Happy Spring Equinox!
Staying in balance? I hope you all are having as much fun as I am.
Nails, kooks, cops.
Lions, bears, hiding cats.
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| "Ooh La La", Fabric Art for the Mtn. Ranch Resource Center show, "Fibers, Textiles and Old Junk" |
Artwork out of fabric bits, bra parts, beads and buttons.
But now for the guts of this blog. My my, it certainly is the wild kingdom around here. And it's beautiful spring in the awesome Sierra Nevada. All the animals act up in spring. All activated. And some of them get extra encouragement.
Okay so if you have been following my posts on FB you may recall I got this trail camera -- mainly out of necessity, but that shall be the subject of another blog. I've actually wanted one for years to see what's going on out there at night.
Well the other night was my second try and I was astonished at what showed up:
There he was..... No, not that fool Dean. It was Mr. Gorgeous Feline Himself showing up -- coming right in one of my silly fencing arrangements that keeps nothing out.
Well the other night was my second try and I was astonished at what showed up:
There he was..... No, not that fool Dean. It was Mr. Gorgeous Feline Himself showing up -- coming right in one of my silly fencing arrangements that keeps nothing out.
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| Mr. Gorgeous Feline, The Maha |
Of course it just so happened that the day before, I actually saw the Maha in the yard that morning early, when I stepped out. This doesn't happen very often!! It's only the third time I've actually caught sight of him.
When he saw me he jumped over a silly piece that used to be a gate. Wow what a big tail. When I got up that morning I noticed there were very few cats around.
By now we all know what that means:
"WHERE ARE THE CATS!!!"
He must have been out there prowling around in the night. Later on I realized he was just coming out of the barn when I saw him. When he saw me he hopped over the fence, right where he is in this picture.
So the next night I put the camera in the front yard peach tree, facing
both the barn and silly fence area, not really expecting anything but hey, gotta try the thing out.
Well well well, check it out. My goodness isn't he just the Cat's Pajamas. What a cat.
"WHERE ARE THE CATS!!!"
He must have been out there prowling around in the night. Later on I realized he was just coming out of the barn when I saw him. When he saw me he hopped over the fence, right where he is in this picture.
So the next night I put the camera in the front yard peach tree, facing
Well well well, check it out. My goodness isn't he just the Cat's Pajamas. What a cat.
They're cats. They are actually in the Feline family. However, they are also SUPREME STALKERS AND PEERLESS HUNTERS, highly intelligent, very mysterious, usually quite solitary and naturally very curious. The nagual don Juan Matus says great cats read us directly. Our emotional and more subtle bodies.
Maha posing for the camera
So there he is coming around the yard 2 nights in a row, and actually the times on these video clips show that he was around during the 10 pm hour, then moseyed off, came back and went in the barn around 6 a.m. the next morning.
Maha posing for the camera
So there he is coming around the yard 2 nights in a row, and actually the times on these video clips show that he was around during the 10 pm hour, then moseyed off, came back and went in the barn around 6 a.m. the next morning.
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| That dark opening is the barn entrance |
To do what, sleep the day away in my barn? Out carousing like a drunkard....
Retiring to the Barn after a hard night out
Methinks he has decided the barn is his new hang-out. They love old wrecks like that to crawl into.
I've been pondering this behavior of course. Usually something precipitates him acting up, although not always. Sometimes just because it's spring; or maybe sometimes because I've done some transgression that wouldn't occur to me, but in Lion World it means something.
There actually was one of those, as I thought about the last days...
Retiring to the Barn after a hard night out
Methinks he has decided the barn is his new hang-out. They love old wrecks like that to crawl into.
I've been pondering this behavior of course. Usually something precipitates him acting up, although not always. Sometimes just because it's spring; or maybe sometimes because I've done some transgression that wouldn't occur to me, but in Lion World it means something.
There actually was one of those, as I thought about the last days...
A few days ago I was brushing my hair out on the doorstep in the morning sun. It takes a long time sometimes, so I wandered out into the parking area and over to his favorite manzanita scratching bush that just happens to be right there, probably 20 yards from the front gate.
By the looks of it they've been walking through and scratching on it for years.
But since this has been going on now for nearly 8 years, I can tell which marks are definitely his that I have discovered over time.
So I walked right up to his scratching post, took my hairbrush in hand bristle side down, and smacked it lightly against all his scratch marks, repeatedly. Basically rubbing my hair scent all over his area.....
Then I took a small handful of loose hairs from the brush and wrapped it around the scratches, "Hi I'm Here!!", which is the little game we play. I then went in and forgot all about it.
Until he started acting up noticeably. How timely to get that camera just then. I"m wondering if I'll ever be able to tear myself away from monitoring Maha for Deano down there.
It's now several days later, after the video incident. I got nothing last night. Today was a superb day to go out walking around, seeing what could be seen, looking for potential cat remains and sightings. I feel quite confident that the remaining missing three are in hiding and will eventually come out.
