The Myth

Our blog vacation seems like it was a waste as our windows aren't in yet and we didn't have to hit the bright lights of the big city. The PM thought we'd blog a little while while we are waiting.

The foxes are still around but the kits are big enough to be with parents, hunting. They seem to drop by everyday but are not in the dens anymore.

We haven't made it outside to roam and no amount of protest turds right outside the litterbox seem to help.

Shade and I have been out on the harness with the bodyguards. It's not that bad but we are pretending it is horrid, ignoring the PM when she attempts get us to pose for the camera.









I am afraid that the prospect of running in the wilds isn't looking too good after the events of this weekend. The PM and the wee ones were getting ready to head outside when they heard mom and pop fox barking furiously. They give warning barks once in awhile but these were continuous barks from both of them. The PM figured another fox had come onto the property or a runaway dog. She walked up to the field and saw the foxes barking, looking towards the barn outback and their second den. The PM looked over and couldn't see a thing. She told them to relax and go check on their kits. They barely acknowledged her presence and she was about 15 feet away from them.

She picked up a shovel and walked towards the barn, thinking she would have to chase a porcupine away. Nothing was there so she started walking down our side driveway heading back towards to house. She looked at the back of the small hills where the fox den is and saw one kit running into the den. She left a small twinge of fear that maybe a bear was on the other side.

She looked around the first hill and saw a light brown, sandy coloured animal in the field. Her first thought was it was a coyote as she has seen them around before and they were of a similar colour. She clapped her hands and yelled "Git!" and the creature turned to look at her. She realized then that it was a cat, a really, really big cat. It happened so fast, her brain was trying to figure if it was a bobcat or a lynx as she has seen both of them before but this cat was bigger then they were. The cat started walking into the woods and that was when she saw it's long curving tail. She knew at that instant that she was looking at a cougar.

Since her shovel doesn't take photos, here's one we found online.



The PM is still in shock over the whole ordeal. She talked to one of our neighbours who is a naturalist at a National Park near here said that a couple of park wardens have seen one. He says it makes sense as his horse was really spooked this past week, not wanting to go into the back pasture.

The Eastern Cougar is somewhat of a myth in this part of Canada. There has been about 1000 sightings in the Maritimes but hardly any concrete evidence; no photos from this province. The official stance is that they do not exist even though many of the biologists believe there are small breeding pockets this far East. The PM called the Department of Natural Resources and she was shocked with how rude they were. She felt like she had told them that she saw Bigfoot. They were pretty condescending. She wishes she would have had her camera, that would have been proof. They can't be deemed an endangered species as they technically aren't here. One of the people at the DNR said she just wishes someone would shoot one. What???? These are the people who are in charge of the welfare of wildlife in this country?

The PM is kind of sad about the whole affair but she feels so special to have had a glimpse of such a spectacular animal. The foxes started barking like crazy a couple of nights later from 930 to 330 in the morning. The Music Man went out this time but couldn't spot anything as it was getting dark. I kept patrolling the windows in hopes of a sighting too! I thought maybe I could go out looking for it, give it a high paw for being such a survivor, so true to it's feline nature but I was not allowed. The PM explained to me that the cougar is normally very shy and stays away from people but there has been recent attacks out West and a hungry cougar has been known to eat just about anything, including other felines!

Best be on look out from inside. I think our trip to the city will actually be relaxing after this week!!!