Meatball also had his own Twitter account and conversed there regularly with P-22 about the challenges of urban living. Ultimately, because of his affinity for human food and relaxing in backyard hot tubs, this smarter-than-average black bear had to be captured in 2012 and sent to the animal sanctuary Lions, Tigers, and Bears in San Diego County, where he now resides. The story, however, has a happy ending, as the residents of Glendale, aware their habits of leaving out trash and pet food might have made them culpable in his fate, promised to mend their ways and even raised funds for a bigger enclosure for Meatball. For the 2014 Rose Bowl Parade, Glendale created a float themed “Let’s Be Neighbors,”featuring Meatball in his famous trash-can pose. As Patricia Betancourt from the City of Glendale office said, “Glendale citizens, because of Meatball’s influence, are now dedicated to being good neighbors to wildlife.”
― Beth Pratt-Bergstrom, When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors: People and Wildlife Working It Out in California

“Progress is happening all around us, and an urban mountain lion is the ultimate sign of the region’s ecological health. The plight of P-22 has captured the imagination of Angelinos—and people across the globe—bringing them a glimpse into a wilder world, one that refuses to be contained by the boundaries of endless paved freeways. Even some who fear P-22 and his brethren still cheer him on, sharing the sentiment expressed by Gregory Rodriguez in the LA Times: “I have no illusions that the Glendale bear or P-22 wouldn’t hesitate to dine on me given the right circumstances. But I’m still rooting for them. Deep down I’m hoping that if they can survive at the margins of human civilization without forsaking their wildness, so can I.” Truly, it’s something to celebrate that the city that gave us Carmageddon also has allowed a mountain lion to thrive. Los Angeles now needs to prove to P-22 his journey wasn’t for naught. Let’s give him—and all his Santa Monica Mountain kin—a Hollywood ending by building the largest wildlife crossing in the world in one of the largest urban areas in the country. He deserves as much.”
― Beth Pratt-Bergstrom, When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors: People and Wildlife Working It Out in California

“In the words of Rachel Carson, whose 1962 book, Silent Spring, ignited a new environmental consciousness: “The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe, the less taste we shall have for destruction.”
― Beth Pratt-Bergstrom, When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors: People and Wildlife Working It Out in California

“As to his harming a human, Jeff underscores that attacks by cougars are very rare; the chance is about one in twenty-five million. You’re more likely to win the lottery or be struck by lightning than be killed by a cougar. “These are large carnivores capable of attacking people, and they deserve a healthy respect,”Jeff says, “but clearly mountain lions don’t think of people as prey, and this is good news for both people and lions. If they wanted to eat us, they would.” Jeff goes on to say that in Los Angeles, for both P-22 and people, the freeways pose the greater risk. In Los Angeles County alone, automobiles cause on average about 750 deaths and 85,000 injuries each year. In California, mountain lions have attacked fewer than twenty people and killed just three since 1986, according to the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife. These statistics don’t diminish the tragedy when a person is killed or injured by a lion, but it puts the risk in perspective. Living in lion country is much safer than living in car country.”
― Beth Pratt-Bergstrom, When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors: People and Wildlife Working It Out in California

“The automatic fear—and the killing of cats that simply appear on the urban landscape—is usually due to a lack of education, not maliciousness. If you’re not a carnivore biologist and accustomed to mountain lion behavior, then a hissing, snarling, 130-pound cat can easily lead to a state of panic. Simply learning about normal lion behavior would help dispel some of the fright and help people realize that the majority of encounters with lions end without incident. As the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Lt. Kevin Joe notes: “Just because you find a mountain lion behaving normally, but in an unusual location, it doesn’t mean it’s a threat to public safety.”
― Beth Pratt-Bergstrom, When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors: People and Wildlife Working It Out in California