The Beast in the Garden: The True Story of a Predator's Deadly Return to Suburban America

**"Reads like a crime novel . . . each chapter ends on a cliff-hanging note."―__Seattle Times__** When residents of Boulder, Colorado, suddenly began to see mountain lions in their backyards, it became clear that the cats had returned after decades of bounty hunting had driven them far from human settlement. In a riveting environmental tale that has received huge national attention, journalist David Baron traces the history of the mountain lion and chronicles one town's tragic effort to coexist with its new neighbors. As thought-provoking as it is harrowing, __The Beast in the Garden__ is a tale of nature corrupted, the clash between civilization and wildness, and the artificiality of the modern American landscape. It is, ultimately, a book about the future of our nation, where suburban sprawl and wildlife-protection laws are pushing people and wild animals into uncomfortable, sometimes deadly proximity "Reads like a crime novel . . . each chapter ends on a cliff-hanging note."― Seattle Times When residents of Boulder, Colorado, suddenly began to see mountain lions in their backyards, it became clear that the cats had returned after decades of bounty hunting had driven them far from human settlement. In a riveting environmental tale that has received huge national attention, journalist David Baron traces the history of the mountain lion and chronicles one town's tragic effort to coexist with its new neighbors. As thought-provoking as it is harrowing, The Beast in the Garden is a tale of nature corrupted, the clash between civilization and wildness, and the artificiality of the modern American landscape. It is, ultimately, a book about the future of our nation, where suburban sprawl and wildlife-protection laws are pushing people and wild animals into uncomfortable, sometimes deadly proximity When residents of Boulder, Colorado, suddenly began to see mountain lions in their backyards, it became clear that the cats had returned after decades of bounty hunting had driven them far from human settlement. In a riveting environmental tale that has received huge national attention, journalist David Baron traces the history of the mountain lion and chronicles one town's tragic effort to coexist with its new neighbors. As thought-provoking as it is harrowing, The Beast in the Garden is a tale of nature corrupted, the clash between civilization and wildness, and the artificiality of the modern American landscape. It is, ultimately, a book about the future of our nation, where suburban sprawl and wildlife-protection laws are pushing people and wild animals into uncomfortable, sometimes deadly proximity. "Reads like a crime novel . . . each chapter ends on a cliff-hanging note." Seattle Times The true tale of an edenic Rocky Mountain town and what transpired when a predatory species returned to its ancestral home.When, in the late 1980s, residents of Boulder, Colorado, suddenly began to see mountain lions in their yards, it became clear that the cats had repopulated the land after decades of persecution. Here, in a riveting environmental fable that recalls Peter Benchley's thriller Jaws, journalist David Baron traces the history of the mountain lion and chronicles Boulder's effort to coexist with its new neighbors. A parable for our times, The Beast in the Garden is a scientific detective story and a real-life drama, a tragic tale of the struggle between two highly evolved predators: man and beast. "The time: the late 1980s. The place: Boulder, Colorado. When residents report cats as massive as African leopards in their yards and driveways, it becomes clear that mountain lions (cougars, pumas, panthers) are repopulating the land, rebounding after decades of persecution and bounty hunting." "To inhabitants of the environmentally aware city of Boulder, the lions' return is cause for celebration - initially. As the massive cats take up residence among houses and feast on pets, the animals' presence turns ominous, provoking political battles and culminating in the unthinkable - the death of a young athlete, hunted by a lion behind a nearby high school." When, in the late 1980s, residents of Boulder, Colorado, suddenly begin to see mountain lions in their yards, it becomes clear that the cats repopulated the land after decades of persecution. Here journalist David Baron traces the history of the mountain lion and chronicles Boulder's struggles to coexist with its new neighbors. A parable for our times, the book serves as a cautionary tale for countless communities now struggling to live with lions, wolves, bears, and other animals as rebounding wildlife spreads in toward America's cities, and as America's cities sprawl ever outward into wildlife habitat