It's funny. I spend an average of 3 days per week (sometimes more) outside in the mountains. That comes out to about 156 days per year or 42% of the year- outside in the mountains. Most of it in the eary mornings or evenings. In the Spring, Summer, and Fall, I am on my mountain bike or road bike. In the Winter, I am in the backcountry skiing.
I see a lot of deer, the occasional moose, some foxes and coyote but I have NEVER seen a mountain lion. I've seen a lot of fresh cougar tracks but never the actual cougar.
My daughter Tatum just got back from a trip to Arizona with Rachelle. She brought me back a postcard of a mountain lion. On the back of the card it says thinks like "Mountain Lions are one of the only types of cats that are active during the day" or "Mountain Lions can be found where there are a lot of deer"... These are comforting thoughts for someone who tends to ride mostly solo during all hours of the day and usually where there are a lot of deer.
It has to be only a matter of time before I have my encounter. I wonder...will I be by myself? Will it be on a night ride? Will it be while I am stopped, eating the left over pot roast I have packed in my jersey pocket?
I know it will happen some day. And to tell you the truth, in the back of my mind, I am kind of excited for it. A cougar is the one animal I would really like to see in the wild. Just not when I am alone.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
cougars got nuthin on you--you have stared down the chupacabra!
The thing is that mountain lions are afraid of mountain goats...
Post a Comment