When i go hiking, i am very alert, i keep an eye on my surroundings, watch the dogs reactions, and keep the kids within a few steps of me. I also keep a small 8-12 feet range pepper spray with me. Not that i think it would do much good but i would like to think i could spray a predator in the eyes from that range and grab the kids to book it. Hiking is something we choose, understanding about the wildlife that may go along with that (although bears are hibernating right now, it is just mountain lions that i usually keep an eye out for...checking for tracks, droppings, and up at the rocks since one lives near where we hike.)
When at home, ones guard is down. Here why not, we live in a rural area, and a very rural part of town where a block one way are cattle, another way are sheep, and then behind us horses. There is an elementary school close by that at recess and lunch we can hear the children screaming and having a good time. Around 3, a lot of these children are walking by our house to go home. It is a pretty safe neighborhood.
With our mailbox a half a block away, i often take the kids for a walk over there. Since it is fairly close, it only takes about 10 minutes in the time of toddler meandering. All our neighbors have dogs of different sorts so we always talk about the breed of each dog we see, such as "oh look those dogs look like Chloe, Molly, and Charlie Brown...do you think they are Dachshunds too?" or "Hey kids, that dog is a St. Bernard, is it a big dog or little dog?" I usually take them to the mailbox when we are playing in the yard, days when i just do not feel like walking to the park. Yesterday we were talking about a nice yellow labrador that was wagging his tail as his older owner watched from the door ("Look kids, he is waving at you with his tail! Wave back!". Oddly i had never seen him so concerned about his dog, until he walked outside and toward us. This is what he said that sent a shutter down my spine.
"Hey Miss...did you not hear about the mountain lion?"
uhhh..WHAT?? Ok so i have grown up in rural towns close to the mountains so i understand that young cougars will wander in to town looking for food when food is scarce or maybe they are just too young to understanding the dangers of coming to close to town...for them...and well us too.
Obviously the look on my face reflected that no i had not heard about the mountain lion. He continued to urge for me to get the kids inside immedietly and keep an eye on our dogs when they were outside.
I had to ask where the cougar had been spotted...and he pointed,"right beyond that house." Yes right behind the dachshound house, near the St. bernard house...two houses that i could throw a rock to from my front yard, houses that i can see through my front window. So....we are having an inside day, only to venture out into the front padio to draw with chalk..with pepper spray and two dogs out there with us.
1 comment:
wow, kinda scary!
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