For many new residents in the Snoqualmie Valley, the first sighting of a black bear scampering into the woods or an elk munching on foliage just a few yards away can be exhilarating, and can serve as a reminder that wildlife is majestic and precious.

Although humans often envy the freedom and cherish the beauty of wildlife, encounters with wild animals are not always pleasant and not always at a distance. And with any threat wildlife might pose to humans, our presence can bring even greater harm to their survival and habitat.

“The farther east we go, we’re cutting into their remaining habitat where the animals were not used to living with people,” explained Laurie MacRae, of the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. Many animals have to be destroyed each year in King County after attacking neighborhood pets or developing a fondness for garbage. In 2000, one bear and approximately 10 cougars had to be destroyed in the county, MacRae said.

In Washington state, as well as in King County, the chances of spotting or having interaction with a black bear, mountain lion, coyote or wolf is a possibility, although the populations of bears and coyotes are higher than that of mountain lions and wolves.

At a special presentation called “Living With Carnivores” last week at Issaquah High School, wildlife experts covered each animal’s habitat and tendencies, and gave tips for living in an area, such as the Valley, with these predators. The program is a collaborative educational outreach effort sponsored by the Center for Wildlife Information, Defenders of Wildlife, Insight Wildlife Management Inc., National Park Service, Northwest Ecosystem Alliance, United States Fish and Wildlife Department, United States Forest Service, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife and Wolf Haven International.

The message from the program was to learn as much as possible about local predators, respect them and know how to live in the same area with them without endangering the wildlife or allowing them to harm people and pets.

Officials said that when humans build in a previously undeveloped area, they are encroaching on wildlife and their habitat, not the other way around. And when people unwittingly make their yards “animal friendly,” they could end up with a several-hundred-pound nightly visitor, overturned trash cans, mauled pets and ravaged fruit trees.

What all the animals have in common is their main opponent: people. With the rise in human population comes a decline in many wildlife populations, including large predators and their food supply. The following descriptions are useful for identifying these animals.

Coyotes

These animals look like small, short-haired collie dogs with pointy ears and bushy tails. Adults weigh around 20 to 40 pounds and are usually gray-brown in color, although their coats can vary from off-white to almost black.

Coyotes are abundant in Washington, but shy away from humans. These animals are resourceful and can easily adapt to urban or suburban life. They live just about anywhere, from below sea level to mountainous areas, and can survive in tundra and the desert, according to a pamphlet by the United States Department of Agriculture.

Coyotes are scavengers and eat almost anything, from snakes, foxes and rodents, to fruits and vegetables, household pets, small farm animals and garbage. They are active at night but also wander around during the day. Most sightings are reported at dawn and dusk.

Wolves and

wolf hybrids

Wolves are much bigger than coyotes and can weigh from 70 to 115 pounds. Wolves’ ear tips are more rounded – and they have larger and squarer muzzles – than a coyote. They can vary in color, including black, white, tan and gray.

Sometimes people confuse wolves for husky or malamute dogs, but wolves have straight tails, unlike the curly tails of huskies, malamutes and wolf hybrids.

Wolves are on the endangered species list for Washington and the United States. Researchers thought wolves had disappeared from the Cascades after the 1930s, until sightings in 1990 proved otherwise. The animals had been hunted almost to extinction by fur traders and government bounty programs, but their population now sits at around 2,500 in the United States, not including Alaska. They can be found in only a few states that border Canada, including Washington. There is currently no recognized wolf pack in Washington, but individual wolves have been spotted. The closest known pack resides in Central Idaho.

“The chances of wild wolf contact are rare, but increasing, so we want people to be aware,” said Tanya Paul of Wolf Haven, an organization that protects wolves. Wild wolves are naturally afraid of humans and will run away or avoid contact.

They generally don’t kill livestock, but if starved or enticed to a human area, such incidents can occur. Hybrid wolves – illegal to own in Washington – are more aggressive. This animal is bred on purpose with various dog breeds and is responsible for many attacks on livestock. Paul said the natural fear in wolves is bred out of hybrids, so they are unpredictable.

Mountain lions

These animals should not be treated as large pussycats and can be dangerous under certain circumstances. Males can weigh up to 200 pounds; females up to 120 pounds.

Mountain lions, also known as pumas, cougars and panthers, number about 2,500 in Washington. Each adult male mountain lion requires an approximate home range of 100 miles. Mountain lions can be found in areas with rocky terrain, steep slopes and semi-open forests, where their prey also lives.

These felines feed on deer, elk, mountain goats, moose, and even raccoons and beaver. They’ve been known to eat dogs and cats and other domestic animals when their own food source is limited. They are usually spotted at dawn and dusk, and frequently hang out in trees so they can get a good view and jump on their prey from above.

Bears

Washington is part of black-bear country, which stretches from Central Mexico to Alaska. Washington’s population of black bears is at 25,000. One of the largest concentrations of black bears is in the Cascade Mountains. They prefer to live in mountains and forested foothills where food is plentiful. Bears are omnivorous and eat berries, worms and other bugs, grass, tubers, wood fiber, fish, small mammals including elk calves and deer fawns, and occasionally, livestock.

“A bear is a large, carnivorous cow, basically,” said Chris Morgan, director and ecologist with Insight Wildlife Management. “Where there are berries, there are bears. Where there are bears, there are berries.”

Morgan explained that black bears are not always black. They can vary from shades of blonde to red and black. They usually stay in dens from mid- October to April, but bears along the Washington coast may stay active all year long.

A bear’s main objective is to eat, so the animals seek as much food as possible, including garbage, fruit and other goodies from residents’ yards. They are usually active at dawn and dusk, but can be spotted during daylight hours. It’s important to remember that mother bears are notorious in protecting their cubs, and that they teach their cubs tricks of the trade, including how to open garbage cans and where to find the juiciest morsels.

“A fed bear is a dead bear,” Morgan said. “It’s just like giving a dog a bone at your dinner table: You give it to them just once, and then they keep coming back for more.” Wildlife officials have destroyed many bears because humans continued to feed them, and the bears eventually became a nuisance. Bears will generally not approach humans, but will venture into campsites and yards as long as a food source can be found.

The same rules apply to grizzly bears. Experts estimate that there are fewer than 30 grizzlies in the North Cascades. However, they have been spotted as far south as Mount Rainier. The difference between grizzlies and black bears is that grizzlies have a hump on their shoulder, a round, concave face and longer claws.