Once every few months, Chim goes into high-alert on our trail walks. He has incredible hearing and is naturally paranoid, so he is hyper-aware of all sounds that don't belong. I can become scared too, but it's hard to tell with me. There is a chance I'm just being stubborn and won't take a particular trail because I'm picky, or it might be because there is something scary on it. Chimi went into alert mode this weekend. There is no question that something is hiding in the woods, you can tell just by looking at his stiff body, googly eyes and trembling. He's not afraid of squirrels and seems to ignore the deer, so it has to be something else. Maybe a fox? Or could it be a bobcat?
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| Bad Kitty |
In the next county over, wildlife cameras set up in the giant forest park have been capturing photos of bobcats. No one has seen the giant cat in person yet, but a few different cameras have caught them on the prowl. Granted, the park is far from us and the forest much denser than our piddly little woods, but what if they make their way to my trail? I would be the perfect size snack. Since I look like a furry rodent, there is always the chance of confusion by a stray owl, hawk or now a possible Chalupa eating bobcat. Of course Linda doesn't want anyone to hunt them, they just need to stay far away from our trail.
One time a about 10 years ago, Snickers alerted Linda to some kind of animal danger on the trail. (Remember Snickers was a beast dog, a mix of Doberman and German Shepherd, and super protective of Linda.) He wouldn't let her go down a smaller trail head, and started growling at the woods. She took his advice and turned around. It was probably a rabid animal. Snickers loved deer and would have gone into happy dog mode if he sensed one.
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| Best Friends |
