Cougar, Mountain Lion, Puma...

Sunning by the creek...

A definite cougar print...

Who's that knocking at my back door?

No matter what you call them - cougar, puma, mountain lion -

they are big cats!

Mountain Lion in Neighborhood

I received an e-mail at 8:05 this morning, letting me know that the mountain lion killed a deer this morning on Emerald Road. I passed the news on via e-mail to all the neighbors I have e-mail addresses for at 8:15. Department of Wildlife personnel and Boulder County sheriff's deputies went door-to-door telling residents to stay inside and keep their animals inside. They said they would try to trap the lion when it returned to the kill. Jim told me at 1 p.m. that all the extra people had left - so he guessed the lion had been trapped. I have both a telephone call and an e-mail in to Kristen Cannon in the DoW, asking for an update. Hopefully, I will be able to report soon - both in the blog and via e-mail to the residents.... There is nothing on-line or in the news about the mountain lion at present. Lovey and Nedi are having a blast running around today - they went out 4 times yesterday and have been out three times so far today. Rosie and Remy were quite happy, today, too. It's been gray and misty all day here - occasional sprinkles of rain have fallen, but not enough that I'd call it a shower. ... Up at the Crystal Fire site, one family was given 5 minutes to get dressed and leave during the weekend - the people left, with their dog, but they had to leave their 5 horses behind. The family's house and barn are totally gone, but the horses escaped the fire and were found a couple of miles away, eating grass and drinking sweet mountain water in a small draw. The family cried with joy to hear that their four-legged kids had survived; they said they could rebuild the house and barn, but they couldn't replace their friends.

Luna and Regina

Luna is wearing galloping boots...

Luna does all her work for treats and love...

Luna and Regina clear a 2'6" jump.

Warm... But Windy

We have a wonderful Chinook blowing from the west. Or, rather, it would be wonderful if we had snow on the ground. Since we are dry, dry, dry, it is a problem. The Crystal Fire is only 15% contained, and we have a Red Flag warning through noon tomorrow, warning of winds with gusts up to 70 mph. Hoooo, boy.... Lovey and Nedi cuddled with me all night long as the wind blew, even though it was pretty warm outside - it was 50 degrees at 7 this morning. They are now having fun chasing blowing leaves in the back yard. Rosie and Remy were very excited to see me, and we had an excellent walk. Then I took Lucy out, and had a discussion about cutting back her walk days to just the two T-days with her owner. Since her Mom was at home, Lucy was happy to go out for a walk, but she didn't want a long one. ... The SWAT team got the young man at Boulder Community Hospital to surrender to them yesterday, and he gave them his .357 Magnum without a struggle. And the young man in the suitcase has been identified as a 17-year-old foster child - police are continuing their investigation. ... Clive Cussler, the best selling author, and his group (NUMA) helped discover an 1830s ship-wreck in the southern part of Lake Michigan. They were searching for the remains of Northwest Air Flight 2501, which crashed into the great lake in 1950. Photos and more information may be found at: http://news.discovery.com/history/shipwreck-lake-michigan-110331.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1 .... And, in Germany, a young lady named Regina Mayer has captured my heart. Two years ago her parents said, "No" to purchasing a horse or pony for her to ride. Regina then made her own plans. She began working with a new-born calf named Luna. Now 15, Regina may be seen daily riding Luna around the large family farm near the Austrian border. Luna has also been trained to jump obstacles. I salute Regina for coming up with a unique way to be able to ride!

Two TV Shows...

Wow. Derek Jacobi was stupendous as Cardinal Orsini in the opening episode of Showtime's The Borgias. Too bad that his weaselly character was poisoned (by his own poisoner) so early in the series. Jeremy Irons was stunning as Rodrigo Borgia, Pope AlexanderVI; and I am really looking forward to the next 9 episodes. - Can you tell what I was doing last night? - And PBS is also showing Ken Burns' The Civil War again. I watched episode 1 of that last night, and thrilled to the sound of John Hartford's voice. And getting to listen to Shelby Foote's commentary, as well as looking at him, was fantastic. Isn't it terrible that my two favorite people on that show are now dead? ... So, Saturday it was almost 80 degrees; yesterday we had hail, rain and snow, and the temperature dropped to 24; this morning I got up to about a half-inch of snow accumulation on the grass and covering cars. Our high was 49. It was also windy all day. The weather guys say we'll be up to the low 60s tomorrow, but with higher winds. ... This does not bode well for the Crystal Fire, as it is still only about 5% contained and still has over 4,500 acres both smoldering and burning. ... Right now, a suicidal man is camped out in the local medical center; the man has a gun; and the SWAT team is there. ... A couple of teen-aged boys opened a suitcase sitting near a park in Denver and found the body of a 17-year-old boy. ... Life around here is getting a little strange....

Crystal Fire Update

The Crystal Fire is less than 5% contained. It has now burned over 4,500 acres, including one shed containing a motorcycle and an ATV; plus the fire spokesman said that they believe that at least 15 homes have been destroyed. The temperature has dropped to 30 degrees, and we've had intermittent rain and light snow since 11 a.m. - We need much more rain and snow, but this system is already moving well to the east of us. .... And Nick Zito-trained Dialed In won the Florida Derby (worth $1 million) by a head over 68-to-1 Shackleford. The betting favorite, Soldat, finished fifth.

Crystal Wildfire