The Free Radical

The last two days Sitka has been on high alert. She even barked her grandiose puppy warnings at the forest shadows a few times. I was unable to discern anything of note in the places where her attention was directed. Clearly she smelled something… while my nose only dripped the occasional drop of snot.

We know that there are elk in the immediate vicinity; we saw three of them crossing our path in the distance two days ago. Sitka found that particularly exciting but wisely decided that chasing them would be inappropriate. We also know that our route has been traced by what I concluded was a pair of coyotes. It could also be a pair of wolves, as a Dutch Creek resident recently reported hearing the howling of a wolf up the river valley last night. The scat I reported on a couple of days ago seemed too small to me to be that of wolves… but I could be wrong.

The Mesa is our convergence point– a meeting place; we check in there every couple of days. During the week of our absence (while Sitka recovered from surgery), the only visitor of note to the Mesa was Cougar. The prints were clearly discernible in the soft-snow-now-turned-to-ice. Yesterday we returned to the Mesa and Cougar had visited again!

Perhaps some of my readers will find it strange that I take comfort in these signs… but this cat is our ally. If it was Cougar’s intention to kill us, it would have already been accomplished. My intuitive sense in the matter is that Mountain Lion is actually watching over us– not that I actually expect her to jump to our rescue in a desperate situation. But by consistently laying her tracks alongside and over ours, she sends a clear message to the whole Forest.

We are standing strong and true to our Forest Alliance, as Sitka and I mix our intentions to theirs. She is testing our trustworthiness… and I have always had confidence in my own honesty. We are finding our way into a world that works for all of Earth’s creatures… respecting the freedom and sovereignty of all.