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Listening to Cougar
“Awe. It’s the overwhelming emotion 20 authors express for the cougar—or mountain lion or panther or puma—in [this] beautiful literary anthology.” —The Durango Herald Foreword by Jane Goodall This spellbinding tribute to Puma concolor honors the big cat’s presence on the land and in our psyches. In some essays, the puma appears front and a lion leaps over Rick Bass’s feet, hurtles off a cliff in front of J. Frank Dobie, gazes at Julia Corbett when she opens her eyes after an outdoor meditation, emerges from the fog close enough for poet Gary Gildner to touch. Marc Bekoff opens his car door for a dog that turns out to be a lion. Other works evoke lions indirectly. Biologists describe aspects of cougar ecology, such as its rugged habitat and how males struggle to claim territory. Conservationists relate the political history of America’s greatest cat. Short stories and essays consider lions’ significance to people, reflecting on accidental encounters, dreams, Navajo beliefs, guided hunts, and how vital mountain lions are to people as symbols of power and wildness. Contributors Rick Bass, Marc Bekoff, Janay Brun, Julia B. Corbett, Deanna Dawn, J. Frank Dobie, Suzanne Duarte, Steve Edwards, Joan Fox, Gary Gildner, Wendy Keefover-Ring, Ted Kerasote, Christina Kohlruss, Barry Lopez, BK Loren, Cara Blessley Lowe, Steve Pavlik, David Stoner, and Linda Sweanor. “Puma. Cougar. Mountain lion. Panther. These words and the creatures they represent inspire awe, wonder, excitement, terror, and reverence in the writers whose contributions make up this anthology.” —Library Journal
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2007
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118 people want to read
About the author
Marc Bekoff
72 books250 followersPlease see http://www.literati.net/authors/marc-... and you can read my essays for Psychology Today here -- http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/a... --
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 26, 2009
My favorite story in this collection is authored by Joan Fox.
January 2, 2018
Here's my review for Listening to Cougar, originally published in "Southwestern American Literature:"
Some people regard Puma concolor primarily as a menace to livestock, not to mention the occasional suburban poodle. Their rare attacks on humans draw extraordinary attention, but the fact remains that the average American is far more likely to die choking on a Twinkie than getting mauled by a mountain lion.
Cougars have long been a source of fascination, but relatively little knowledge has been acquired about the elusive animals. Unlike wolves and bears, cougars do not tolerate human observers, and some scientists who study them have never seen one in the wild.
Cougars have plenty of defenders, but unfortunately, their ranks do not often include the people with guns. Thousands of cougars are killed every year in the Southwest, although no one is sure of the exact number, since no statistics are kept in Texas, where it is perfectly legal to kill them “any time of year, with guns, bow and arrows, and from cars. They can be trapped and poisoned—even tiny kittens.”
The cruelty of hunting is one of the topics addressed in Listening to Cougar, an anthology that presents twenty perspectives on the mountain lion. Included is J. Frank Dobie’s 1928 account of an expedition into New Mexico’s Mogollon Mountains. Ten days into the hunt, the dogs finally trapped the lion on a rock ledge. “He was game and noble game,” Dobie wrote, “the noblest and most beautiful predatory animal on the American continent. As a bullet found its mark, I felt, momentarily, mean and ignoble.”
Scientists weigh in on a few pieces, including Linda Sweanor’s “A Puma’s Journey,” which presents the distilled knowledge of ten years spent studying cougars in the San Andres Mountains of New Mexico. Relying primarily on radio collars, Sweanor pieces together a portrait of a cougar population under tremendous duress, particularly as the human presence expands throughout the Southwest.
Many of the entries in this volume are given over to writers and dreamers, all of whom are deeply sympathetic to cougars. Here the anthology is on shakier ground, as the accounts reveal more about the writer than the animal. The worst are infected by a New Age-tinged narcissism, with correspondents who report feeling “the raw power of Spirit as I merged with its light. I knew in my core that I had transcended the physical world and embodied the energy of the cougar.”
Reading about those who discover that the cougar is their personal totem animal reminds me of all the people who retrace their past lives and conclude that they were once Cleopatra.
Among the most interesting contributions to Listening to Cougar are the essays that take a careful measure of the cougar’s impact on the human psyche. BK Loren, in “The Shifting Light of Shadows,” goes out for an evening walk when she sees a cougar lope across a tennis court and pass within ten yards of a group of teenagers before suddenly leaping into the darkness. Loren uses this encounter as a point of departure to examine the cougar within the context of Jung’s archetype of the shadow, and she argues, “It is precisely because we fear large predators that we need them. They hold within them so many things we have lost, or are on the verge of losing, personally and collectively, permanently and forever. If we sacrifice the fear, we also sacrifice the strength, the wildness, the beauty, the awe.”
