Cooped Up? Get Uncooped.

So I was walking along a quiet rural road this morning on my way to work. Pastureland blankets the rolling hills on either side of the road. Sun shining, birds chirping, brisk breeze off the nearby Pacific - this walk was the perfect way to start the day. Then, not 20 yards in front of me, a big, tawny feline loped across the road and vanished into the tall grass on the other side.

A thought jumped into my head: "Holy crap, what a big housecat."

A microsecond later: "HOLY CRAP! THAT WAS NO HOUSECAT!"

I consulted with a coworker who was on the road behind me (in his pickup) and he confirmed that I had just had a close encounter with either a bobcat or a juvenile mountain lion. Pretty cool.

It did make me think a little bit about walking to work alone, though.

• California
• wildlife
• fauna
• coast
• cool
• stuff
• hiking
• walking
• Mountain
• lion
• animals