When Amon Ra appeared this morning, emerging out of the greenery like a little lion himself, it totally eased my mind that they are just hunkered down somewhere.
I heard no feline death shrieks in the night, and have seen no telltale signs or furry body parts out there, so good. It is a bit harrowing where my little ones are concerned.
But for myself, I don't have fear about him. He's behaving properly. So far he has deferred to me when we have come face to face. And he's been very very good with the cats in the last years. He probably gives them a bit of a run for their lives now and again, but I feel he can see that they belong with me.
And I have told him - you eat my lil ones, and it will put a serious damper on our relationship, Maha. The End.
So I'm walking around out there today, down at the pond -- and whoo hoo!! What must go on down there at night! I need a camera at several stations. Lots of good fresh lion prints, there were fresh bear prints -- no doubt coming to see what carnage I have wrought in the orchard this year with my chainsaw.
I just love to put my foot on his prints and feel the contours of those paws, "Hi I'm here Maha!". You think he doesn't get that? He totally gets that.
Then I walked out onto the big pasture to see the orchard. It's so beautiful, I hadn't really finished with it for the winter but its a mega-early warm dry spring so there we are, all budding out.
And then onto his scratching bush to see if anything was new -- and LO!
Looky there!! Isn't THAT just the most blatant feline display! Do you think it could be screaming "MINE" any louder in Lion Language?
Now we know what stirred him all up! Oh my.
Well, I certainly do know that the animal kingdom takes things like scent,
territorial markings and boundaries VERY seriously. I meant no disrespect to the dear creature, but it was probably more like the equivalent of a french kiss as opposed to a handshake.
Anyway, he seems to have wandered off for the moment. I love it in this last clip where he's coming back at 6 am and goes in the barn. He obviously just walked up the garden lane right where I walk. Which I knew, because I've found poops many times further down. But this barn entrance is right in my front yard.
That's the Lion Equinox Report. With any luck I'll have a good kook report shortly. In the meantime, keep your eyes out for nails and tracks in the dust and all hair implements safely tucked away!
Equinox Blessings -
Kristine Lavender Love
By the looks of it they've been walking through and scratching on it for years.
But since this has been going on now for nearly 8 years, I can tell which marks are definitely his that I have discovered over time.
So I walked right up to his scratching post, took my hairbrush in hand bristle side down, and smacked it lightly against all his scratch marks, repeatedly. Basically rubbing my hair scent all over his area.....
Then I took a small handful of loose hairs from the brush and wrapped it around the scratches, "Hi I'm Here!!", which is the little game we play. I then went in and forgot all about it.
Until he started acting up noticeably. How timely to get that camera just then. I"m wondering if I'll ever be able to tear myself away from monitoring Maha for Deano down there.
It's now several days later, after the video incident. I got nothing last night. Today was a superb day to go out walking around, seeing what could be seen, looking for potential cat remains and sightings. I feel quite confident that the remaining missing three are in hiding and will eventually come out.
When Amon Ra appeared this morning, emerging out of the greenery like a little lion himself, it totally eased my mind that they are just hunkered down somewhere. I heard no feline death shrieks in the night, and have seen no telltale signs or furry body parts out there, so good. It is a bit harrowing where my little ones are concerned.
But for myself, I don't have fear about him. He's behaving properly. So far he has deferred to me when we have come face to face. And he's been very very good with the cats in the last years. He probably gives them a bit of a run for their lives now and again, but I feel he can see that they belong with me.
And I have told him - you eat my lil ones, and it will put a serious damper on our relationship, Maha. The End.
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| This is what it should look like in the morning |
So I'm walking around out there today, down at the pond -- and whoo hoo!! What must go on down there at night! I need a camera at several stations. Lots of good fresh lion prints, there were fresh bear prints -- no doubt coming to see what carnage I have wrought in the orchard this year with my chainsaw.
Then I walked out onto the big pasture to see the orchard. It's so beautiful, I hadn't really finished with it for the winter but its a mega-early warm dry spring so there we are, all budding out.And then onto his scratching bush to see if anything was new -- and LO!
Now we know what stirred him all up! Oh my.
 |
| Ooops! |
Well, I certainly do know that the animal kingdom takes things like scent,
territorial markings and boundaries VERY seriously. I meant no disrespect to the dear creature, but it was probably more like the equivalent of a french kiss as opposed to a handshake.
Anyway, he seems to have wandered off for the moment. I love it in this last clip where he's coming back at 6 am and goes in the barn. He obviously just walked up the garden lane right where I walk. Which I knew, because I've found poops many times further down. But this barn entrance is right in my front yard.
That's the Lion Equinox Report. With any luck I'll have a good kook report shortly. In the meantime, keep your eyes out for nails and tracks in the dust and all hair implements safely tucked away!
Kristine Lavender Love
