Crow and Bobcat

My evening hike with Wally is hardly ever long enough. We walk after I get home from work which gives us about an hour. During the winter this is often in the dark with a headlamp for me and a lighted harness for Wally, with rain or snow falling. This winter was especially wet, so we were often wet by the time we got home. Wally usually didn’t mind much, but I was getting a little tired of being wet and cold every evening. Plus, when we got home I usually had to wash mud off of Wally’s undercarriage and then blow dry him. Wally thought it was all good fun, but I was usually tired from a long day at work and just wanted to relax a little. Thankfully we are finally moving into warmer weather, and our walks are getting drier….big bonus.

When you walk in rain and snow storms you often don’t see much. First off, it’s hard to see when rain or ice pellets are pelting you in the face during gale force winds. Secondly, most wildlife that you would normally see are smarter than my Border Collie and I, so they are holed up somewhere warm and dry. That is all changing now that the storms have subsided and the temperature is over 40 degrees. The squirrels are coming out, the birds are returning, and the hills are alive with the sound of music! (LOL….in case you don’t know that is a reference to the movie “The Sound of Music”…..watch it if you haven’t seen it….it’s an oldie but a goodie.)

Anyway, back to my story….the other evening we were on our normal weekday hike when I heard a crow squawking. Wally was ahead of me as usual. I looked up to see him coming around some tall brush headed towards me, looking a little worried, which was not typical. Beyond Wally I saw a bobcat traveling at quick pace with the squawking crow flying directly over him. The crow appeared to be “harassing” the bobcat. I don’t think Wally was aware of the bobcat but I can’t be sure. I called Wally to me and he came and stood by my leg. We watched the crow essentially chasing the bobcat all the while screaming his displeasure for all the world to hear. The bobcat crossed about 30 yards in front of us and went down into a overgrown creek bed where he lives. When the bobcat was out of sight the crow landed in the trees growing up from the creek bed and continued it’s unending tirade. I’m not sure what that bobcat had done, but apparently it had greatly offended that crow because Wally and I walked on for another 15 minutes and could still hear that crow screaming down below us.

I had never before seen something like this, and sadly I don’t have a photo or video of it. Nevertheless, it was a wonderfully unique experience that I will add to my ever growing list of ‘out of the ordinary’ animal experiences.