Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my! Well, not Tigers.

This evening while walking the dog, I pointed out a flier that was posted on a light pole. It stated that in the early morning hours of 27 August, a mountain lion came down into a neighboring community (La Canada), scaled a 5 foot fence and killed a large dog. There was also a report of a mountain lion making off with domestic cats in Altadena around the same time. A while back Nicole and I were awakened one morning by helicopters circling our neighborhood. Turns out a mountain lion was napping under a tree not two blocks from our house and a block away from the local elementary school.

Most every night now, we can hear the coyotes howling and barking in a pack at the trail head across the street.

That's why I like hiking in Hawai'i, very few, if any, animals that will eat you. I'm not really afraid of mountain lions, or coyotes or bears, well maybe bears. But I know why they come into the neighborhoods. It's for the easy meal. Whether it's an un-lidded overflowing trash can, or a pet in the yard. It's gotta be easier than chasing rabbits.

So we keep Pekona in the house. The cats have never been outside. Except for Kolohe who burst through one of our window screens to attack another cat outside. Don't mess with the true bull.

We actually learned something about our neighborhood while at the museum yesterday. The vegetation that is around our house and up the mountain side is called, chaparral. And the chaparral gets really dry in the summer and, believe it or not, needs to burn. There are plants and seeds that can only grow after the land and chaparral has burned. Nature is pretty cool. Although it would be devastating for the neighborhood, it might be good for the plants.

But I like living here. I like being this far up and that much further away from the city. So I'll deal with the possibility of mountain lions in my backyard and coyotes across the street. Now if there were tigers, well...

You can probably tell the pictures have nothing to do with this blog. But a blog with no pictures? Bonus points if anyone can tell me where all the pictures were taken. Including this one.

Although this picture almost relates to the blog.