I recovered from a case of winter funk and was able to pretty much hammer my Bloomfield loop. It felt so good not to be bundled up like the Michelin Tire Man, and be able to slice through the wind, which wasn't too bad today.
As I came around a bend, a cat walked out in the road. Right in front of me, like 20 feet away. A really big cat. I blinked and shook my head. OMG a bobcat!!!
I know they are fairly plentiful here, but these animals are pretty elusive. Like coyotes, you almost never find one dead by the roadside.
It just sauntered out and stared at me like a common housecat. But bobcats are notorious for giving humans a very scary "look". I tried "talking" to it, like I did my old housecat, in "meow-talk". It just stood there, looking at me like "yeah? what? Come near me and I will rip your face off!"
This showdown went on for about thirty long seconds. Luckily there were no cars around.
I know where there is a captive bobcat locally. The cat there will give you a very good example of this "look". That one though looked a lot more angry. This cat was more confident, being wild, and may have been transfixed by my flashing white strobe lamp.
You'd be amazed at their camouflaged spots. This cat was BIG, maybe thirty pounds. Bobcats have short stubby tails, and they are about twice the size of the biggest housecat you've ever seen.
It finally jumped back into the swampy brush. It made no sound in the brush after the initial leap across the ditch.
I have read about mountain lion sightings in CT. You can google this. Guess what? I beleive it.
Of course the DEP is denying it, they don't want everybody to panic.
If you google-search "Mountain Lion sightings in CT", You may come across one pretty convincing sighting in Limerock where one allegedly crossed right in front of a guys car. He said "It was right in front of me, in broad daylight. I know what I saw. It was a mountain Lion."... Hokay...
Like Moose, bears, etc. I think they are making a slow comeback. They used to hunt them here 100 plus years ago. The Catskills had them, and they're not too far away. If I remember correctly, the last mountain lion killed in CT was someplace near Canann.
but this was just a lowly bobcat, an animal capable of taking down a full grown deer.
My power is back, I completed the ride at a very good pace, some good blow-out sprinting at the end.
Nice day out.
3 comments:
Awesome visitation! Good to know there are some cats left in the wild. Too bad about the captive one though.
Bibendum... The Michelin Tire Guy's actual name. So, you were in debibendum mode. Or antibibendicular mode. Still too cold for wussies like me though. I need 45 degrees or greater.
I saw my first and only bobcat in Litchfield last summer. Safely ran in front of the car ahead of me. Pretty cool. I ride my bike there all the time and hope to see him again.
Last August I was riding from Norfolk to Torrington on Rt 272, and I came across a very large dog in the road. Except it turned out to be a bear, we made direct eye contact for a few seconds. Then a line of traffic went by and the bear ran off into the woods.
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