Errol and I used to hike in these hills all the time with our dogs when we first moved here. At that time, there were black bears and bob cats here, enough of them for me to have seen them when they came close to our house, but we never ran into them on a hike. There were also mountain lions, but I believe few people ever saw one.
One bear loved to come in the night and scratch it's back on the utility pole right outside our house, which over time got pretty messed up. I would find fur stuck in the pole, but we never saw the bear.
These days, I don't even see coyotes and all the rest of the animals have been gone for years. The higher and wilder mountains are not far away and I imagine they moved there as more people moved in here and the weather changed to become so much dryer.
The coyotes were the last to move on, but I see them when my Junipers drop their nuts ,which look like berries, and apprently taste very good if you are a coyote. I believe gin is made from them, but I haven't seen a tipsy coyote yet.
Hari Om
ReplyDeleteGin is made from either grain or sometimes potatoes... The juniper berries are used for flavouring only. What a shame that the wildlife has retreated so much...a sign of human and environmental encroachment I suppose. YAM xx