03-20-2019, 07:42 AM
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A couple of years ago, I saw a message on Nextdoor (neighborhood social media for people overwhelmed by the excitement of Facebook) about a bobcat sighting in Debs Park. Someone had set up a wildlife cam and had managed to catch the tail end of a bobcat. Oh my god, that was exciting. My first thought was that I needed to see that bobcat. I'd seen all the other critters in the area. I needed the bobcat to finish out my bingo card.
But Debs Park is kind of big with plenty of places for the Bobcat to hide. Which is why there were always rumors of a park bobcat but no proof. Many sightings but no verification. Until the picture.
Things settled down as there were no new pictures but still stories of having seen the bobcat.
Until a couple of months ago when someone else said they spotted the bobcat out at Flat Top, the area near the radio tower where I also walk the dogs. It's where I take my Daily dog walk pictures. Then someone posted a video of the bobcat. Needless to say, that is all anyone talked about, The Bobcat.
I figured my chances of seeing the bobcat were much better at Flat Top than they were in spotting the bobcat in the park. But still. It's an elusive wild animal.
Two weeks ago, we are doing the dog walk around the radio tower. I spot two coyotes inside chain link fence that runs along the side of the road. No big deal. At this point it generates the same amount of excitement as if someone said they spotted a pigeon in the city. No don't get me wrong. I still love to see my wild friends, but it's not that unusual.
But the coyotes were following something in the grass. And yes, it was the bobcat. The Bobcat. I yelled for the Queen. The dogs started barking. And before I could even think about getting my camera out, the bobcat darted off through the grass and up a tree, where it's lovely natural camouflage made it almost indistinguishable among the branches and pine needles. Still, we had seen the bobcat. We stood on the road spending a lot of time watch the bobcat groom itself. As we left, we did alert an incoming photographer come to shoot the sunset about the cat, thinking with his better camera he might get a shot.
For the next several weeks, that was our go to story when we met our fellow dog walkers out and about. "Hey, did we tell you we saw the bobcat?" It's almost like the neighborhood caught bobcat fever since now so many people had seen the cat.
Saturday, we did an early afternoon walk to get out of the house while the Open House occurred. It was about the hottest day of the year so far, reaching into the low 80s. Once again we circled the radio tower, dragging exhausted dogs behind us. On the back side of the trail, where the grass grows tall, we stopped for a break under a tree whose branches extended over the trail.
As we sat there, I noticed something inside the chain link fence coming towards. And before I could "It's THE BOBCAT!!! GET THE CAMERA!!" the bobcat darted away and into taller grass. Before he turned, he wasn't anymore than four feet away from us. Although there was a chainlink fence between us and the cat. The dogs were thrilled to bark and yell at the creature. I'm not sure if this was the same bobcat as the one we had seen prior because this one looked much smaller than the other one.
The Queen now carries her camera backpack with her on the walks to the radio tower just in case.
Now, we have two bobcat sighting stories. Yes, we bore all our neighbors with it.
Tuesday night, The Queen and I have again been kicked out of the house so Paul the Realtor can show the house to two sets of potential buyers. As we walk to the radio tower, one of our dog walking neighbors asks us if we want a bobcat update. Of course. He tells us about his encounter. There was also another story on Next-door about a jogger who ran into the bobcat and the bobcat wouldn't get out of his way. This brainiacs suggestion was to carry pepper spray in case of any more encounters. My non-verbal suggestion was for the jogger to get his head out of his ass.
We head to the radio tower with dogs and the camera backpack. Because of the previous sightings, I constantly scan the hillsides for our friend the bobcat. It looks like we will not be seeing him this evening.
As we near the end of the walk and leave the gravel roadway for the footpath on the backside of the radio tower, we come across a man and his dog spirit standing still in the middle of the path. We leash up the dogs to avoid conflicts and then go see why the guy is just standing there.
He's standing there because the bobcat is sitting down in the trail in front of him. The Queen hurriedly tries to get her Nikon out to photograph the elusive bobcat. But like all wild animals, the bobcat senses when it is being photographed and rather than have it's soul stolen, it disappears into the grass.
We share stories with our fellow dog walker and bobcat enthusiast. He tells us he's seen the bobcat three nights in a row. He leaves. We head down the trail.
As we pass the spot where the bobcat leaped into the grass, for whatever reason, probably because I'm soft in the head, I start sing songing in a falsetto voice "Bobcat" over and over. Bobcat. Bobcat.
I do this until the bobcat leaps out of the grass at us. Seriously. the bobcat has jumped within a few feet of us. He immediately jumps away again. I continue my falsetto bobcat cry.
The grass moves and there he is next to us. Cindi fires away with the camera. Good shots at last. Photography achievement: unlocked!
The bobcat eventually goes back into the grass. We sigh with contentment over the long viewing of the bobcat.
As we walk towards the road, I occasionally let out yet another falsetto 'Bobcat'. Towards the end of the trail, we give one last look back down the trail to the bobcat spot.
To our surprise, there on the trail behind us is the bobcat walking towards us. He seems completely unafraid, more curious than anything else. He's not that big, perhaps twice the size of a house cat. I'm thinking maybe he is a house cat but not with that bobbed tail and orange fur and the size of him.
He poses for more pictures. I get some shots with my cel phone camera despite the fact I have the leads for both dogs.
For most of it, the dogs were completely unfazed by the creature. I said half the time, Maeve was looking in the direction towards home rather than back at the bobcat. I was kind of concerned the bobcat was going to follow us home, especially after I tossed him one of of the chicken treats I give the dogs.
In the end, I shooed him away. He responded by jumping over the cinder block wall and into the street.
Tune in next time for more exciting bobcat adventures.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
