Lynx Rufus

I grew up in the country and I've clocked a fair amount of time in the woods, but I don't think I've seen more than a half dozen bobcats in my life. They're solitary and very shy. It's always exciting to see one. Small as they are, they still have that intense predatory aura all wild cats have, an energy field that stops you cold for an instant when you encounter it--which is just what happened to me this morning.

I had just crossed a creek and was headed toward a picnic area when I saw a critter about 10 feet away, sitting with its back to me. For a second I was flummoxed--What is that? Not a raccoon, not a fox ...

He turned around and looked at me with his amber eyes.

Damn, that's a bobcat!

He took off, ran past me back across the creek and disappeared into the trees. I was shocked to see him in such a well-traveled place so late in the morning--it was after 7 am. I asked one of the park staff about it and she agreed it was unusual but said it's been dry and he was probably drawn to the creek.

Whatever the reason, I'm glad he gave me the pleasure of seeing him. He sure was pretty.

You can read some bobcat facts here. The photo is from New Hampshire Public Television's Natureworks site, which you can see here.

Observing the Sabbath

This afternoon I dreamed I was a prostitute. To be more precise, I dreamed I was becoming a prostitute, getting ready for my first gig, mentored by a younger, prettier, more experienced woman. She bore a distinct resemblance to Jennifer Jason Leigh circa 1986.

This is strange. Belle de Jour is not my favorite movie. I have plenty of fantasies that wouldn’t pass muster with my feminist conscience (no, we won’t go into them just now) but being a hooker isn’t one of them. Nevertheless, this was a very hot dream. Not the hooker part--I never actually got to the point of turning the trick, because the client and I got bogged down in negotiations over whether he was going to wear a rubber. He didn’t want to. I was adamant. Safety first.

No, the hotness was all between me and JJL’s dreamland twin. We were making out in the bathroom prior to my professional debut, which was taking place in my john’s house. She was there because she had a paid date with his wife. Thinking about it now, it seems odd that a guy would engage my services while his wife got to dally with a cute blonde, but there's no accounting for taste.

I have a longstanding girl crush on Jennifer Jason Leigh, so I’m not at all surprised that she would show up to tempt me in my dreams. What’s peculiar is that my unconscious seems to feel I have to earn her by selling my body to someone else. I suppose that’s my Christian upbringing showing itself.


Photo by Julian Mandel, early 20th century. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

I wonder if Kobi would attack a peacock?

Image from Art of Legend India

This is a sad story

The dogs killed a hummingbird today. I had just gotten home from a grocery run and I was headed outside to deliver treats to Nio and Kobi--my usual ritual--when I saw the tiny green carcass lying on the porch under the feeder. "You little bastards," I said, because it was obvious to me that one of the pups, probably Kobi, was responsible.

My outburst brought Dave to the door, and just about that time the hummingbird, which had been completely motionless, suddenly rose up and perched on the edge of the swing. I got excited for a second, thinking it had just been stunned, but then I saw that its beak was mangled and it had a tooth hole punctured in its head.

Dave shooed the dogs off the porch while I fretted over the bird, trying to decide if there was any hope at all that it might live. It really was obvious that it wouldn't, but I am so attached to the damn things that I actually stood there telling myself it could. Then it did something unbearably pitiful. It flew up to the feeder and began to try to drink with its ruined beak.

That didn't last long, of course. In less than a minute it lost its grasp on the feeder perch and fell back to the floor to commence its death throes. I couldn't bring myself to grab it and twist its little neck. I think the 4-year-old inside me was still hoping it wouldn't die. I could have let Kobi loose to put the bird out of its misery, but I kept her away so she wouldn't feel rewarded and decide this is something fun to do on a regular basis. That was silly. Kobi has killed birds before--though never a hummer--and I'm sure the initial attack was entertaining enough that she'll go for the next one that's unlucky enough to get within striking distance. To be honest, I mostly kept her away because I was pissed off and felt like being spiteful.

Mercifully, the little bird died pretty quickly. I carried it out into the yard to be food for the ants, or some wandering cat.

Ah the joys of keeping predators as pets. Its funny how I react so differently to their choice of prey. I've watched Kobi kill a sparrow and it didn't bother me in the least. When Pearl attacked a baby robin I freaked out. I didn't like Nio getting hold of a baby rabbit, but if one of these worthless canines would kill a mouse I'd celebrate. Clearly, I am hopelessly speciesist.

Oh yeah, one bright note in all this: the hummer was a male. Male hummingbirds do nothing to nurture their young, so there's no nest full of babies that will fail to survive because of Kobi's errant impulse.

Now, click here for a happy page about hummers that will put this little tragedy out of your mind.

One Sentence Perfume Review: Lys Méditerranée, Frederic Malle Editions de Parfums

Starts out as Jean Seberg in Breathless, winds up as Bo Derek in 10.

Notes per Basenotes: Ginger Lily, Lily of the Valley (Muguet), Angelica Root, Orange Flower, Water Lily, Musk.

Jean Seberg in a scene from Breathless


Photo from Wikimedia Commons

I couldn't resist

I was going to do a post about how all the deer I've seen lately are "stag parties" of fuzzy-antlered bucks, but then I saw this impossibly cute picture and decided to do a fawn post instead. While the bucks are keeping each other company until September when they'll start battling for girlfriends, the does are busy having babies. New mothers leave their fawns to feed, but they don't gang up together and roam, which is why I'm not seeing them much. In a few weeks the fawns will be following them around, playing in the creek and being generally adorable. (And getting run down by speeding cars, but let's not talk about that.) Meanwhile, click here for an explanation of why you shouldn't freak out if you come across a baby deer all by its lonesome.

Photo (c) 2006 by John Delano. Image from Wikipedia.

After the Midsummer party

Sleeping Bacchante, Károly Brocky, 1850-55. Image from Web Gallery of Art.

Happy Solstice!

Rich music breathes in Summer's every sound;
And in her harmony of varied greens,
Woods, meadows, hedge-rows, corn-fields, all around
Much beauty intervenes,
Filling with harmony the ear and eye;
While o'er the mingling scenes
Far spreads the laughing sky.

From "Summer Images" by John Clare (1793-1864). Read the complete poem at Poetry Foundation.


The Great Morning, Philipp Otto Runge, 1809-10. Image from Web Gallery of Art.


(The 2008 Summer Solstice occurs in the Northern Hemisphere on June 20 at 7:59 p.m. EDT--or 8:00 p.m. EDT, depending on whose chart you consult. More info and some nice links are here.)

I love a man who embraces his gender stereotype

Dave and I have tentative plans to go to Alaska later this summer. If we do, we'll definitely go hiking in Denali National Park--the happiest place on Earth, as far as Dave is concerned. So I couldn't resist sending him this story about a couple of lost Denali hikers who phoned home.

Don't let this happen to us, I said. His reply?

"Don't worry--I would never call--I'd keep insisting I could find our way back."

An encounter with royalty

I was trudging along this morning when a bright spot of color caught my eye. It was a Royal Walnut Moth, also known as a Regal Moth, lying on the trail with its wings spread, enjoying its last moments of life. This creature is incredibly beautiful. The 2 pics here were the best I could find online, and neither of them do it justice. I'm sure the one I saw was a female because of her size--her wingspan was probably more than 5 inches across. It was tempting to bring her home and photograph her for the blog, but I didn't have the heart to take her, since she was not quite dead. I did put her on a leaf and move her off the trail, just so she wouldn't be stomped by some oblivious hiker. Silly, I know, but I was really touched by her beauty.

Here's what her babies, known as Hickory Horned Devils, will look like when they emerge in late summer. Not so pretty as Mama, but impressive in their own way:










Read a species account of this critter here.

Both pics of the moth are from What's That Bug?
Photo of the larva from hilarynelson.com