Remember this photo from my hike the other day?
It in all likelihood IS mountain lion scat. And it was fresh, too; there were flies buzzing around it. And further down the trail, I saw a path among the talk grass going from one side of the trail to the other, and it looked like it started at a clearing in the trees. My knowledgable friend who verified the probable "big kitty" ID said it could also be human scat. "Did it smell like Clif Bars, or Top Ramen, or other marching foods?" To be honest, I didn't want to get that close to it to find out... But this is the closest I've come to evidence of a mountain lion being nearby, and knew it was a possibility at the time. Was I scared? Not really. Just so long as the mountain lion knows you're around (which is why I whistle or make another loud noise) it's more wary of you than you are of it -- or so I like to think. There are other things I might encounter on the trail, perhaps human and infinitely more dangerous, but in all the years I've been hiking -- nearly 30 -- I haven't seen one mountain lion or even a bear for that matter. But that's one of the reasons why I like to hike in Nevada -- no bears there as they're unable to make it across the Basin and Range mountains there. So there are no bear proof boxes, or canisters you have to carry with you, or a counterweight measure to hang up your food to keep them out of a bear's reach. However, there are black bears in the Chiricahuas -- and my water feature could have been visited by one a few months back. And there is the possibility of coming across bobcat, jaguar, ocelot, jaguarundi, and other seldom-seen species that could make their way across the border on the land bridge connected the Sierra Madre there to the Chiricahuas. That's one of the things that makes it exciting to live here -- and also a little, well, disconcerting. Though I don't dwell on it, I'd rather die on the trail, or in the backcountry, than in a hospital with Pik lines coming out of me, attached to machines.
Yesterday began with a beautiful predawn period -- it's back, for the first time since I'VE been back here --
A closeup of the predawn sky, with the skyline of New Mexico's Peloncillo Mountains. Have mentioned jaguars above -- the last one seen in the area was in 1997, in the Peloncillos. There's even a photo to prove it. Back to the upcoming sunrise --
And the clouds stuck around for a good part of the morning. The Chiricahuas are the longest mountain range south of the Gila River, and can create their own weather pattern. So it came as no surprise when these mare's tails formed over them; this was taken from Faranuf's front gate --
Yikes! I've never seen the sky that "wild" before -- and there have been some pretty spectacular cloud displays here. Even when picking up my mail at our "little" post office, located in the bustling downtown section of Portal, the clouds added to the overall scene --
That's Tundra II parked in front of the PO. And as far as bustling, ok, I was the only one there at the time. After picking up my mail, I came upon a herd (?) of Javelina in a friend's yard --
Javelina are really quite harmless unless they've been habituated by humans feeding them. They're more afraid of you than you are of them. They'e another interesting species here, to add to the hundreds of others.
I'm watching the house of friends while they're off birding in India. Their back yard is chock full of birds; I kid them (well, I'm half serious) that they have too many, and can they give me a few? Now they have at least TWO male Cardinals, while I can't seem to entice even one to Faranuf's back yard. They also have Mexican Jay, Pine Siskin, Goldfinches -- species that I've never seen at my place. OK, so I have a Verdin, but I'll trade it for a Cardinal any day.
I spent the rest of the day putting up a wood backing to the Say's Phoebe "nest box" on my front porch -- easy peasy to do -- and the rest of my belongings from Discovery II to Faranuf. Discovery must have been 500 pounds lighter are removing all of it, as I was carrying all my worldly possessions during my Travels of Discovery. (I couldn't afford a storage locker at the time.) It's been warm here lately -- 75 yesterday, 80-plus by Wednesday, with no rain even in the long-range forecast -- so the birds have been taking advantage of the shade underneath Discovery as there's very little in the back yard, now that winter has stripped all of the leaves off the trees and plants. Towards evening I did see a Mule deer doe and her two fawns in the back; they were chowing down on the bird seed, and one of the fawns was sniffing the seed in one of the trays out of reach. Oh well, they have to eat too until the plant and tree foliage comes back in spring.
Today, the 14th, will be the day for training at Cave Creek Canyon's Visitor Information Center...
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