A bobcat greeted us yesterday when we got back from a long weekend away. We were sitting at the edge of our kitchen terrace about six o’clock and loving our view when the big cat appeared right in front of us, a dozen feet away. He was as surprised as we were. I believe he approached us from behind a dense fig tree and didn’t realize we were in his yard. None of us moved, not even our eyeballs. He looked at us. We at him.

After about two minutes the bobcat continued to walk along the stone edge of the gravel path that is part of his circuit. I’ve seen him there several times, although never from so close. He does not like to walk on the gravel, but selects the sandstone edge to either side. If an overhanging shrub is in his path, he moves to the gravel briefly, but returns to the stone.

As our cat continued on his way, not hurrying in the least, he turned back to check on us several times. I hope he will remain bold and eat lots of ground squirrels.