wildlife – Music. Life. Joy.

I know, I know…! I don’t really live in the wild.

After all, we have electricity, running water, internet, and a whole community of friends surrounding us.

But the fact remains that ours is a rural community, which means there are critters EVERYWHERE. And, having grown up in the very civilized environs of the San Francisco Bay Area, this remains an ongoing challenge for me.

I’m actually pretty accustomed to seeing deer, wild turkeys, coyotes, hares, foxes, and even bears in the vicinity. What I can’t seem to get used to is when the critters are inside my home.

For example, we get frogs and lizards inside our house. All. The. Time. And they are really hard to catch.

I mean, really! A lizard in the bedroom?!? That’s just wrong!

But what inspired this rant is when I went to put a new stick of incense in the holder in the bathroom and discovered…this!

I mean — eww! My best guess is that it was a spider eating another spider. All well and good, but Not. In. My. House.

(And, no, I didn’t flush it or kill it, I managed to take it outside.)

I think the animals have really been enjoying the increased moisture after the recent rain. I’ve noticed a lot more birds flying around our yard and even saw a couple of jackrabbits — which are usually only out and about before dawn or during twilight.

And then today, for the first time ever, I saw a bobcat!

I was sitting on the patio enjoying some afternoon sunshine when he walked by — a little way out from my chair — as cool as you please. I quickly (but quietly) ran inside to grab my glasses so I could be sure of what I was seeing, and sure enough that’s what it was.

I could see the short tail with a dark end, markings on the front legs, and the distinctive ears.

I didn’t have my phone to grab a pic but he looked almost exactly like the photo above. Incredibly beautiful, but I hope he doesn’t discover the chickens at Ananda Village’s goat dairy. 😟

Tag: wildlife

Living in the wild

Wildlife sighting