The Bobcats Are Coming
West Texas is famous for reclusive animals, badgers and bobcats being two of the best examples.
"Bill" told me this story the other day about an encounter with a bobcat.
You can imagine my surprise the other day when I discovered the source of a weird growling sound coming from outside the house to derive from a gigantic muscular bobcat.
He was on our front porch staring in the sliding glass door.
He stood almost two feet tall, with a beautiful spotted coat, unusually long back legs and large powerful paws and jaws.
His tail was short and bobbed.
He stared into the house totally fearless.
With bright yellow unblinking eyes.
A little confused.
The dog tried ferociously to attack the creature through the glass but it simply crouched unmoving, glaring into the room.
Finally I stuck the dog in the utility room.
Then stared back at the beast for about ten minutes, fascinated, trying to determine between a gun or a video camera.
It was a little unnerving.
I finally decided on the video camera but it was in the truck parked outside.
I thought the animal might be rabid or attack the dog.
He also looked dangerous enough not to attempt a sudden encounter unprotected, so I got the gun.
As I crept out into the yard with the rifle to retrieve the camera the beast, as if divining my intent, ran away from the window and under the truck.
I inched closer, rifle primed, but the cat, perhaps spying the firearm, bounded out into the pasture brush.
I have seen only a few bobcats in my years of living in the country.
To see a live one in the wild that close up was quite a treat.
"Bill" told me this story the other day about an encounter with a bobcat.
You can imagine my surprise the other day when I discovered the source of a weird growling sound coming from outside the house to derive from a gigantic muscular bobcat.
He was on our front porch staring in the sliding glass door.
He stood almost two feet tall, with a beautiful spotted coat, unusually long back legs and large powerful paws and jaws.
His tail was short and bobbed.
He stared into the house totally fearless.
With bright yellow unblinking eyes.
A little confused.
The dog tried ferociously to attack the creature through the glass but it simply crouched unmoving, glaring into the room.
Finally I stuck the dog in the utility room.
Then stared back at the beast for about ten minutes, fascinated, trying to determine between a gun or a video camera.
It was a little unnerving.
I finally decided on the video camera but it was in the truck parked outside.
I thought the animal might be rabid or attack the dog.
He also looked dangerous enough not to attempt a sudden encounter unprotected, so I got the gun.
As I crept out into the yard with the rifle to retrieve the camera the beast, as if divining my intent, ran away from the window and under the truck.
I inched closer, rifle primed, but the cat, perhaps spying the firearm, bounded out into the pasture brush.
I have seen only a few bobcats in my years of living in the country.
To see a live one in the wild that close up was quite a treat.
posted by SnyderTexas.net at 3:42 PM
9 Comments:
I saw a badger that had been killed on a county road over the Christmas Holiday. I haven't seen one of them for years. The claws were over 2 inches long. Pretty impressive. I have heard stories about Mountain Lions in the Camp Springs area. Has anyone got a story about them?
My badger story is not very impressive but I did follow one about a quarter of a mile down a country road once. The tall brush along the road wouldn't allow it to leave the road. I could easily keep up with it at a jogging pace. Every once in a while it would turn around, hiss and bare its teeth. It does have long powerful claws and a broad thick back. I have heard that dogs have a hard time killing one and it can tear them up pretty good.
I once spotted a porcupine sitting high up in a tree. I wasn't about to climb up and get a closer look.
A few days later my dog came home with about ten quills stuck in its nose. It was a pitiful sight. He was pawing at them and yelping. We held him down and pulled the quills out with pliers. The quills had barbs on their ends and left the dog a very bloody nose, but he healed up just fine.
I seen a possum play possum and I would have sworn it was dead. It was stiff and had its eyes and jaws open. The dogs were attacking it and they left it alone after awhile. I guess they thought it was dead also, but I went back latter and it was gone.
I've run into a few pyrana's at the courthouse
I believe bobcats are certainly getting more numerous and less reclusive.
I live out in the country and on Christmas Eve looked out my window and spied a mother bobcat and two cubs. The cubs were about the size of housecats but the mother was much larger and much more powerful.
I got a good look at her through the binoculars. Her coat was goldish brown over some parts of her body and gray in others. She had black spots on her sides and stripes on her legs.
She was more a tiger than a house cat except that she had a short little tail. She did not seem particularly wary, but moved with a quiet confidence.
Probably one of the most formidable animals we have here in West Texas.
Hey anonymous, your story might have more teeth if you spelled piranha correctly! I can beat that story! I have seen a whole building full of dumb bunnies at the DCOS building.
Sunday night at 10:20 I saw a buck and six does eating grass behind the Covenent Drs. office. I was surprised to see them in town and seemingly unafraid.
I found the blog entry about the piranha (pyrana) to be extremely interesting! I would like to know more about these sly devils! It is rumored that some turkeys have been seen around the Sheriff's department?
Post a Comment
<< Home