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November 14, 2007
The Darker Side Of Nature
I'm sorry to say that it's not all smiley faces and white puffy rabbits and dancing clowns in the 'hood right now.
Two nights ago:
There was a raging wind blowing frosty, silvery crystals horizontally through the air. The power was out, and it had been for quite some time. My house was frigid cold, 49 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the thermometer. I wore a jacket and stocking cap, lit a few candles, and wandered around the house with my headlamp. I shortly gave up and instead nestled myself in bed under several layers of warm blankets. As I lay there, the walls of the house vibrated and the window panes chattered in the unyielding wind. I heard a big thump on the other side of the house. Not wanting to climb out from underneath the warmth of my bed, I ignored it. Several more minutes went by and the first loud thump was followed by a series of even louder thumps. I finally got up, grabbed a flashlight, and went to see what was the matter. The storm door on my back door was missing! Gone! Blown away! Now that's some serious wind.
This morning:
After a few days of nasty weather, a warm sun shone through my window and beckoned me out of bed. As I shuffled around my house, opening window shades, one of my first views was of a herd of elk grazing in my yard. For just a moment, it looked like business as usual in the yard, until I looked a little closer. One cow elk was limping around, favoring a bloody hind leg. As the rest of the herd slowly walked and grazed, walked and grazed, she was challenged by keeping up. A short time later, I went out in the yard with my dog. In the still early, breath-showing chilly, sun-shining morning, the wolves were howling close by. It became clear to me what had happened: the cow elk had been attacked by wolves in the night. Now, the wolves will linger nearby for a few days, waiting for the cow to weaken. When she's too weak to fight back, they will take her down. Until then, she'll limp around in seeming misery, listening to her fate howling on the outskirts of the neighborhood. Nature can be cruel sometimes.
This afternoon:
I almost shouldn't tell this story because I don't wish to incite fear of nature in anyone else.* But it sure scared the crap out of me, so, oh well. Mid-afternoon, I set out on a local trail for a short, 45 minute recovery run. I forgot to bring my bear spray, and I was lamenting that fact as I left from the trail head; I reasoned with myself, however, that I was only going in the trail a few miles before I would turn around again (That really wasn't intended to be foreshadowing, because I don't think that bear spray would have helped in this particular situation.). About a half mile in, the trail dipped from the contours of a sagebrush hillside to a wooded area replete with two small streams and a fair bit of mud. As I ran, I was focusing closely upon scampering from dry rock to rock and avoiding the mud.
Since I was looking at the ground in front of me, what halted me was the noise of scattering brush just ahead. I looked up in time to see the back half of a large, tawny-colored animal disappear into the bushes below the trail. Then, I looked back to the trail about 20 feet in front of me and I saw a buck deer kill. You know, a dead, half-eaten deer with a small set of antlers. Slowly, so slowly, all the observed data were transfered to my brain and pooled into logical thought: I just scared a mountain lion off its deer kill. Then quickly, too quickly, I turned around and sprinted down the trail. An undetermined number of seconds later, I recalled the advice I've given people over and over (the same advice I've also successfully heeded once before) about not running in the presence of a predatory cat, and I slowed to a walk. I picked up two rocks and I yelled my way back to the trail head. It wasn't far and I soon found myself standing at my car, remarkably winded from just this short bout of activity. That which is natural can certainly be frightening.
* I am not retelling this story to unnecessarily frighten anyone. As I have previously said, I believe that nature is a place that we as humans should approach with healthy respect. I think that occasional doses of fear like this remind me (us?) of our particular place within nature. We, as humans, are just members of nature, not its controllers.
Posted by Meghan at November 14, 2007 6:30 PM
Comments
I'm glad you got away safely! It's good to get a little reminder now and then.
I find it amazing that so many people think we should be able to control nature. People around here build in the flood plains and then lament when they get flooded out - they say "somebody should have done something!" And they are right - someone should have paid attention to the flood plain! People get upset when the wind blows and the power goes out. We really have lost touch with nature.
Posted by: backofpack at November 14, 2007 8:07 PM
What a hair-raising experience to come up on a mountainkitty like that! Although an exciting experience it may be, it's a great reminder to us all how we are simply guests in the wild, natural areas we love to play in. May we all respect the permanent residents of these wild regions and marvel at their presence should we encounter them (hopefully, not necessarily from 20 feet!) and give them the space they need to limit the danger to themselves and also us humans. In this case, I'm just relieved to hear nobody got chewed on! (Although if you were the one who did the chewing, I'd be happy you were able to defend yourself, but I would also be second-guessing your role and place in common society...) You live in an amazingly wild and untamed place. Be safe out there, eh?! = )
Posted by: T at November 14, 2007 8:16 PM
You are a brave one for running out there!! And that's awesome.
Posted by: Audrey at November 14, 2007 8:28 PM
I really enjoyed reading this post. It reminded me of a Tom Brown Jr. interview. "Pain and death exist in nature because they are a part of life. Only in nature pain is natural. It is not inflicted by man, but by the natural order of life. It does not debilitate, but teaches. It does not depress, but frees. Death is the natural end and the supernatural beginning."
Posted by: Mark at November 15, 2007 1:43 AM
I 2nd backofpack. No one pays attention, then they blame someone else. Seems that someone (the government?) ought to keep nature from being natural.
We're all just a bunch of tender vittles out there.
glad you lived to tell about it.
Posted by: JeffO at November 15, 2007 3:30 PM
Thanks for stopping in, all!
Michelle- It goes back a bit to the recent discussion we were having about the "Last Child in the Woods" movement, doesn't it?
T- What, you think I would be unable to wrestle a mountain lion to the ground? You forget, I've been lifting!
Audrey- If not brave, then stupid, surely. ;)
Mark- Thanks for commenting, and thanks for the compliment!
JeffO- Hey speak for yerself! I'm not a tender vittle. Oh fine, I suppose I am. Sigh.
Posted by: Meghan at November 15, 2007 10:58 PM
Yikes, Meghan. Now I'm going to think of that poor cow elk all night. :( Isn't it a little, I don't know, actually reassuring that the mountain lion ran away EVEN in the presence of her kill? You *could* look at it that way. I mean, as in, wow, even though I will be very careful in nature, I don't need to be paranoid that every lion out there is aiming at the invisible target at my back. (Which is not what you do, I'm speaking devilishly advocately) Speaking of which, some guy in this crazy state of ours recently avoided more serious harm in part by having a backpack on. The lion knocked him into a tree. He was a hunter. This was near Squeezer loop, not far from where the Swan Crest 57K is run, in the Swan Mountains. Here's sort of a long link to the article. Have a great weekend, M! http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/mountain_lion_attacks_hunter_southeast_of_kalispell/1486/
Posted by: Kendra Borgrowly at November 16, 2007 5:52 PM
Here kitty kitty!
I almost wonder if you've been fortunate enough not to become a kitty, wolf, or bear treat because of the abundant prey in your area. I think you have encountered more kill sights than anyone else I know. I think I'd be packing heat, bear spray, and a knife with me on those runs.
I'm thinking that you might just get a little adrenaline rush from the danger that lurks on trails in your area. In fact, danger may be your middle name! ;-)
Any word on the injured Cow Elk?
Eric
Posted by: Eric Barnes at November 19, 2007 6:27 PM