Monday, October 11, 2010

A Bobcat & Her Baby Playing At River Legacy Park

That is a mama bobcat and her kitty baby in the picture, frolicking last Wednesday at River Legacy Park in Arlington.

No. I did not see this pair frolicking. An NBCDFW photo journalist was shooting video of the nice weather when he saw the bobcats playing, with the bobcats oblivious to people walking by, with the people walking by oblivious to the cats playing. Except for the photo journalist taking the video.

It was Elsie Hotpepper who sent me the URL with the Video of the River Legacy Park Bobcats Frolicking.

I have had many bobcat encounters in River Legacy Park. In the first encounter I was sure I was about to be mauled in cougar-like fashion. At that point in time I did not know bobcats are harmless to humans. My nervousness, at that first encounter, was enhanced due to their being reports, around that time, of cougar/panther/mountain lion spottings along the Trinity River, including the infamous Mu Mu Lady cougar/panther/mountain lion encounter in Village Creek Natural Historic Area.

My first bobcat encounter occurred on the River Legacy Mountain Bike Trail. I turned tail and went the wrong way on the one-way trail so I could warn humanity as quickly as possible of the danger that lurked on the trail. When I found a park ranger she was amused to tell me the bobcats are harmless.

I had another encounter soon after my first. This time I was roller blading. The bobcat was walking on the trail. I slowed down, got out my camera and slowly bladed behind the lollygagging bobcat snapping pictures.

A year or two later I had another encounter with a bobcat. This time was also on the mountain bike trail. I'd gotten a flat and was taking a short cut back to civilization when I saw a big bobcat laying in the shade of a big bush. We stared at each other for awhile. I got out my camera. I don't think the bobcat liked  the beeping noise of the camera, so it slowly walked away.

My strangest bobcat encounter is also the most recent. I was biking on to the north side of the trail bridge across the Trinity when I saw a bobcat walking on to the southern end. By this point in time I had no bobcat anxiety. I was surprised when the bobcat kept on walking. I kept on pedaling. We met in the middle, both staring at each other, with me saying "howdy kitty."

Methinks the River Legacy Park bobcats are getting very used to humans and are not so skittish as they might be out in the total wild.

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