alexpgp: (Default)
alexpgp ([personal profile] alexpgp) wrote2010-02-08 07:21 pm

Why I get nervous letting the animals out to play...

...especially in winter.

Taken about 30 miles from here, by a neighbor:



Cheers...

[identity profile] walkertxkitty.livejournal.com 2010-02-09 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
Absolutely incredible! I wish ours were thriving as well, I would love to see that many in the wild.

But I thought cougars were solitary and did not run in packs?

[identity profile] alexpgp.livejournal.com 2010-02-09 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
I guess nobody explained the "not running in packs" to these critters. ;)

Cheers...

[identity profile] furzicle.livejournal.com 2010-02-09 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
awesome...and intimidating.

I go on my favorite walk less often than I used to simply because we have had 3 cougar attacks (1)in the past couple years. One was a fatality, the other woman was pulled from the jaws of death quite literally by her friend. About 25 years ago a small girl (2)was attacked. I used to walk by myself almost every weekend, but now I only tempt fate occasionally.

Actually, just yesterday.


(1) about 5 miles NE of here
(2) about 10 miles SE of here

My walk is in a river canyon that is part of the local wilderness.

[identity profile] alexpgp.livejournal.com 2010-02-09 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
Well, it's customers like the one's in the photo (and their many mammalian cousins) that make it a good idea to enter the forest prepared for any emergency.

Cheers...

[identity profile] vuzh.livejournal.com 2010-02-09 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
Great shot! I've never seen one alone, much less an entire family, and I've lived in Colorado for almost thirty years (though the last five have been down in the valley).

[identity profile] alexpgp.livejournal.com 2010-02-09 05:11 am (UTC)(link)
The closest I personally have come is driving up to a bobcat that was sitting by the side of the road, acting as if it was waiting for a bus. It stood still long enough for me to turn on my camera, roll down the window, point the lens at it, and start to depress the shutter.

In the time between starting to press the shutter and actually having the camera go 'click', I think the bobcat covered around 50 yards. ;)

Cheers...

[identity profile] vuzh.livejournal.com 2010-02-10 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
ha ha! :)

The same kind of thing happened to us this weekend when we spotted a red tailed hawk eating some prey on a stump near the road.

[identity profile] joeymichaels.livejournal.com 2010-02-09 08:05 am (UTC)(link)
My normal phrase of surprise these days is "holy cats," and it couldn't be more appropriate for once. Amazing! Beautiful!

[identity profile] alexpgp.livejournal.com 2010-02-10 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
True, though it's still nice to have some distance (and some wood) between Them and Us.

Cheers...

[identity profile] tamaraland.livejournal.com 2010-02-09 08:17 am (UTC)(link)
Wow, indeed I guess caution is warranted.

[identity profile] alexpgp.livejournal.com 2010-02-10 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
You betchum!

Cheers...

[identity profile] crocotiger.livejournal.com 2010-02-09 10:22 am (UTC)(link)
These wolves look pretty much like cats, was my first idea :) Do you carry a handgun when walking outside?

[identity profile] alexpgp.livejournal.com 2010-02-10 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
Definitely mountain lions (aka cougars), these cats are.

Outside, not usually. In the woods, not always.

Cheers...