Despite the anthology’s strengths, one wishes that, at some point, the editors would have taken on the more challenging task of directly addressing the reasons cougars are exterminated in the first place—their inconvenient habit of killing livestock. Not many ranchers are going to be impressed by Jungian analysis, or with a collection of work that entirely overlooks their perspective on the animal. One need not be a defender of the ranching industry to see that the cougar’s long-term interest—and perhaps survival—is better served by acknowledging the opposition, rather than compiling a round of essays congratulating those who have already seen the light.
Some people regard Puma concolor primarily as a menace to livestock, not to mention the occasional suburban poodle. Their rare attacks on humans draw extraordinary attention, but the fact remains that the average American is far more likely to die choking on a Twinkie than getting mauled by a mountain lion.
Cougars have long been a source of fascination, but relatively little knowledge has been acquired about the elusive animals. Unlike wolves and bears, cougars do not tolerate human observers, and some scientists who study them have never seen one in the wild.
Cougars have plenty of defenders, but unfortunately, their ranks do not often include the people with guns. Thousands of cougars are killed every year in the Southwest, although no one is sure of the exact number, since no statistics are kept in Texas, where it is perfectly legal to kill them “any time of year, with guns, bow and arrows, and from cars. They can be trapped and poisoned—even tiny kittens.”
The cruelty of hunting is one of the topics addressed in Listening to Cougar, an anthology that presents twenty perspectives on the mountain lion. Included is J. Frank Dobie’s 1928 account of an expedition into New Mexico’s Mogollon Mountains. Ten days into the hunt, the dogs finally trapped the lion on a rock ledge. “He was game and noble game,” Dobie wrote, “the noblest and most beautiful predatory animal on the American continent. As a bullet found its mark, I felt, momentarily, mean and ignoble.”
Scientists weigh in on a few pieces, including Linda Sweanor’s “A Puma’s Journey,” which presents the distilled knowledge of ten years spent studying cougars in the San Andres Mountains of New Mexico. Relying primarily on radio collars, Sweanor pieces together a portrait of a cougar population under tremendous duress, particularly as the human presence expands throughout the Southwest.
Many of the entries in this volume are given over to writers and dreamers, all of whom are deeply sympathetic to cougars. Here the anthology is on shakier ground, as the accounts reveal more about the writer than the animal. The worst are infected by a New Age-tinged narcissism, with correspondents who report feeling “the raw power of Spirit as I merged with its light. I knew in my core that I had transcended the physical world and embodied the energy of the cougar.”
Reading about those who discover that the cougar is their personal totem animal reminds me of all the people who retrace their past lives and conclude that they were once Cleopatra.
Among the most interesting contributions to Listening to Cougar are the essays that take a careful measure of the cougar’s impact on the human psyche. BK Loren, in “The Shifting Light of Shadows,” goes out for an evening walk when she sees a cougar lope across a tennis court and pass within ten yards of a group of teenagers before suddenly leaping into the darkness. Loren uses this encounter as a point of departure to examine the cougar within the context of Jung’s archetype of the shadow, and she argues, “It is precisely because we fear large predators that we need them. They hold within them so many things we have lost, or are on the verge of losing, personally and collectively, permanently and forever. If we sacrifice the fear, we also sacrifice the strength, the wildness, the beauty, the awe.”
Despite the anthology’s strengths, one wishes that, at some point, the editors would have taken on the more challenging task of directly addressing the reasons cougars are exterminated in the first place—their inconvenient habit of killing livestock. Not many ranchers are going to be impressed by Jungian analysis, or with a collection of work that entirely overlooks their perspective on the animal. One need not be a defender of the ranching industry to see that the cougar’s long-term interest—and perhaps survival—is better served by acknowledging the opposition, rather than compiling a round of essays congratulating those who have already seen the light.
September 4, 2017
A series of essays by solid authors on mountain lions. The essays run the gamut--from mystical to scientific to actual sightings. A fun read.
July 7, 2020
some interesting short stories on cougars but I'm more interested in the animals behavior and their folklore then that of the American pioneer/hunter's experience of killing cougars 🤷🏼♀️
November 6, 2009
A perplexing collection of personal experiences, fiction, scientific observation, and New Age hokum.
Ostensibly a collection to help us understand cougar, it mainly (as it must) shows how humans interpret their own experience then lay some of it on nature, in this case, on cougars.
The worthwhile: Several of the personal encounters were interesting as personal stories. A Barry Lopez short story has little to do with cougars, but is lovely none the less. "Sanctuary" by biologist David C. Stoner is a very good academic/personal hybrid story about traveling up a virtually untouched southern Utah canyon in search of evidence of cougar.
The bad: A few of the personal encounter stories stank with New Age woo-woo, especially the one where the author didn't actually encounter a cougar anywhere but in her dreams! I'm sorry, but an individual's dreams about cougars somehow showing her life stuff is ridiculous.
