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“I often extol the virtues of Idaho, Boise and my neighborhood which happens to be at the wildlife crossroads of the Boise Front and the Boise River,” writes Sisyphus, 43rd State Blues. “On Groundhogs Day I hit the greenbelt on my way to work and saw this critter walking casually towards me. She saw me coming and scooted across the dry ditch bed to see if anyone left some goodies on their back porch. It was about 15 degrees and this looked to be part of her regular route which I assume she usually took at night. She stayed clear of me but never rushed away from my presence, which was odd, since they tend to be very shy. I chalked that up to being cold and hungry.” Sis has a bunch of other photos of his close encounter here.
Question: Have you ever had a close encounter with an Inland Northwest predator? Tell us about it.
D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
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Dennis on February 04 at 12:29 p.m.
Yup!
Went to take the dog out one evening just prior to going off to bed. The dog and I exited the front door and walk head long in to a young mountain lion. Numerous high pitched noises from all parties, some serious crow hoppin’ and and exit stage left mentality separated all parties. The dog was never right again…
;-)
moscow_minidoka on February 04 at 12:34 p.m.
I was cornered by a cougar in a Moscow bar. When flashing my wedding ring didn’t phase her, I had no choice but to create a diversion and run for the door. I made it out very scared - but unharmed - but I’m not sure if anyone else in John’s Alley was hurt - I certainly didn’t stick around to watch the carnage.
Sisyphus on February 04 at 12:34 p.m.
Thanks for the link up Dave.
I’d say I’d found the culprit for our lost cat, but there’s too many predators in the neighborhood to choose from.
Sisyphus on February 04 at 12:36 p.m.
LOL MM. I had a similar encounter in that very same location. They should post signs.
Cindy_H on February 04 at 12:43 p.m.
Hmm…what do you call older married guys who hit on ladies?
I know!
Cheetahs.
PS: That cat’s nothing. Milo is learning to dance.
mpwuzhere on February 04 at 12:45 p.m.
Nothing up here…
But when I was growing up in Calif. I had some close calls
- Was within arms reach of a black bear…just wandered right past us after we setup a campfire…
- A bunch of us were looking for caves and came across a mountain lion near Lake Arrowhead..we looked up…it looked down…and luckily it didn’t follow when we yelled (screamed) and ran…lol
- When obtaining our survival merit badge…a pack of coyotes decided to check out my make shift shelter…woke up to teeth in front of my face
- Oh and got chased by some Boar Hogs over in Germany…ya know the ones that seem like they are 5’ tall?
Someone had a similar incident on FB…we were probably at the same place only 3 years apart…
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=400836069003
Dennis on February 04 at 12:48 p.m.
Milo is learning to dance.— Cindy
Is that what happens when they walk in a skillet?
MatthewRoot on February 04 at 12:50 p.m.
Closest encounter was sticking my head into a small natural opening in a mountain side in the Okanogan Highlands only to have a cougar - I mean mountain lion – snarl at me from a few feet away.
Lots of black bear encounters over the years, but they are pretty harmless (usually). One with two cubs charged my co-worker while we were working in the Okanogan Highlands, but she wasn’t very serious about it (got the blood flowing that morning though). Good thing she was a momma black bear, not a momma grizzly.
Had a large barracuda snap at me while skin diving in the Florida Keys, but I was assured that was just a normal territorial display – startling nonetheless.
Too many rattlesnakes to count.
Scariest encounter by far was being backed down a pit bull on the sidewalk near my house.
OrangeTV on February 04 at 12:56 p.m.
Question: Have you ever had a close encounter with an Inland Northwest predator? Tell us about it.
Yes, I’ve crossed paths with Larry Spencer a couple of times at the grocery store. Yikes! (ba dum bump - I kid.)
Norther on February 04 at 1:00 p.m.
Mama Moose and her two kids used to like to peruse my driveway early in the mornings. Numerous mountain kitty’s while hiking in the back country and a black bear once up above Mullan. No parties were harmed…all were scared to shivers, though.
JeanieSpokane on February 04 at 1:21 p.m.
Great pics, Sis. My close encounter was my 18th summer, when I worked at Yellowstone Park in the West Thumb camping area. Every day was an adventure - who would be waiting for me out the front door? Bear? Bear cubs? (mama has to be around somewhere) Moose? Weasel? By far, the scariest was the weasel. They are just plain mean.
Kimber on February 04 at 1:36 p.m.
Wow….she/he is beautiful. But yes, you do have do be careful about letting your cats and dogs out at nite or early early in the morning, not to mention the kids.
jreighley on February 04 at 1:53 p.m.
About 10 years ago, I took an early morning bath with a moose at Stanley hot springs. I think it was 3 feet away from me, and didn’t know I was there.
I tried to stay really still so that I didn’t startle it into stomping me to death. Every time I would breathe it would look concerned and look around. Then it startled me by jumping the rest of the way into the water with me, We both recoiled in panic and he ran off.
toadman on February 04 at 2:42 p.m.
“Have you ever had a close encounter with an Inland Northwest predator?”
I met Cindy H in person once. Does that count?
toadman on February 04 at 2:48 p.m.
Truth is, no.
Also, I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest over seven years now, and have YET to meet one single person who has EVER had a Sasquatch experience. From the shows I watch from time to time on History Channel (filmed mostly on the west side, but still in N.Idaho too) one gets the impression that the area is so thick with bigfoot that you’d pretty much trip over them every time you go hiking or paddling or hunting or anything else.
By now you’d think that I’d have had a personal in-home welcome from the big furry guy himself, but alas, no.
;-)
yabetcha on February 04 at 2:49 p.m.
The critter, cat is a Bobcat. While it appears to have tufted ears, the tufts on a Lynx are much taller. And a Lynx’s coat is not so brightly spotted.
JeanC on February 04 at 3:01 p.m.
Pretty kitty!
Never have had a run in with a predator. Been nose to nose with moose, startled a black bear and tried to set my chainsaw down on a rattlesnake once (learned at that point I can teleport LOL!).
I had a cat way back when who we had left with some friends while my family went to Italy where we were stationed. We came back and went to get Pumpkin and Tiger. Pumpkin had a flat spot on his back at the base of his tail that hadn’t been there when we’d left. People who had him said that one night he’d gone out and the next thing they heard was a screechingly loud cat fight. Pumpkin limps up to the door with a smug look on his face. When they checked the yard the next morning all they could find was cat tracks, Pumpkin’s and the ones belonging to a bobcat! Silly kitty didn’t clue that his opponent outweighed him by a good 25 lbs or so and decided he didn’t like him on his turf, so ran him off.
bcnqrgd on February 04 at 4:29 p.m.
I watched and was watched by a trio of Canadian Lynx in a city park in Anchorage.
fortboise on February 05 at 9:56 a.m.
Huh. My one and only encounter with weasels was three least weasels, which are apparently of a more pleasant disposition. I was hanging out in the talus pile above Big Fisher L. in the Selkirks, and they surprised me, checked me out without animosity for a couple minutes, and then were on their way, just after my amazement had subsided enough for me to try getting “catching” one with my camera. (Missed.)