From the Shadows
What an amazing and beautiful animal is the cougar. I have been lucky enough to have a few experiences with this great cat over the years, first in British Columbia and also in the Cypress Hills of Saskatchewan.
During our walkabout while living in a small cabin in the Purcell mountains of B.C. I had a close encounter with the cougar. This cabin had ‘basic’ indoor plumbing so we normally would go outside to do our lighter business and save having to haul the extra waste. Out one night as I went under the trees to relieve myself just before bed everything was very quiet, no wind, just peaceful calm. I became very aware of the sound of breathing very close to me. I did a quick check around to see if there was an animal close by, but couldn’t see anything in the darkness.
I concluded that in order for the sound to be heard so clearly the animal had to be very close. If not right behind me then it must have been resting on a branch in the tree directly overhead. I calmly finished my business and slowly stepped away from the tree, stepping back into the cabin. When I got inside I asked Patrick how close an animal would have to be in order to hear it breathing, explaining what had just happened outside and he replied, “Very close.”
I guess what surprised me most about this incident was I had not been scared. I remained calm and assured I would be fine. I was simply being alerted to the presence of the animal, not threatened by it. If you think about your pet being close to you, sleeping on your lap or even on the floor beside you, can you hear it breathing? Just how close would it have to be? Did this cat purposely start to breath hard enough for me to hear so I would be aware of it’s presence and act accordingly?
I often recall this incident which reminds me respect for wild animals is a far wiser choice than to fear them. I believe each of us wish to be respected in spite of our station in life, a common thread between us. Demanding respect is not the same as earning it. Just because we are of a certain age, status in the community, or position at work, we must not assume we deserve respect, rather, I maintain respect must still be earned and not taken for granted.
My respect for animals comes naturally because in my experience they have never crossed the line, becoming aggressive or cruel as so many humans have in my life.
Until recently I spent a great deal of time in the mature pine forest of the Cypress Hills, enjoying the peace and tranquility of this special area. During winter months I found great pleasure walking the trails with Miss Mali, while the summer months provided a great place to run. We often have strong winds in the Maple Creek area which makes running in town not very enjoyable. Being in the trees provides shelter from the wind and direct sunlight, making it a far more pleasant experience.
With the higher altitude and the varied terrain it is also more challenging and a very good workout. Miss Mali loves the park and has great fun chasing squirrels. On many occasions she has tried to climb a tree to get closer to those furry little creatures. I don’t worry about her running crazy through the trees because she will not chase deer or moose, always staying within sight.
On this particular day she became suddenly very quiet, ignoring the squirrels; she wouldn’t leave my heel. I was curious at this unusual behaviour and began to take more notice of the surroundings. I was at the top of a hill with a ravine to my right and another hill on the other side. I stopped to look around, wondering what was concerning Mali and saw what I first thought was a deer going through the trees on the other side of the ravine.
Usually when there is a deer close by Mali will stand and watch to see what it is doing, where it is going. She then continues on her way in the perpetual search for the elusive squirrel. This time however, she would not leave my side, not wishing to go ahead, and I think hoping not to be seen or heard. She became very quiet and still.
I looked with more attention and realized if it was a deer it had an unusually long tail and short legs. The animal stopped, turned around to head back the way it had come. It was then I knew for sure we had been watching a cougar, it had been shadowing us for at least part of our run, disappearing quickly through the trees just over the hill and then out of sight. It is easy to understand why they are called the Ghost Cat. It would have been easy to miss this great cat had Mali not alerted me to it’s presence.
During one of our winter walks in this same park we came across part of what I assumed was a deer recently killed by a cougar. The cat was no where to be seen, but blood and entrails were spread across the road. I stepped over, but Mali would not follow. She was quite upset and not at all willing to cross this line. I finally convinced her to cross so we could continue on our walk. Once she was clear of the kill she once again became her happy explorative self. We trudged through the deeper snow for another half a mile or so before turning back to the kill site. I had to encourage her once again to cross over so we could get on our way home. I could sense her immediate relief once we were away from that area.
A few weeks later we again went to the hills. I sat on the picnic table at the end of the lake just to absorb the beauty of the place, but even though the sun was beginning to have some warmth to it, the wind still had bite. Not ready to leave just yet, I ventured into the trees to get out of the wind to continue enjoying our outing.
Mali got all excited once we began our climb up the hill into the trees because she found the remains of the deer presumably killed two weeks previous. This was how I knew we were directly above the road where we had crossed the kill site. I was a bit shocked to realize just how close that deer was to the road we had been walking on that day, perhaps only twenty feet away in a small dip of the forest floor. In my imagination I saw the cougar resting very close by that day. It would not have abandoned its kill. I believe we had been fortunate indeed to have walked away.
Patrick mentioned later it can be dangerous to cross a fresh kill site, which this was. The cougar almost certainly had been hiding in the shadows as we passed by. Miss Mali of course displayed more wisdom than me that day. I can always rely on her to show a measure of common sense so often absent in humankind.
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