Baron is not in favor of killing unwanted lions, but in this timely book he warns that as people continue to displace wild animals from their habitats, they have to change the way they interact with them and be more realistic about romantic notions of wilderness. Even after Scott Lancaster, the Idaho Springs jogger, was killed, area residents refused to endorse killing the big cats that moved into their neighborhoods. Since 1988 they had been studying the mountain lions that were invading backyards in the Boulder area in. Although people were horrified, biologist Michael Sanders and naturalist Jim Halfpenny were not surprised. Sanders and Halfpenny tried to convince the wildlife-loving Boulderites that a tragedy was about to occur, but people believed they could coexist peacefully with the lions, and the Colorado Division of Wildlife was also determined to leave the animals alone. In 1991, in Idaho Springs, Colo., a small town not far from Boulder, a young jogger was killed and partially eaten by a mountain lion. Numerous homeowners saw lions in their yards, dogs were maimed or eaten and a girl was attacked but survived. National Public Radio, profile picture National Public Radio. In an engrossing book that reads like a true crime thriller, Baron, a science and environmental writer, follows the advance of mountain lions around Boulder as if they were serial killers, building tension as he leads up to the killing. Wrote The Beast in the Garden (2003), about mountain lions in suburbia. Since 1988 they had been studying the mountain lions that were invading backyards in the Boulder area in increasing numbers and had concluded that, contrary to the accepted wisdom that these lions don't attack people, the big cats were indeed stalking humans in search of a good meal. Journalist David Baron examines the history of the mountain lion and describes one towns valiant attempt to cohabitate.

In 1991, in Idaho Springs, Colo., a small town not far from Boulder, a young jogger was killed and partially eaten by a mountain lion.

The Beast in the Garden by David Baron