This morning I was out taking photographs of the birds around the cabin when Parker came screaming into the driveway on the ATV. He wanted me to jump on, but I protested saying that I wasn't wearing socks or a coat. When he responded that there was a cougar treed on Birch Creek Road, I was on that ATV so fast it would have surprised any bystanders! We tore down the hill and around the corner onto Birch Creek Road. We had only gone about 1/2 a mile when we came upon a clump of cars. We jumped off and headed to where Ed was standing. I couldn't believe my eyes! A real live cougar! I only had time to take four shots before the big cat turned and ran down the tree and along the creek with the yowling hounds headed after him.
As we left them and headed down the road, the cougar ran across the road right in front of us. I missed it, but Ed and Parker said it was cool to see him run. He headed up the hill towards C loop, so we alerted the Adamsons and the dogs immediately picked up the trail and were tracking. We headed back up to the cabin and ran into the Adamsons on the middle road. . . they said that the dogs had just gone through towards the north. (The dogs wear special GPS collars so that they can be tracked.) I exclaimed that they wear heading right for our cabin! By the time we made it around the corner, the dogs were headed on the other side of the road. . . and I needed socks on, so I went back to the cabin.
The first thing that I heard when I got off the ATV was Colby yelling at Lewis and Clark to be quiet. He was quite frustrated with them and said that there had been a couple of dogs running by the cabin that got the boys all wound up. Apparently one of the hounds even went under the deck! I have to wonder if the cougar did. . . After a few minutes we let Lewis out and he immediately headed north- up by our water wagon. Parker chased him and found cougar tracks. All I can say is that it was a very exciting morning! A little too close to home, but exciting none the less!
I guess that it is a good thing that we have Ice Sword Reed around to keep us safe!
4 comments:
I think you could have used a house cat to keep Lewis and Clark in line.
44 years. No cougar.
I take that back. I looked back at myself in the mirror this morning...
i would be very happy if i never saw a cougar in my life (unless it's behind bars, like the zoo). i would've locked myself inside & not come out. you are one VERY brave lady!
@Britanee - Kaye might not admit it but I think she did a quick survey of the gathered crowd and identified someone she could outrun. You don't have to run faster than the Mountain Lion, just faster than someone else.
Is there a more beautiful cat in the world? I used to golf at a course in Montana that was up in the foothills. When I hit a ball in the sandtrap, there were cougar prints right next to it. I was a little uneasy the rest of the game. My BIL had one ouside his house and when we were staying there we heard it outside our window. He was meowing, if you can call a cougar's noise a meow. It was a scary sound.
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