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Welcome to the Rough String, and thanks for stoppin' by!! Grab a hot cup of coffee and sit a spell!
10/22/18 You will see a name change on the blog. Lots of things have changed in my life in the past few years, and I feel compelled to share my story.

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Monday, December 15, 2008

The Cat

I went out mid afternoon today to clean stalls and set up the hay for tonight's feeding. The Wild Bunch had been down for their morning hay, but the closer I got to the Mustang Barn I could see piles of left over hay. Well good!! They're getting plenty of hay to keep warm with this cold snap. They were nowhere in sight and must have gone back up the hill.

Then I noticed a movement on the other side of the barn...it sort of looked like a coyote, but it was too small. Well, my next thought was a Bobcat...we'd heard stories from the previous owners about bobcats and a ruckus in the chicken house in the middle of the night where Roger had gone out with a spotlight and caught a bobcat red handed (or red mouthed) with a chicken in his mouth!! We've been here over 3 years and have not seen a bobcat or a mountain lion. We know they're here...just haven't seen them.

I kept my eye on the spot on the side of the hill where the animal had stopped, got to the barn and went inside, opened the west stall door and looked out the other side. It took me a little bit to find the little face looking at me, but there it was. All I could see at that point was the face...I thought it could just be a stray domestic cat.

After crawling through a fence I finally got a good look at it. It was still pretty far away and I took a shot with the zoom. I didn't think I was close enough to actually get it. I still had my doubts if it was a bobcat or domestic stray, but after getting back to the house and downloading the pics, I've got the proof! And that's probably why the horses left their breakfast early too!

Not the best photo but better than none!

16 comments:

  1. bobcats are so pretty, hope he doesnt become a pest. I got to skin one and get it ready for the taxidermist to cure the hide, was pretty hard job. It turned out beautiful.

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  2. Well...will ya look at that! We rarely spot bobcats here, although my niece saw one the other day as they were driving down the road. Cougar are spotted more frequently.

    That's a great shot you got. Me much like!

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  3. How cool that he hung around long enough for you to get this shot - which is just great. At least when there's snow on the ground you can track him easily if need be.

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  4. Good pic, first I think it is a lynx, so it looks like one. or is a bobcat and a lynx the same ? No, or ?

    Best wishes
    Cheyenne

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  5. You did good gettin' that picture.

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  6. Cheyenne~from doing a little look up on Wikipedia, it seems that a Bobcat and Lynx are related, but not the same.

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  7. Wow! That's really cool! And he even posed nicely for your zoom, too. lol!

    You really do live in the wilds and woolies, don't ya?

    It's getting pretty built up around here, but we do have bears, coyote and deer, though we rarely see them.
    Ironically we see mountain lions more than the other predators, though. Often dead.
    They cross the highways and get hit. My husband was driving home one night, only about a mile from our house, and a mountain lion jumped across the road right in front of him. It really surprised him, but he was able to avoid hitting it. whew!

    ~Lisa
    New Mexico

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  8. We have bobcats up in the mountains northwest of us, but I've never seen one. Mountain lions on the other hand are plentiful here. We saw one just the other day on a trail ride behind our place.

    That is a very good picture. At least on my computer screen. The snow makes it look great.

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  9. Great capture, I've never seen one in the wild.

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  10. That is AWESOME!!! I SO want to see one in the wild!

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  11. Great pic! HOpe he stays away or he may have to be taken care of!

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  12. Hey there, you Superior Scribbler, you! First of all, I'm not "spamming" you; I promise! Second of all, I'd like to introduce myself: I'm Melissa B., The Scholastic Scribe, & I'm the "Original" Superior Scribbler! Third thing on my mind: I've been nominated for a pretty prestigious blog award; I'd greatly appreciate your vote, so if you click on over to my place, you'll see the info. It's an annual award from EduBlog, and I'm up for Best Individual Blog. And 4th thing on today's agenda: I've got a cute "contest," of sorts, going on at my place every Sunday. Please come by this Sunday for the Silly Sunday Sweepstakes. And, thanks for your support!

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  13. Awesome! I saw a bobcat and two kits on the way into town one morning! I could see them coming off the side of the road (out of the corner of my eye)I thought it was a coyote too. As they came nearer, I could see it wasn't a damn... I mean coyote. They were running like their tales were on fire! I slowed waaay down and let it run in front of me, that's when I noticed the two babies! It was awesome. And me with no camera! Argh! Good picture their are elusive little buggers!

    Btw, I will explain what happened to my post in my new post!

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  14. Good catch, here kitty, kitty. I've seen a couple of them around here but not very often.

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  15. Wow, great pic! We have bobcats here, too...our neighbors have seen them a lot, but we never have...

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