I love Foggy mornings

I wait patiently each month...

Stubborn

I keep pushing it every year on starting the wood stove. Being clear skies and full moon tonight it's already 40 degrees. With the recent windy rainy weather, my house has been pretty cool.
All the ol'timers around town are claiming we're going to have a big long Winter. They mention the 'signs'.... hummingbirds left early, squirrels are going nuts stocking for Winter, bear are being troublesome earlier than normal..etc etc. I guess we'll see. They certainly didn't warm me a few years ago when I had 5 feet of snow in my front yard. heh.

I'm glad weather is cooler, I love this time of year. Next will be the snow and the holidays. Come February I'll be bitching about too much snow. Although.. last Winter was so lame and almost boring, I kinda welcome a nice snowy Winter.

You don't need to remind me of that when I'm snowed in and complaining..thank you.

Car -vs- Deer

They both lost.



Old news for some, but catching up. I haven't replaced my car yet, so I get to drive the Dodge mega-cab now. Nice truck but feels like a tank. I practically need a step-stool.

Hush.

The 'not-so-fun' Part of Living in the Forest

A few months ago, this guy showed up.

It was a warning at first. A sad one. A neighbors cat had been killed, and after investigating the evidence, they knew it was a mountain lion. Or, guessed anyway.

We were all warned.

A couple mornings later, I heard awful commotion on the front porch. It was a definite 'chasing' scene. Otis' bed was all messed up and no sign of Otis. I had a very bad feeling. Being it was 4am and still dark, not much I could do or venture out to look.
The next morning I searched. It was eerily quiet outside that morning and not a cat to be seen. No shop cats, nothing. Everyone was gone. It was a horrible feeling. I haven't seen Otis since :(

I brought everyone inside ( that could be brought in ) and just waited it out.

The next morning, I was woken up by cats screeching into the bedroom and under the bed. I flew out of bed expecting the worst. I turned on the porch lights and there he was. Believe it or not, the camera was not the first thing on my mind. I kind of just stared at him for a few minutes, I was in awe. A MOUNTAIN LION was sitting at my door. And.... he didn't seem to care that I was looking right at him. It was scary.

I woke up hubby to let him know. As much as I hate killing animals and hunting, I knew this cat couldn't stick around. Fish & Game had been notified of this cat and they said he was too dangerous. He wound up taking off and not caught at that moment.

I slowly had a cat show up here and there. They were terrified. My one kitty, Pudge, had disappeard for ten days. I thought for sure I'd never see her again. Jonesie and Tweet were also missing.
I do realize that when you let cats outside in an environment like this, these things can happen, doesn't change how heartbreaking it is.

A cat hunter was called in with his dogs. They hunted the forest behind us. They'd get a scent and off they'd go. He'd run through the creek and they'd lose him. This went on for days and every night was so scary. Every time you went outside you were aware he could be around. It was really a sucky couple of months.

Believe me, bear weren't so scary anymore after this.

They wound up catching one cat, but not the one you see in the photo. If you notice, he as spots on his back. He was young, which meant his mother was most likely around too, just not visible. Three sets of prints were seen around my house.

It has been a few months, as I said before. The shop/barn cats started showing up again, minus Tweet and Otis. Jonesie never came home either :(
The deer came back, the bear came back. All seemed kind of normal again. We'd hear the occasional report of a lion on the backroad, or in the trees, but that was it. We always knew they were there, just not SO close.

Well.. he's back. He's been seen several times lately, he and his big ol' Momma. The deer, cats, and bear are still around, so I assume they haven't approached the houses yet. YET.

I hate this feeling.

Best Shot Monday---Stolen Moments

how's it goin?

Always Impressed