I take issue with the use of the word “attack” in describing the latest cougar activity (“Predators continue attacks on livestock,” July 26).

It’s unfair to the cougar. The cougar’s just hungry. We humans provide good-tasting and convenient food by leaving our animals outside in enclosed spaces that the cougar can penetrate. What normal cougar would pass up a pet pig, a pony, a goat or a llama in a fenced enclosure in favor of chasing a fleet-footed deer for a mile across unfenced pasture and through dense forest? The cougar is just doing its job in the food chain, going after the easiest-to-find food in its world, the role it evolved into through no fault of its own (or, if you believe in such things, was created by a god to do). It’s up to us, the true invasive species, to keep our animals secure. Kudos to Karen Beck who acknowledged that fact last week after coyotes tried (unsuccessfully) to eat her donkeys: “We have to do a better job taking care of our livestock, that’s all.”

Good people of Vashon, listen to Ms. Beck. Don’t blame the cougar. Build a barn.

— Mark Nassutti