I’m writing this about an hour after arriving home to the stress of “the bobcat visit.”
I was happily finishing up the purchase of a new wireless keyboard and mouse for my new office (I am so tired of all the cords and just want everything less cluttered), when I got the phone call.
The hairs on the back of my neck immediately stood up.
There was a bobcat in the yard, and Elliana and Lisa had just endured ten terrifying minutes figuring out if he was going to attack them, or leave them alone.
Lisa was intense but in control, while I listened to Elliana sobbing in the background.
When I asked the Lisa to describe the bobcat’s behavior, I breathed a sigh of relief.
The damn thing was wagging its tail and standing up right.
Head up, not down, not moving towards them in a pre-pounce position.
After getting the full story, I am sure the hapless bobcat was begging for treats, not hunting Lisa and Elliana.
We’ve had bobcats make rounds to neighbors who think it’s okay to feed wild animals.
Having grown up in Tucson, I always cringed when I heard people were feeding the “cute little bobcat” or the family of “cute little javalina.”
The joy of having a desert zoo in their back yard over shadowed how stupid they were to trust a wild animal to act rationally just because they were feeding it.
The stories always turned ugly when the animals decided they didn’t want to wait for the food.. They just expected it. Keep in mind, they aren’t trained, domesticated animals.
If they suddenly see a much easier way to fill their bellies than going out and hunting, it’s not hard to imagine what they’ll choose. Even if it means that they scare or attack the people who started giving them the treats to begin with.
This bobcat messed with the wrong mama bear.
Lisa did the opposite of what many people do when face to face with a wild animal–she charged it.
Predators don’t generally expect to have something they might be contemplating eating come at them.
So when Lisa ran and screamed and acted like a crazed mama bear protecting her little cub, Mr. bobcat turned the corner to find some food welfare elsewhere.
The adrenalin was finally subsiding when I got home, and Elliana was finally recalling some of the memories before she went into shock. Her dog fear is paralyzing enough, but having a bobcat outside the fence with no one holding it on a leash must have filled her little mind with fears I can’t even imagine.
Seeing the two of them together just reminds me of how powerful the bond is between a mother and her child.
This was the force that drove Lisa every day to bring our baby into this world.
It is the force that makes me pity any animal, person, or being of any kind that would threaten to hurt Elliana.
Don’t mess with the mama bear.