"Pussycat" in Green Valley at 5:45AM (Willcox: houses, neighborhood)

[RichCapeCod]

OK, not a pussycat. But, for a moment that's what I thought I was looking at. It just sat there, unconcerned when it saw me. I stopped walking (5:45AM - empty streets) toward it. Had my Pixel 3A phone, which I used for the photos.

The bobcat was remarkably relaxed. I walked closer, speaking softly (uttering nonsense, just "nice pussycat" talk). I think I came within perhaps 20 yards (maybe a bit closer) to the animal. As he walked by the houses (he could have run off toward our golf course right nearby, but he opted to stick around) I took a few photos.

Hope you find them interesting.

Rich

He(?) just sat there when I first saw the animal.


He kept an eye on me as he moved along the house-line.


Nice morning surprise!

[lluvia]

No doubt a street walker.

[bkolodzi]

Awesome pics Rich!!! What a fortunate encounter, and thanks for sharing!!!

[elkotronics]

My favorite is the last one. Great pics, thanks for sharing, Rich!

[NYLIER]

Beautiful! Thank you!

[Canine*Castle]

Beautiful animal!

[llowllevellowll]

Amazing. Relatedly, I'm new to the area so all of this wildlife is beyond exciting to me. I still get jazzed every time javelinas scramble into the neighborhood; this though would put me on the moon. Congratulations!

Having never seen one, and maybe this is a silly question but are they ever curious about us to a point that this would feel a little bit suspenseful?

[RichCapeCod]

Originally Posted by llowllevellowll

...Having never seen one, and maybe this is a silly question but are they ever curious about us to a point that this would feel a little bit suspenseful?

Not sure if you meant "nervous" when you said "suspenseful." But, you can clear that up if you so wish. I wasn't sure how to react to the animal. I wanted a photo, so I moved very slowly, and kept my distance so as not appear threatening. As I wrote, the bobcat could have easily run down the side of the house and disappeared in a flash, but it didn't. It sat for a while (quite a few seconds), then walked a "substantial" distance along the home lines.

I suspect you'll find that many wild animals become "socialized" to the presence of non-threatening humans. On Cape Cod we have Eastern Coyotes (they can reach over 60 lbs in weight), and many have lost all fear of humans (not a good thing). Some people have made the terrible mistake of feeding the animals, which always ends badly for the critters being fed.

I used to be chief of police in my town. An officer (25 years ago) told me of coming upon a coyote, lying on the side of the road, around 2AM in the morning. The officer thought the animal had been hit by a car, so he pulled his cruiser over and got out.

The coyote got up, looked at the officer with an expression of "what have you got for me to eat?" Then the animal walked across the road, according to the officer close enough so that the officer could have reached down and touched it's back! Then lay down once again on that side of the road! Unconcerned and relaxed.

Rich

[elkotronics]

The only time I saw a wildcat out in the wild, ever, was at the Chiricahua National Monument in SE Arizona. We were just about to the Visitor Center when I looked over to the right. A young Bobcat was sitting under a tree relaxing. I stopped my car, rolled down the windows and said something like "hey there, how are you?" The cat did nothing, but stared at the three of us in the car. I sat there for about a minute or minute and a half and the Bobcat stood up, looked one more time at us and then turned and walked slowly in to the forest.

That was an awesome experience - having grown up in western Washington with all of it's wildlife (and it has a LOT of wildlife) I never saw a bear, cougar or bobcat out in the wild in my home state. So this discovery SE of Willcox was really cool!

[Digger 68]

Originally Posted by RichCapeCod

Not sure if you meant "nervous" when you said "suspenseful." But, you can clear that up if you so wish. I wasn't sure how to react to the animal. I wanted a photo, so I moved very slowly, and kept my distance so as not appear threatening. As I wrote, the bobcat could have easily run down the side of the house and disappeared in a flash, but it didn't. It sat for a while (quite a few seconds), then walked a "substantial" distance along the home lines.

I suspect you'll find that many wild animals become "socialized" to the presence of non-threatening humans. On Cape Cod we have Eastern Coyotes (they can reach over 60 lbs in weight), and many have lost all fear of humans (not a good thing). Some people have made the terrible mistake of feeding the animals, which always ends badly for the critters being fed.

I used to be chief of police in my town. An officer (25 years ago) told me of coming upon a coyote, lying on the side of the road, around 2AM in the morning. The officer thought the animal had been hit by a car, so he pulled his cruiser over and got out.

The coyote got up, looked at the officer with an expression of "what have you got for me to eat?" Then the animal walked across the road, according to the officer close enough so that the officer could have reached down and touched it's back! Then lay down once again on that side of the road! Unconcerned and relaxed.

Rich

I use to do this......