Smart boy.
A cougar wouldn't have too much problem getting to an island. They swim just
fine, and might even be accustomed enough to people to dart across a bridge,
though I doubt it. You almost never hear of a big cat being hit by a car as
opposed to the hundreds of thousands of deer that get turned into giant road
pizza each year.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-fot@Autox.Team.Net [mailto:owner-fot@Autox.Team.Net] On Behalf
Of Jerry Barr
Sent: Monday, January 17, 2005 8:20 AM
To: Mark J. Bradakis
Cc: fot@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: RE: Email, big cats, life, the universe, ...
We have or had a cougar (not sure if it is still here) living in the park at
the end of our street. We live in Northeast Wisconsin on the peninsula
between Green Bay and lake Michigan. This cat lives in a town with a
population of 9500 and isolated from the main land by two bridges so the
only way it got here is by coming across the ice from the U.P of Michigan.
Well so far the city deer herd is getting smaller and we are missing a
couple dogs.
The upshot of this story is I always let the wife take the dogs out after
dark!!
Jerry Barr
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-fot@Autox.Team.Net [mailto:owner-fot@Autox.Team.Net]On
Behalf Of Mark J. Bradakis
Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2005 9:02 PM
To: fot@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Email, big cats, life, the universe, ...
Okay, RealSoonNow I'll write up a proper introduction on how the FOT list
works, how to make address changes and such. For the moment, though, I'll
relate a tale about cats. Big cats, that is.
This may come as a bit of a surprise to those who've seen me in person the
last decade or so, but I used to be quite an avid, fit and trim rock
climber.
One spring some of us went down to the Kolob section of Zion National Park
to do some cragging on the sandstone. One day this fellow and I put up a
new route on this rather worthless and non-descript canyon wall. Most
likely it will remain the one and only ascent of this particular pile of
miserable sandstone rubble.
At any rate, we top out and start looking for an easy way down. We pick up
a faint trail through the scrub, and follow it. Other faint trails join in,
the path gets more distinct as we go along. We're walking along a fairly
clear, wide trail and come up to this one corner of an outcropping and
remark that the area is starting to smell like a giant litter box. We round
the outcropping and find ourselves on a nice sandy ledge. Well, kind of
nice.
The cat urine aroma is quite strong, we see the ends of various bones poking
up through the sand, and there is a dark and sinister cave under the ledge
to the right. We left in a BIG hurry.
In the decades I've spent climbing, skiing and generally hanging out in
mountains around the West, I've had some close calls, a chance or two to
shake Death's hand but slip away before getting formally introduced. And in
most of those instances I was worried, frantic, or just distraught.
But coming around that outcropping to find myself in a big cat's front
parlor I was *scared*
I still think that if the resident of that den had been at home at the time,
I would not be alive today.
mjb.
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