I live in a semi-rural neighborhood in Magnolia, Texas on an acre and a half.
I absolutely love it here. Close enough to city-life yet far enough from city-life depending on the mood I’m in. If anyone read my “The Intruder” story, then you know that we have to deal with critters and creepy crawlers. It’s just the price we pay.
Because we have creepies in my neck of the woods, I’m grateful for the predatory birds that call my area their home. Not only are they beautiful birds, but they keep the majority of snakes and vermin on my property at a minimum. I’d like to think that, anyway. If they could just leave the bunnies alone, that’d be great, but they don’t really care what I think. Unless, of course I want to make the effort to feed them every day, which I won’t.
I love it when I walk outside in the early morning or evening and come across an owl or a hawk perching on my fence looking for prey. I’ve been lucky enough to shoot a few, too. On my camera!
One early morning, I was enjoying my first cup of coffee outside by the pool. I had the gate open to the back forty (ok, back .25) so the dogs could go out as they please. All of a sudden, a large Barred Owl came swooping down to the ground, seriously, 4 feet from me! It was after something it thought was prey, but wasn’t. It was only a piece of white fabric. I thought they were supposed to have super eyesight. It all happened so fast, but enough time for both of my dogs to freak! Ever since then, predatory birds have been their nemesis. Even if they see an owl fly from tree to tree 50 feet up and away from us, they must protect their mama. Good dogs.
Last week, a neighbor was outside feeding her animals. She has horses, dogs and cats. And, a lot of them. She posted in the community FB group that she had finished feeding and walked down by the creek just to take a peek at the water level. She saw a tannish colored animal across the creek and at first glance she thought it was a deer, because of its size. She stood there for a few seconds, then realized “that ain’t no deer.” It was a mountain lion! Yes, we have mountain lions, also called cougars, in Montgomery County, Texas. They are very rarely seen. But, at this time of year they have young ones. And, they need to feed themselves and their young. Kitty was probably minding her own business and was getting a drink from the creek before she started her evening hunt. I was astonished at the thought of a lion being so close to my house and property. I would have loved to have seen it….from a distance. For a few days afterwards, when taking the dogs out for “last business,” I carried my gun and a big flashlight.