Ghost Cat Visits … and stays
We had an exciting week back in September when a mountain lion came to visit one night. My husband had just taken the dog out for her nightly routine and told me how beautiful the stars were so I went out to see. I walked to the other side of the house on the deck – the best place for viewing stars. I heard a very odd sound and stopped to listen wondering if a person was out there and needed help. The sound continued and with the help of a flashlight we realized there was a deer down on the edge of our parking area. My husband was the first to realize there was a mountain lion in the mix. Fortunately, the attack was over quickly and we were about to learn all about mountain lions! The mountain lion covered his/her kill under lots of pine needles and branches under a scrub oak tree at the base of our biggest, towering Ponderosa Pine and continued to visit nightly until the deer was consumed. We saw the mountain lion several times during both daylight and dark. Letting our little dog out at night turned into a two person job – one with a flashlight and bear spray and one with a flashlight and a big stick. After watching the mountain lion and his ways for several days, we were not really too scared – he didn’t seem interested in other deer, people or dogs. Just happily enjoying his feast. After a week, he left and we haven’t seen him since. We talked to Fish and Game, neighbors and read info on the internet. One of the intriguing facts I learned was that most people live their entire lives in Colorado and never see a mountain lion and for that reason they are also called “Ghost Cats.” We were lucky enough to have the thrill of one visiting very close to our front door!
I have been following Jude Hill (www.SpiritCloth.com and @SpiritCloth) for many years and currently taking her course. She is discussing making patches/squares/puzzle pieces and I decided to follow along and make some. I try to use colorful colors at times, but I am usually drawn back to my natural palette especially as I have been doing some eco printing and natural dyeing. I had made up a bunch of these squares when Jude’s example of putting them together was a cat. I had the ah-ha moment of using my ecoprinted puzzle pieces to create a Ghost Cat on my Kimono Robe (more about that in a later post). So here is the Ghost Cat, fuzzy ears and all. I am adding the giant Ponderosa so more photos soon.