The woods are full of them...

The Woods are Full of Them is a cabin game I have for rainy days.  In the game, the woods are full of bears.  Although I have had bears, the woods are full of many other things.  Mainly mountain lions and coyotes.  As you can see, we have two lions.      The one on top is a female.  She has a litter of kittens every year somewhere behind our cabin.  We've come across her several times.  She is extremely skittish and quick to disappear.  Her cubs, not so much.  We have caught them on our cameras romping around and they have had a few kills behind our cabin.  The fellow below is a male and I am not happy about his presence.  You can tell the difference as the female has really black paws and tail.  The male doesn't have any black markings.  I've seen him twice this month.  Both times he wasn't in a hurry.

A few weeks ago, when I took Dollor out before going to bed, I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye.  I thought it was a deer and reached for Dollor.  Then under the yard light I realized it was a very large lion lazily trotting across our sidewalk and down the road.  Dollor saw that big, beautiful tail and immediately thought that looked like great fun.  Dollor sprinted after the tail, I sprinted after Dollor, and was yelling for my husband to grab the gun.  Luckily, I caught my wayward pup before he caught that tail. The lion trotted down the road and disappeared into the dark. 

Fast forward 3 weeks and luckily the pup needed out earlier than our normal 6:00 am wake up walk.  I took him out at 5:00 am.  Normally, I wouldn't think that was good but today was different.  I was doing yoga at 6:00 (I should have been outside) when coyotes started caterwauling like crazy.  My husband called out that coyotes were running down the road.  I looked out the window just in time to see... No, not a coyote, but that damn male lion trotting down the road.  I don't know what he did to set the coyotes off.  I am just thankful we weren't wandering down the road when that blew up.  

Tonight, we looked at our game camera caught the female behind the cabin.  This is the time she would have her cubs, and we think her den is somewhere behind the cabin.  Then as I was sitting on the deck enjoying the fire table before the rain rolls in, I heard her calling.  

Not only do we have two lions, but we also have two coyotes.  Also, a male and female.  I'm not as nervous about them, since we always keep Dollor leashed.  If you aren't familiar with coyotes they will chase a dog without hesitation. Long long ago I was taking our Shorthaired Pointer, Ezra, for a run and a coyote was right on his tail as he came out of the woods.  I thought I was going to hit it with my walking stick, but at last second it saw me and took off.  I am confident as long as Dollor is leashed he will be fine when it comes to coyotes. Not so sure the same holds for lions. 

Here is the source of my headache.  So innocent.  He is completely oblivious that it is a dangerous world out there.  I guess it is worth it when he snuggles up to me or as I watch him zoom around in the tall grass.  

If you have a pup, what is your greatest concern?  Probably not lions.