Monday, July 5, 2010

Cougar vs. Rat


My sis lives in the state of Arizona in a gated community with many walls partitioning off one yard from the next. She has learned to pretty much ignore the howls of coyotes at night. Also lizards she got used to, but she is fearful of the newest community denizen, a mountain lion. There
are sightings every day along a particular patch of road with access to a desert like field. This cat has been seen jumping over 7 foot fences like it wasn't even there! My sister travels this location both to and from work and is always on the look out. Well, a few days ago she spotted him! She was so excited! She has been riding around with her camera in the front seat to take a photo if she was lucky enough to see him. But when the time came, she was too mesmerized to fumble for her camera for fear of loosing sight of such a magnificent animal. I must admit, it is easier to be brave while sitting safely ensconced in a SUV so she is both fearful and fascinated at the same time. Me? I am easily amused watching my backyard menagerie of wildlife, however, we have a new visitor I am none to happy about. It appears to be a bird seed eating rat!

2 comments:

Lilac Haven said...

I'm so jealous. This is the only large US land mammal other than a polar bear I haven't seen (alive) in the wild. My uncle has them in his neighborhood in Colorado. Two years ago I saw one dead on the road between Tucson and Wilcox, AZ.

Curt Rogers said...

Where, oh where have you gone and why haven't you posted for so long? We miss you out here in Blogland. Come back soon.