Country Cuban meets Bob Cat and other Freaky Things
Little more than a week ago, I was washing the breakfast dishes and looking out the kitchen window toward the Guinea coop. I saw a very large, furry creature and wondered what a strange-looking raccoon was doing out at dawn. Then, it looked more like a large cat and then my city brain registered that what I was seeing was a wild cat – a bob cat.
Ay, Dios Mio! It was huge, but not gigantic and it was slowly circling my coop and sniffing it up and down. My camera was upstairs and because I a) didn’t want to miss it up close and b) didn’t want it to hang around my coop, I went outside with a broom stick.
Hey! I yelled and waved my stick. It just looked at me. Beautiful eyes and pointy ears. Just looked at me. Kinda like, yeah right, crazy lady, whatever. And then, it turned away, sauntered back into the woods.
I was delighted and terrified at the same time. It is rare to see a bob cat in the wild, or in your backyard. But, my favorite Guinea hen, Rose, the mother of two of my new baby keets, did not come home the night prior. So, I realized Rose was Bob Cat lunch. Probably, anyway.
I kept the Guineas in for a few days, but they are out again and I pray.
The bob cat showed up a few days after this snake greeted me in the garage. I was coming in from the bottom stair, with an armload of groceries, and probably jumped about 3-feet backwards. I have no idea what it is, but even the family cat didn’t want to hang out in the garage for a few days.
The wildlife here blows my mind — even the tiny tick that destroyed my toe a couple of weeks ago is cause for awe. A tiny creature caused a big ugly mess. Amazing and praise be.
My college roommate, and Illinois native who spent time with my family when we lived in can’t-get-more-urban-than-West New York, N.J., and with whom I just reconnected via Facebook, read the exploits in the Newsfeed and told me she never imagined I would be a country Cubanita in the wilds of Tennessee.
Me neither, I told her.
But hell, if life didn’t turn out better than I could have planned it.
You know?
Some highlights from the family visit yesterday to the Tennessee State Fair….
this is just wrong, isn’t it? funny wrong.
Greetings from your former hometown of West New York, NJ. I could not believe it when I read that you once lived here. I bet you miss los sandwiches Cubanos from La Pola or El Pio Pio.
WOW! A Bob cat is unwelcome (particularly eating the guineas), but kind of ok, BUT A SNAKE!!! YIKES!
We have a funny story from my parents' very first visit to the U.S. back in 1997. We stopped at a rest area in Georgia and I was in the car watching my mom come back from the bathroom when I saw her look terrified and jump up. It so happens that there was a snake in the sidewalk and it stood up to attack my mom as she almost stepped on it!
My mom couldn't believe it. She said "I've lived in Brazil all my life and never seen a snake and I have to come and be faced with this here in the U.S.?" Well, she should have considered that it was the "Wild" Southern part of the country ;-).
Talk about boonies! ;-)
hola desde España!!!!!
Hello from Spain!!!!
Hay Dios mio!por favor vigila bien a la niña.Que horror!I can't believe either that my city girl likes the the boonies,horror de horrores, y con todos esos bichos.
@Abuelita…jajajaja!
Carrie, all I can think to say is yowza.
Hello, Sal…indeed, I was a W.N.Y.er and North Bergener..I miss the Italian delis!
Lilian, nice to see you again..and hola, Fete…
And, Laura, you should see the email my mom sent freaking out over that snake and bobcat! Yowza.
Yikes Carrie!
That's my phobia … reptiles … including lizards … I use mothballs and lyme (Snake-Away does not work)around our house … certain times of the year to discourage reptiles from "setting-camp".
The snake on the picture looks like a black rat snake …
Since you are in the Boonies … here are some hints to keep them away …
There are four main ways to discourage snakes from moving into a yard or home:
1.Eliminate cool, damp areas where snakes hide. Remove brush and rock piles, keep shrubbery away from foundations, and cut tall grass.
2.Control insect and rodent populations (the snakes’ primary food source) to force them to seek areas with a larger food supply. Put grains in tightly sealed containers and clean up residual pet food and debris.
3.In rattlesnake-infested areas, construct a snakeproof fence around the backyard or play area. Use 36-inch high galvanized hardware cloth with a 1/4-inch mesh and bury it 6 inches deep, slanted outward at a 30-degree angle. Make certain the gate fits tightly and swings into the play area. Keep all vegetation away from the fence to prevent snakes from climbing over it.
4.To prevent snakes from entering basements and crawl spaces, seal all openings 1/4 inch or larger with mortar, caulking compound or 1/8-inch hardware cloth. Check for holes or cracks around doors, windows, water pipes, electrical lines, etc.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/natres/06501.html
Thanks for sharing the wonderful photos at the State Fair.
I wish you well :) Melek
"What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well." ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I'm with Melek–that's a black rat snake. Harmless as snakes go, and they eat the rodents. We found one in our basement back when we lived in Pittsburgh. It was HUGE. My husband went after it with a samurai sword of all things, but it got away.
Thank you, Melek and Chantel…
My husband kept calling it a racer…also harmless, but damn if they don't scare the caca out of you regardless.
Holy guacamolyyy that's an ugly snake. Esto no pasaba en la sahuesera! o en la calle ocho much less. However now the everglades is full of pythons but that's a different story for another day. I can't get used to living in the country either. I also encountered a snake (much prettier than that one though)in my back yard. I was also able to take a pic of it…which now I'll make it a post. BTW Great blog :)