A few months ago, I was coming home on a country road that leads to the suburbs in Niagara Falls.
It was about 3:00am, pretty cold, and what do I see? A mountain lion (also called cougars or pumas) that had just crossed the road in front of me.
It was on the left side of the road on the shoulder going into the brush. I happened to be on the phone with a friend and told them what was going on.
The big cat just looked over it’s shoulder at me as I drove past it slowly.
It was definitely a surreal moment in my life, as I had never seen one of these majestic animals in the wild before.
Well, not many people believed me that I saw a puma running around right near our suburbs about 5 blocks away. This is because it’s certainly a rare occurrence to see a cougar in our area, although these creatures were indigenous in our area prior to the urban sprawl.
A lack of food, and a growing coyote population probably pushed them out even further into the shadows.
I say all of this to tell you what I saw this morning. Large cat footprints in the slushy snow along our home’s walkway and our front porch.
The size of the prints is large, and it’s certainly not a dog-type of footprint, such as those of a coyote, which have been pushed further into the burbs to survive off small pets, animals and anything they are able to scavenge. In fact, they are a commonality of everyday life in a town close to here called Niagara-on-the-Lake.
These prints were large, and the spread between the legs goes to show how large a cat this really was.
This is rather frightening to me since we have so many trees and darker corners on our lot and the homes around us. Not only that, I have small dogs that go outside for a pee at night. Keep your wits about you out there…
This should be a reality check for those of us all over the world, that not only have we pushed these large predators into endangerment, but now we are frightened when they encroach on our paths. I wonder how they feel…
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I hope you enjoyed this Big Cat post on Exotic Animal Lover. Until next time…
Live Exotically!
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Everyone should check out this new web-based animal reality show called Animal Movers. It is about a pet transportation company that moves animals all around the world. They move many different types of animals. The first episode was about moving Rhodesian Ridgebacks to Hawaii. It was very interesting and family friendly. You can find it at http://www.animalmovers.tv
Sad that they are being pushed into uncomfortable surroundings. All we can do is our best to raise awareness. Most people could care less. Such a sad situation.
Very cool tip, petlover612! TY for sharing!
We have the same problem in Upstate New York. The coyote population is growing very quickly. Some months ago, while sitting on the deck enjoying adult beverages, I looked towards the end of our property and there stood an incredibly beautiful coyote. It surprised me in two ways. 1) it was very large, looked to be very healthy so the food source here must be good for it 2) when I stood up and made some noise to scare it off …. it didn’t move! It was not afraid of me! Not a good sign for the future.
I can agree with that assessment, Gryphon. It’s a shame how people and animals can collide in such a way that’s not beneficial to each other. Very, very sad…