Washington state: bill to make lion state animal

[Emily]

Probably not good fpr the prospect of lion hunting:


http://www.tri-cityherald.com/944/story/83613.html


Chris Mulick has worked for the Herald since 1998 and has served as the statehouse correspondent covering state government and politics since 2000. He works year-round out of the Herald's Olympia bureau on the state Capitol campus.

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Thursday, Feb. 07, 2008
Bill snubs marsupials, monotremes for cougar
Here’s a good little bill. Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen, D-Eatonville, has introduced Senate Bill 6918 to declare the cougar the official state mammal.

We’re not just talking the official state placental mammal. We’re talking king of all mammals here, marsupials and monotremes included. So it’s a pretty sweet deal.

So why grant the cougar this great designation? Because, as the bill reads “The Legislature finds: (1) The cougar is a beautiful and majestic animal that lives throughout Washington; (2) Many schools in Washington use the cougar as their mascot; (3) About two thousand five hundred cougars live in Washington; (4) The cougar is the largest cat in Washington; and (5) Cougars are important to humans because they control the pest populations, such as crickets and rodents, and overpopulated animals such as deer.”

No doubt there’s a class of schoolchildren behind this somewhere. Too bad the bill was introduced just days before cutoff.

The Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee meets today for the last time before Friday’s deadline. And barring some last minute maneuvering there’s going to be a lot of disappointed faces in a schoolhouse somewhere.

So come on senators. Do it for the kids.

Whoever they are.

[Spanky]

[Redplott]

Crickets & rodents hummm let's not forget dear, elk, cattle, horses and every other creature. They come across.