Eric Wagner is a freelance writer based in Seattle who focuses mostly on science and the environment. His work has appeared in Orion, High Country News, Audubon, Smithsonian, and Slate, among other places. He has a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Washington for work he did on penguin behavior.
In July 2015, some U.S. Air Force personnel were hiking about eight miles up North Fork Chewelah Creek, in northeastern Washington, when they found the chewed-up remains of a cow.