I remember trotting down the trail one day and my horse kept swinging his
head back and forth, like he was trying to see behind him. I looked back and a
doe was trotting right behind us.
Another time, a bobcat kitten jumped out on the trail in front of me and I
followed him for a long time. He was so cute because he was chasing a butterfly
and was hopping through the weeds trying to catch it.
Another time I could see a bobcat hunting up the dirt road ahead of me. He
was going in and out of the bushes. Then he came out onto the road and sat down.
I kept getting closer and closer. He saw me and flattened himself to the ground.
I thought it was funny because he flattened his ears so tight that I'm sure he
figured I could not see him. I was getting worried because I really was getting
close and I knew he might explode as soon as I was next to him, so I started
shouting and waving my arms and he jumped back into the bushes just before I got
to him.
One time I was riding at dusk down a dirt road and suddenly I saw a huge
pack of coyotes coming down the road toward me. It was very eerie to see them.
They never veered off course, but just parted the pack around me as I rode
through them. One went up onto the hillside and sat down as I passed. He was
about eye level with me and he just stared directly into my eyes. It gave me the
creeps.
Early one morning I was out riding and surprised a bobcat with a rabbit in
its mouth. He was so startled that he dropped the limp rabbit and took off. I
thought the rabbit was dead, but he jumped up and took off in the opposite
direction.
Another time I was riding down into a canyon at dusk. As I approached the
top of the canyon I came upon a HUGE flock of turkey vultures roosting for the
night. They were all sitting in the low branches of trees and some were on the
ground. That was sort of spooky.
