For the past
twenty-four years, I’ve lived on a ridge overlooking the Arkansas River in
Little Rock, Arkansas. One of my joys is
waking up every morning to its spectacular views. We're in the city
limits, but because of the river valley below us, a remarkable variety of wildlife
visit our neighborhood. Over the years,
we’ve shared space with bunnies, chipmunks, nutria, raccoons, coyotes, the
dreaded armadillo and some snakes of astounding lengths. Deer often cut through our yard to the
valley across the street, and we’ve seen foxes from time to time. A bald eagle cruises along the ridge almost daily. We see lots of songbirds and a flock of optimistic buzzards hang out down the
hill looking for their next meal.
For me, our most thrilling visitors
have been the bobcats. One spring a mother and two cubs strolled along the edge
of our lower flowerbed. This summer, I watched a rabbit race into my closest neighbor’s
yard with a bobcat in hot pursuit. It was the bunny’s lucky day because the big
cat stopped just short of the rock wall separating the yard from the natural
area below. While Uncle Wiggly scampered to safety, the big cat plopped down on
the ground as if waiting for another opportunity. He lay there long enough for
me to fetch my camera and take his picture, but he blended in so well with his
surroundings that it's difficult to distinguish him in the photograph from to
a large rock nearby.
As I stood at the
corner of my deck watching him, he turned his head and looked me straight in
the eye. There he was, unblinking,
watching me, watch him. After what must have been a full minute, he got up and disappeared down the hill into the brush. What a beautiful creature!
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| See if you can spot him. |
Labels: Arkansas, Wildlife