I was coming back from the barn late last night after doctoring my wife’s good horse and tucking the herd into bed. It’s about 700’ between the barn and the house, and we don’t have any lights on our service road. I looked up and saw something dark moving through the shadows. At first, I thought it was our dumb dog so I whistled just as he was stepping into the moonlight. I turned out not to be the dumb dog at all but a bobcat.
There are few things in the world that make me happier than seeing nature get along despite everything man does to get rid of them.
That being said, I was even happier when I headed up the hill this morning to doctor and feed. Early in the morning I tend to move pretty slowly otherwise I don’t think I would have seen, what I think was, the same bobcat drop off the side hill onto the road and amble up the road. I kept walking, enjoying the early morning coolness, the sound of the birds waking up, the horses starting to shuffle around in anticipation of their breakfast and this very healthy looking bobcat walking up the road without a care in the world.
At some point I must have scuffed a foot because the bobcat looked around at me with a look mixed with, what I think, was surprise, curiosity and disgust, before he left the road and was gone in a couple of bounds.
Our area is building up and it’s been a while since I have seen a posse of coyotes out on a hunt or a fox darting into the berry bushes so it’s these rare moments that make life really worthwhile for me.
Mark