The truth is that he may or may not be.
Visitors from Raymond, Alberta, Canada showed up last week and commented, “so this is where people go who don’t want to be found.” I reminded them that they found the place. They replied, “but you wouldn’t ever find it if you didn’t know where specifically to go.” True.
City life does not allow for this sort of interaction usually. At least it didn’t for me.
Foxy Loxy is not like Mr. Robert. No, not in the least. She comes for a drink at a makeshift cistern that is going to be replaced by a more permanent trough when I get around to it. Mr. Robert apparently has other water sources.
Here for your entertainment and amusement is a window into mountain life in the Arizona central highlands. I don’t think that Mr. Robert and Foxy Loxy are related, so no, it’s unlikely that Bob’s her uncle.
We had snow up at the White Wolf Mine on the 20th and after I returned from picking up supplies, I went out hunting with a camera. A bobcat, and he’s Robert, not Roberta, who lives in the area, was out hunting. He’s a scrawny old cat.
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| Bobcat hunting |
His camouflage scheme really works in the area, and he feasts on rodents, which pleases me no end. When I see the squirrels vanish, I know that Bob is in the area, thinning their ranks. I wanted to get photos of him climbing, but this time he did not oblige.
Visitors from Raymond, Alberta, Canada showed up last week and commented, “so this is where people go who don’t want to be found.” I reminded them that they found the place. They replied, “but you wouldn’t ever find it if you didn’t know where specifically to go.” True.
Mr. Robert, one subject of this study, likes to hunt without interruption but he and I are both old men and we have an understanding. Sometimes I leave a saucer of milk out with a raw egg floating in it, and sometimes he leaves me a mauled mouse at the doorstep. It works.
City life does not allow for this sort of interaction usually. At least it didn’t for me.
Today I was on the phone with Mexico City, San Diego and London. You can do that these days while living remote. You don’t have to be sitting in Los Angeles traffic with your phone glued to your ear. If I was sitting on a freeway overpass in bumper-to-bumper traffic, who’d be there to feed Mr. Robert and to accept his mouse or partially eaten squirrel?
You couldn’t, and that’s the point. The snow melted quickly and I headed out to Jack’s Canyon to see if I could photograph some of the big horn sheep that live there. They’re more illusive than Mr. Robert (who is likely some cool cat’s uncle).
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| Bob’s your Uncle He needs to put some meat on his bones. |
Earlier in the year, when the snow was deeper, I caught Bob making a transit (below). Long lens required.
Foxy Loxy is not like Mr. Robert. No, not in the least. She comes for a drink at a makeshift cistern that is going to be replaced by a more permanent trough when I get around to it. Mr. Robert apparently has other water sources.
Loxy shares the territory with Mr. Robert and they both eat squirrels and mice. Sometimes Loxy drinks Mr. Robert’s milk and eats the raw egg that I break in it. I don’t mind and the skinny bobcat may not either. Loxy tends to be more clever, more adroit and far more shy.
Loxy is younger than Mr. Robert, more photogenic and well, she’s foxy.
Wow! What fabulous photos! I would love it there.
You are definitely an art philosopher now, LL! You will never be a city boy again.
OK.
That is cool.
My cat used to leave me offerings.
Interesting.
Thanks for introducing your neighbors! What a great place to live.
Great photos! And it's interesting, at least to me, that some of the big Africa hunters switched over to the camera. I get that.
Looking forward to some wolf and bear shots.
Wildlife can be fun to observe. There was a fox near here that delivered an annual litter that I enjoyed watching though she seems to be gone now. There are bobcats here as well though they're rather secretive and I rarely see one. On the other hand this area is filthy with coyotes.
I much prefer bobcats and foxes to coyotes. Though it’s not up to me to pick. Locals shoot coyotes, and though I do see them occasionally, they are very skittish.
I haven’t seen a bear yet. The wolves are running north of me. I have no idea why.
They come and go as they please. But I enjoy their company.
Did you name your cat Bob?
When my city grandsons visit they speak loudly, throw rocks and do what young boys are inclined to do. They never see the neighbors, for to do that, you must become part of the silence.
They are still in winter fur. Look forward to seeing photos after they shed and are summer sleek.
It’s supposed to snow later today, so no telling on the winter coats. With the coming ice age, they may never see summer again.
That is a mighty pretty Foxy Loxy, there LL. With a bit more time, you could publish a coffee table book of photos.
Thanks for sharing the wild. I miss being in the back of beyond.
Bob is looking mighty poorly, hope he makes it through. Foxy is a beauty.
We've heard of bobcats being in the area (Spring Creek Park), and there was a momma bear and her two cubs up at the country house where we first stayed when we moved here. We never saw her or the cubs, but there was fresh bear scat by the locked, 3/16" steel trash bins about twice a week. And there was the momma badger I heard one night that made me start carrying my 45!
And we live very close to Red Fox Meadows, where more than a couple of red foxes live. I haven't seen any yet, but the wife and Pebbles have seen them a few times.
Yep….sure ain't in Lost Angeleez anymore, Toto!
Many years ago when Wife and I lived in Tucson, AZ…
First house had a six-foot high board fence surrounding 1/4 acre NE of downtown. More than once I spotted a bobcat walking along the top of the boards, eyeballing the rabbits that thought themselves safe in the fenceline. Thought.
The second house was all open even farther NE. Had javalina, bobcat, deer, coyote, quail, etc., through the yard all of the time. Black bear was spotted not far away one year.
Miss it, though there's lots of critters in Fallon, NV and surrounds. Stay safe and warm
Wandering Neurons
Great pics, and yes, he's scrawny!
I don’t know whether or not Mr Robert has another winter left in him
I’m glad that you escaped the madness. It’s nice to live in nature.
Thanks, Neurons. It’s nice to look at the creatures without feeling the need to kill them. The camera works fine.
He’s old like me, but I’m not scrawny
As a kid, we had a bobcat as a pet.
One of my duties was bring him small game until he was big enough to fend for himself.
He liked to sleep with my brother and I.
When he got older he was banished from the house.
The first night of his banishment he chewed a hole through the wall, got in bed with his hairless brothers, and snuggled up for his routine night's sleep.
As he was raised with hound pups he had no fear of dogs and would take their dinner away if so inspired.
Nice pictures.
Thanks for feeding Mr. Robert the egg and milk.
Heinlein said that a person's place in heaven will be determined by how they have treated cats on this temporal plane.
Not the same as buying Indulgences, but a little boost with the Big Guy never hurts.
Great wild life up your way.
One more AGW report, this from Nebraska…
"Video: Trucker Mike @ RS in Nebraska on 385 Northbound Headed to Rapid City, SD in a Snow Storm Filmed May 20, 2019 – Real time material, testimony to Global Warming…"
youtube.com/watch?v=3dnY3kJsyeI
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