Mother Nature Shows Off Her Stuff
By
Cognitive Dissonance
Mrs. Cog and I live on the edge of the Blue Ridge Plateau here in Southwestern Virginia. And by on the edge I mean literally on the edge. Our back property line ends where a very steep wooded drop off begins. Five more steps over the property line and it's a one way trip down for well over a quarter of mile.
I call it the ridge.
Along this ridge (for at least as far as I've walked it) runs a well worn path used exclusively by the local animal population. "Well worn" being the operative word here. Every time I examine it, it's clearly been recently traversed. The path is dirt along most of its length, meaning it is used and used often. Everywhere else is green except for the path.
Over the last five years we've seen just about every animal native to this area in and around our property. Bear, bobcat, deer and assorted other critters large and small. And every single one acts like they own the joint....which of course they do. Or at the very least they possess a permanent right of way.
Our house cat, Tramp, who also has the run of the joint inside and out, went into red alert mode yesterday evening while lounging on the back deck. From experience we know this to be the sign something is on the property he doesn't appreciate.
Mrs. Cog walked to the deck railing looking for whatever Tramp was hearing/sensing. Glancing down, she was surprised to find mother bear not 10 feet from her sniffing around looking for her afternoon buffet. A few minutes later Mrs. Cog spied the three bear cubs about 100 feet away next to the barn.
Grabbing her phone, then the better camera, she snapped some pictures and took the video. What an amazing sight. Mother Nature in all her glory.
Enjoy!
08/29/2018
Cognitive Dissonance
