Another "Ferocious Beast" Caught on Camera

The neighbors trail camera today has captured a new "ferocious beast" that has moved in on the meal.

My burn pile.

My attempt at teaching the boys some table manners. As you can see, I may have a lot of work ahead of me ;-)

They think it's more of a joke......................

Super Catman is "working on his bike" while Moonbeam observes.

For the past week, the lion didn't drift far from my mind. My sleep was restless, and I didn't feel like myself at all. After schooling the children, I read "Ride the River" by Louie L'Amour yesterday which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was one of those books you can't put down once you've started it and I was lost in the adventure of a 16 year old mountain girl being pursued by bandits across early America. It was a great story. I had taken the children outdoors to play and didn't want to be idle so I raked up some old branches and then burnt them. After that, I had to watch the fire, so I started the book. I hadn't intended on going on a "scouting adventure", but the book egged me on and I still didn't want the boys going off by themselves.
One of the boys put their coon tailed cap on me as a joke and I left it on as we headed out, Moonbeam in her pack. We took to the woods and ignored the regular trails as the boys were in search of sheds. Art Dog's destination was up the top of a steep hill which I refused to pack Moonbeam up. In the end, I did it anyway, not wanting the boys to be out gallivanting around far from my sight. I had neglected my spikes, but had my Nordic poles handy, for which I was very pleased.
As I hiked, I began to think about living up here in God's Country. My son, the Archer, was stalked many a time by a catamount (lion) a few years back. We think it was probably the same small one, as the occasions were close together the same year in the same general vicinity. It was frightening for me, but in the end, my son came home unharmed each time. Neighbors have varying opinions about mountain lions. There is one common theme, of which everyone is agreed. No one wants the law up here. Years back, a problem grizzly was handled quite poorly by the authorities and it left a bad taste in the mouths of the locals. Add to that all the problem bears and wolves they have relocated up here, and you have many a local who will give you an earful. Truth be told, most predators want to be left alone. Generally, they don't attack. My family has run into grizzlies - once a grizzly with cubs, another time with a bloody sack of meat. Neither time did the grizzlies attack. The animals and the people both want the same thing for the most part, that is to be left alone. Of course, my freezer would probably tell you otherwise. The bulk of protein in our diet comes from bear, elk and deer. If you looked in my kitchen at any given meal, you'd find I was making some conglomeration of what we've picked from the ground or shot on the hoof. At any rate, I enjoyed the hike with the boys and I felt safe, though my gun was as always, handy.
The neighbor sent more photos from his trail camera today. It seems that our catamount may have moved on or found some other prey. As you can see, this new ferocious beast has found the left overs. When these came to us, we all cocked our heads, squinted our eyes, scratched our heads (so to speak) and tried to make out what we were seeing. Then the realization hit and we got a good chuckle. The camera captured our cat making good on the lions meal. It seems as though our cat visited the site last night and again this morning. Hopefully the lion has moved on, or he may have to make use of his 9 lives.