Imagine yourself sitting around a campfire with a half dozen of your
friends on a damp fall evening. Suddenly the two people across from you
spring out of their lawn chairs with true fear in their eyes. You realize
there's a loud deep growl coming from the bushes only a few feet away.
Panic sets in amongst the whole group but your instincts tell you to make
a whole lot of noise and attempt to scare whatever it may be far away from
you and the others. Pots and pans and a ?YEE HA? become the noise weapons
of choice. Apparently it had worked on the growling beast as well as the
friends in your company. This occurrence 10 yrs ago impacted me greatly
and spawned my quest to find out what had threatened us with that chilling
sound. The day after I searched the immediate area for tracks but found
nothing as it was covered in thorns, trees and ferns with the ground not
having very impressionable soil. My search broadened and I started to find
well beaten paths through the forest which seemed to branch off everywhere.
Hmmmm, lots of animals here I thought as I looked up the mountain above
me. Through the giant maple and cedars a few hundred feet up above I could
see a rock slide area and rock face above so I decided to head in that
direction and found a path on the top of a ridge that took me up. Along
the way I found a couple of cedars that appeared to have claw markings
across them. Armed only with a machette and alone in the rain forest of
B.C, I was nervous but my thirst for an answer put that aside quite
easily.
I continued up the path cautiously as I cut away the occasional vine,
branch or fern that obstructed me from moving safely. I noticed deer
tracks periodically and their droppings too. As I got closer to the rock
slide area I observed that the biggest rocks had landed at the bottom
naturally because of gravity and momentum I had assumed. I carefully
maneuvered up some rocks toward a few really large boulders and was
climbing between them when to my right I saw my first cave. A chill down
my spine occurred and to this day still gets my heart pumping when I'm there. I hollered
out ?HEY? as i waited to make sure nothing came out. After throwing a
couple of rocks in to pacify me further I moved to the opening. It was
giant boulders piled on top of one another to form a perfect den and
channels through the rocks. At this particular one I saw there was a
rather large twig and fern bed made on top of what was a two story den. In
front of the bed looking down slope were viewing ports with more twig
piles for concealment and insulation I suppose. My heart raced and
adrenaline was revving as I realized I was in a large animal den . Bear ?
Cougar ? Racoon ? All first came to my mind. Raccoon , no definitely
not...... Too big for them. Hmmmm bear or cat it must be but by the sound
that I heard the night before I couldn't imagine it coming from a bear. I
concluded almost positively this was a cougar den but never thought they
made beds in caves so close to humans on private land next to rural
neighbors. I descended down the mountain on the same path as it seemed to
be well worn for a good reason..............It was the easiest way down.
My heart was still racing but was very excited to know I had found a good
clue to the answer I was seeking....... who growled at us ?
The next day I brought a friend to the mountain to show what I'd found
and when we arrived at the cave I noticed immediately a new layer on it's
bed. It had taken fern cuttings from my machette and placed a few of them
on the bed and outer portions. Another chill ran down my spine .... This
had obviously occurred in the past few hours of the morning or night
before and quite possibly was nearby. We retreated fairly soon after
exploring some of the other areas of shelter and cavities but not seeing
any other signs of inhabitants.
What I had heard and now found this weekend fueled my quest for knowledge
and understanding of the animal and incident. In the weeks to follow I
read every book and saw any film I could find on the animal. Research
without the net was a bit of a chore to say the least. From what I've
read and seen there's limited data on the cougar because of their gift
for mortality and pure nature.....not be seen or heard. Because of the
lack of data and knowing I found caves on our property with obvious signs
of activity, I decided to set up a base camp of sorts and see for myself.
I purchased a large Army tent and set it up on the wood floor I'd
constructed on one of the rare flat spots on the mountain. In it was a
woodstove, futon and all the amenities of a well planned camping trip.
There was only a footpath leading to this area of lush beauty and
seclusion. Behind the tent ran a stream of fresh water and my fire pit
was graced with elder members of the Maple and Cedar families. From this
place for the next two years would only puzzle and fuel my growing
concerns and questions. During this period I remember hearing it's calls at
night, finding tracks by day and it's kills too. A deer carcass covered
with leaves once and most disturbing was a grouse plucked and eaten on a
log that was on my path very near to my tent. As if it was showing me
exactly where he or she eats and who's home it really is. It also went
in my tent and clawed and marked one of my containers. A bit unnerving
but my persistence prevailed and the no meat or fish rule continued to be
enforced to minimize unwelcome activities. Lots of evidence of the cat
over that period of time but no sightings at all. Eventually after a
couple winters the tent decayed and went down due to heavy snowfall. I had
moved away and been attending to other commitments.
8 years later I returned to the mountain to oversee some geo-technical
issues and have had the opportunity to renew my interests in the
mountain, animals and our coexistence. Again after regularly seeing more
signs of all the animals, I've decided to use battery
operated trail cams to capture short video clips activiated by motion. They're grainy and
the color isn't great but it's animal reality captured without a human
present and so far some pretty cool shots of deer, bear, coyote and finally the elusive cougar Oct 6/06 for a definitive image. Ten years I've waited for this moment to clarify the prementioned event. Peace and Fear occupy the same space for me as I continue my observations of a place I am thankful to call my own.....Cave Mountain.
I am blessed to have a place to do this and look forward to sharing with
all who may appreciate my efforts to relay images of our natural world. Enjoy....and wish me luck in not getting eaten. :) |
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