"Eat."

I unscrew the cap and smell something savory. My mouth waters at the prospect. Only now do I realize how hungry I am. I squeeze the tube and disgusting-looking brown sludge comes out.

I'm so sorry, but with how this was described, I can only picture that this man is eating a churu right now 😭😭😭

I don't want to make this anymore heartbreaking by rooting this story in reality, but wanted to share the story of P-22 in case anyone doesn't know it.

P-22 was a mountain lion that lived in Griffith Park in Los Angeles from 2012 - 2022. He's believed to have originated from the Santa Monica Mountains (southern most mountainous area), but wasn't found until he'd made it to the Griffith Park area (red area on the right).

What's so interesting about P-22 is the fact that no one really knows how he got there. Between the Santa Monica Mountains and the Griffith Park Observatory are two large highways (405 and 101) without any wildlife crossings. People assume he was able to make it across both of those unharmed, but we can't really confirm it. Additionally, P-22 lived in only 9 square miles of area, about 31 times smaller than the area needed for a mountain lion.

Some other fun things that relate to the story. In 2015 P-22 made the news for living under a resident's house in Los Feliz. In 2016, he made the news again for eating a koala at the LA Zoo. I think it's neat the author incorporated both of these tidbits into Open Mouth.

P-22 sadly passed in 2022, but his legacy lives on! The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is a direct impact of this legacy. It's a massive wildlife crossing that spans the 101 and would allow wildlife to cross the ten lane highway. Additionally, other wildlife crossings are in the works to help protect mountain lions and other wildlife in southern California!

If you'd like to learn more, the National Park Service has a nice profile on him and it's where I've gathered most of this information! (🔗Learn more here!)