A near hundred year old account of hunting Puma Concolor in what is now the Gila wilderness of New Mexico was interesting in the description of a wild land, but disgusting in its purpose. Same with the editor of this collection and her story of following a professional hunting guide so she can understand his point of view.
This latter showcases the problem with this collection: it comes from a management standpoint, despite the faux spirituality of some of the entries. This is about science and stakeholders instead of re-connecting with nature or understanding cougar. Of course managing for conservation is better than managing for extinction, but who said we should be in charge anyway?
Overall, disappointing with a few good stories to be found.
Ostensibly a collection to help us understand cougar, it mainly (as it must) shows how humans interpret their own experience then lay some of it on nature, in this case, on cougars.
The worthwhile: Several of the personal encounters were interesting as personal stories. A Barry Lopez short story has little to do with cougars, but is lovely none the less. "Sanctuary" by biologist David C. Stoner is a very good academic/personal hybrid story about traveling up a virtually untouched southern Utah canyon in search of evidence of cougar.
The bad: A few of the personal encounter stories stank with New Age woo-woo, especially the one where the author didn't actually encounter a cougar anywhere but in her dreams! I'm sorry, but an individual's dreams about cougars somehow showing her life stuff is ridiculous.
A near hundred year old account of hunting Puma Concolor in what is now the Gila wilderness of New Mexico was interesting in the description of a wild land, but disgusting in its purpose. Same with the editor of this collection and her story of following a professional hunting guide so she can understand his point of view.
This latter showcases the problem with this collection: it comes from a management standpoint, despite the faux spirituality of some of the entries. This is about science and stakeholders instead of re-connecting with nature or understanding cougar. Of course managing for conservation is better than managing for extinction, but who said we should be in charge anyway?
Overall, disappointing with a few good stories to be found.
May 19, 2015
Not my favorite book regarding cougar ecology and conservation, not by a long shot. The short essays included are very much a mixed bag, both in content and in informational value. Some essays are written from the perspective of scientists in the field, and these are generally enlightening, if short. Others are more observational from the perspective of lay-people, and these also provide a different kind of insight, though insight that I feel is underdeveloped. However, the fictional piece included added nothing, and was only tenuously linked to experiences with wild cougars. A few of the other essays traveled so deep into New Age abstraction that I felt their presence detracted from the overall value of this book.
I will grant that perfectly objective, scientific information doesn't quite capture the awe this creature inspires, and since a sense of awe is the stated central theme of this book, it's reasonable to assume that the essays included won't all be scientific in nature. However, I felt the more metaphysical pieces missed the mark and added little if anything to the affective power of the cougar.
I will grant that perfectly objective, scientific information doesn't quite capture the awe this creature inspires, and since a sense of awe is the stated central theme of this book, it's reasonable to assume that the essays included won't all be scientific in nature. However, I felt the more metaphysical pieces missed the mark and added little if anything to the affective power of the cougar.
May 13, 2014
Many authors submitted short stories to this book. Some of them, I learned a lot about the plight of this beautiful cat. I didn't know that people were still hunting it with dogs and guns. It's no wonder that you don't see this animal as it is a solitary creature and hunts usually at night.
The stories varied with the hunting, studying and different peoples (Indians such as the Navajos) rituals with the cat. I really enjoyed the story of the woman on a vision quest who sat near a cougar. It was awesome. This is a great book for all cat lovers.
The stories varied with the hunting, studying and different peoples (Indians such as the Navajos) rituals with the cat. I really enjoyed the story of the woman on a vision quest who sat near a cougar. It was awesome. This is a great book for all cat lovers.
January 4, 2016
Though several of the selections in this collection were fine pieces of natural history writing, the book felt uneven. The nature of the mountain lion (cougar, painter, ghost cat, etc.) makes it difficult to study and write about, but a handful of the selections read like nothing more than random sightings; they failed to make a greater point. Finally, some selections felt tangentially related at best - bits of myth or legend or discussions of spirit animals, without a thorough connection to the physical creature.
March 26, 2009
The sole piece of fiction adds an intriguing and vital piece to this collection of essays. It's a well written story and ties in well. The entire book was great!
June 13, 2010
I learned a lot about a beautiful animal. Some of the stories were hard to read as they had a not so pleasant ending for the cougar.
November 28, 2011
As with any collection of writings, I liked some of this book.
December 12, 2011
Interesting stories, although I wish a couple of them hadn't been included. I didn't get the book to read glorified accounts of cougar hunts. Not my cup of tea.
January 19, 2016
It is a collection of essays, some are good, some are not so good. Overall, I would say it is a good book.
July 7, 2020
more like "killing cougar"
I'm more interested in the cougar's experience then that of the settler/hunter's who kill them 🤷🏼♀️ not the best way to LISTEN
I'm more interested in the cougar's experience then that of the settler/hunter's who kill them 🤷🏼♀️ not the best way to LISTEN
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews