Hi!
I didn't post anything positive from yesterday.
Something happened that had my mind racing all night long.
I was moving hay bales out of a field last evening, and when I went to get a bale that had rolled into a corner there was a cougar / puma / mountain lion laying on a limb above me.
It was a very big one, and so probably a male.
I think he was as surprised as I was, he was just staring at me with his tail dangling from the limb and curved up on the end, perfectly still. I think I surprised him mid tail swish.
They're mostly nocturnal anyway, so this being just before dusk he was probably still trying to wake up without any of the human luxuries like coffee.
I already had a bale on the back of the loader and was heading down a pretty steep grade fairly quickly, so when I hit the brakes they screamed. That seemed to jolt him back and he jumped down and ran further into the woods before I could get my phone out to take a picture.
I've seen them a couple of times before, but never so close.
When I went into the woods, I couldn't see him. After a few minutes though, I heard a high pitched wheezing cough sound from a rocky part of the ravine there maybe 30m from my location. I've been told that that means they are annoyed but not threatened, so I got back to work and left him alone.
I know they aren't that exciting, but I'm including some pictures of the limb he was on taken from ground level as well as one of the sunset.
Have a great day.