Well, my spirits have been lifted after the completion of one of my life's goals: the sighting of an adult Felis concolor (cougar/puma/mountain lion). They are by far my favourite 'large cat', and they are one of my favourite mammals. Everything about them interests me.
How the story of the sighting goes: my dad comes home (my parents have been generous to let me live at home for free while I do my undergrad here in town) and goes around the side of the house to put something away, the time being 11 pm, so it's dark. He hears a rustling in the bushes between our yard and our neighbour's. When he speaks to my mom, the thing kind of charges into the fence, making a bunch of noise, and then crosses into our neighbour's yard. My parents are thinking that it is a kid possibly trying to break in, since they didn't know I was home.
So my dad runs in and, looking for a flashlight, makes his way to the garage. I follow wondering what the hell has got him so excited. He intends to go along the street with the flashlight and intercept the would-be thieves. Now, as an interjection, the neighbour's property is at a corner of two streets. This means that the far side of their property is a street, as well as the side that our house faces. Anyways, we get on our bikes, and ride down the road, rounding the corner in front of our neighbour's house. Beside their driveway, I'm sure I see something slink through the shadows, but I don't say anything. He turns on the flashlight a second or two later (too late to see what I was looking at) and we scan the end of the neighbour's property and the next one. We turn around. As we start riding back, the cat slowly bounds across the street and easily hops across the ditch at the roadside, and enters the woods. It was about 30 feet away, and pretty much directly under a street lamp.
I am 100% positive that it was indeed a cougar. The tail was too long, about the same length as it's body. It's movement was effortless, and it was dead silent. It wasn't until we rode by making a lot of noise that it threw caution to the wind, and we could hear it push through the underbrush. All in all, I would estimate it's length to be 8 or 9 feet, tail included. I am convinced that the cougar was the shadow I saw slinking along, as it crossed at about the point where I saw it settle to watch us.
Now, I live on Vancouver Island in Canada, which has the most dense cougar population in the world. However, they are a very elusive species, and are rarely sighted, even by avid hikers. Never did I imagine that one would be in my yard, as I live close to major roadways and shopping centers. I guess it was inevitable though.
I'm very happy that I was priveleged enough to catch a glimpse of it, as fleeting as it was. Although, it makes me a little nervous knowing that a creature that wields so much grace and power, and can remain hidden so well is in my area. I walk through the woods that it retreated into every time I go to work. Oh well, I'm sure it will move along soon enough.
How the story of the sighting goes: my dad comes home (my parents have been generous to let me live at home for free while I do my undergrad here in town) and goes around the side of the house to put something away, the time being 11 pm, so it's dark. He hears a rustling in the bushes between our yard and our neighbour's. When he speaks to my mom, the thing kind of charges into the fence, making a bunch of noise, and then crosses into our neighbour's yard. My parents are thinking that it is a kid possibly trying to break in, since they didn't know I was home.
So my dad runs in and, looking for a flashlight, makes his way to the garage. I follow wondering what the hell has got him so excited. He intends to go along the street with the flashlight and intercept the would-be thieves. Now, as an interjection, the neighbour's property is at a corner of two streets. This means that the far side of their property is a street, as well as the side that our house faces. Anyways, we get on our bikes, and ride down the road, rounding the corner in front of our neighbour's house. Beside their driveway, I'm sure I see something slink through the shadows, but I don't say anything. He turns on the flashlight a second or two later (too late to see what I was looking at) and we scan the end of the neighbour's property and the next one. We turn around. As we start riding back, the cat slowly bounds across the street and easily hops across the ditch at the roadside, and enters the woods. It was about 30 feet away, and pretty much directly under a street lamp.
I am 100% positive that it was indeed a cougar. The tail was too long, about the same length as it's body. It's movement was effortless, and it was dead silent. It wasn't until we rode by making a lot of noise that it threw caution to the wind, and we could hear it push through the underbrush. All in all, I would estimate it's length to be 8 or 9 feet, tail included. I am convinced that the cougar was the shadow I saw slinking along, as it crossed at about the point where I saw it settle to watch us.
Now, I live on Vancouver Island in Canada, which has the most dense cougar population in the world. However, they are a very elusive species, and are rarely sighted, even by avid hikers. Never did I imagine that one would be in my yard, as I live close to major roadways and shopping centers. I guess it was inevitable though.
I'm very happy that I was priveleged enough to catch a glimpse of it, as fleeting as it was. Although, it makes me a little nervous knowing that a creature that wields so much grace and power, and can remain hidden so well is in my area. I walk through the woods that it retreated into every time I go to work. Oh well, I'm sure it will move along soon enough.
I remember chasing a bear down in Yosemite with a camcorder in the middle of the night!