March 30, 2023 Wyoming Briefs

Mountain lion captured in Gillette

GILLETTE (WNE) – Charlie Anderson chose a dangerous time to refill his bird feeder.

The bird feeder hung from the side of his Kendrick Avenue home, which at that moment, was also to the side of a mountain lion. But that wasn't obvious at the time.

"I noticed we had some really big footprints in the snow," Anderson said.

He'd heard there was a mountain lion in town, but figured it already passed through his yard. Unhurried, he took a picture with a ruler beside the paw print - large indeed. That's when his wife said to him, "'It's that cat right there,'" he recalled.

They called in the sighting and by 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, the mountain lion first spotted across town early Tuesday morning was captured outside of the house on the corner of Sixth Street and Kendrick Avenue.

The mountain lion was shot with an "immobilizing" dart and will be safely relocated, said Andrew Enscore, a Wyoming Game and Fish warden.

"It was an old cat, bigger one, Game and Fish thought," said Police Sgt. Steve Dillard. "Paws were the size of dinner plates."

"I was hoping it was going to be moving on through town but unfortunately it was hanging around," Enscore said. "It was in a safe spot to go ahead and get it relocated."

This story was published on March 29, 2023.

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Gatchell Museum finalist for national medal

BUFFALO (WNE)- The National Medal for Museum and Library Service is the nation's highest honor awarded to museums and libraries in recognition of excellent service to their communities.

Fewer than one-third of 1% of the nation's museums and libraries have been recognized with the medal.

And on Tuesday, the Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum learned that it is among 30 finalists for the 2023 National Medal. The Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum is the only institution in Wyoming to be selected as a finalist for this year's award.

"It is an incredible honor for the Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum to be nominated for the IMLS National Medal, and to have made it into the top 30 finalists is overwhelming," said Sylvia Bruner, executive director. "Although the JGMM is a very small institution, we have big dreams and even bigger plans. This nomination verifies that those aspirations which we hold so dear are valued by the greater museum community and reassures us that we are on the right track."

The Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum was nominated for the 2023 National Medal by U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis' office.

"Senator Lummis makes it a priority to highlight Wyoming institutions that go above and beyond," a Lummis spokesperson wrote in an email. "Too often, Wyoming gets overlooked because of our size, but institutions like the Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum show the dedication people in the Cowboy State have toward preserving our history and culture and educating the next generation."

This story was published on Mar. 30, 2023.