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Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The Wild!

We've got a lot of wildlife here in Colorado. When we first moved, I had a mortal fear of bears. I didn't want to camp in anything other than a cabin because I was certain a Grizzly bear was waiting to maul me at every turn.

Nevermind that we don't have Grizzlies in Colorado.

We do have Black Bears, but they're herbivores. And also trashivores, if you're not careful.

So my bear fear has kind of subsided and has been replaced by mountain lion fear.

I'd heard rumors that we had mountain lions around here, but they're rarely actually seen. Mostly heard. Heard in a creepy screeching noise like you'd hear on Charlie the Lonesome Cougar, a la Walt Disney.

This summer two women thought they heard a mountain lion as they walked at the other end of our neighborhood. I, of course, freaked out, but many people poo-poo'd the women and said it was probably something smaller, like a bobcat, at our altitude.

No one is poo-poo'ing now.

Early Friday morning, a full-grown mountain lion was spotted. At the school. Eeeek! I actually talked to the guy who saw it and confirmed it was an actual mountain lion, not someone's cat who had a little too much cat chow and got all huge and crazy.

I spent the rest of the morning Googling "mountain lion safety" and obsessing over this Web page.

But it's not all mountain lions and bears. . .and coyotes. . .and foxes. . .around here. We've got some less threatening wildlife as well.

Here are some pictures from August and the start of school that show a little bit about what we've been doing and the wildlife we've been seeing.

5 comments:

sportzmom said...

Yikes!The mountain lion would be freaking me out. I prefer the bunny, hummingbird and ducks, thank you. Great pictures by the way. Just one question, where's the picture of you walking on the log over the water?????

The Professional Bag Lady said...

Wow... your summer was certainly full of adventures!

The pictures of Rooney Ranch brought back some memories. When I was a kid we bought our first horses from the people who leased the ranch... and we boarded our horses there... the pastures that used to belong to the ranch have been subdivided and split by C470... The old rock barn was a treasure and the tack room was always an adventure.

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

1dreamr said...

Yeah, mountain lion on the loose -- not so much. Lock your doors, batten down the hatches, and practice running REALLY fast! Heh.

GREAT photos! The boys are looking so grown up and are turning into quite the rugged outdoorsmen, aren't they!?

(Finn in FIRST grade! Doesn't that Kindergarten fiasco seem like it was a lifetime ago!!?? I hope that teacher has found himself a new career!!)

Leeann said...

Loved your pictures. I was cracking up at Eammon and the Bighorn sheep looking at each other. Once I read your caption I was REALLY laughing!
Gorgeous scenery too. If we ever get out that way, we'll have to have you show us around!

Elizabeth said...

Holy hell, that website freaks me out too!