I just saw a White-nosed Coati in the corral for the first time minutes ago. After the pair of Bobcats that visited my corral homestead this past week, story and video of which was included in my last blog entry, the next day I almost ran over a Mountain Lion as I four-wheeled up the Trans-mountain Road to hike in the snow above 8000 ft. elevation at Barfoot Park. It seems like a good time to type a few stories.
The day after the Bobcat duo snatched a Rock Squirrel from the corral, I decided I wanted to take some photos of the snow at the mountain top, including images of one of our late October-early November tarantula hotspots now that snow has arrived at higher elevation. I was making my way up Forest Road 42 (aka Trans-mountain Road) at a good clip and had just started to see patches of snow in shady areas when I was startled into slamming on the brakes. Timing is everything, and a Mountain Lion had chosen to cross the road just as I reached its location. It was twenty feet in front of my truck and staring at me scared as it scurried out of the path of two tons of Ford. It was the fourth Mountain Lion sighting of the year for me, the seventh in the past two years. Other than the time I barely got a glimpse of a lion moving through cover near my homestead, all other encounters were at first dark or later. Lions usually are active at dawn and dusk and night, very stealthy and seldom seen. But, this was 11 a.m. and broad daylight. It looked right towards my approaching truck, and I watched it scramble to avoid me and descend the slope on the other side of the road. I slammed the truck into park, grabbed my camera, and dashed after it but just caught a quick look at it again before it disappeared into cover.
I’ve seen families of Coatis (aka Coatimundi) crossing the road and trails, often see lone males feeding on the suet and jelly and other bird food at Cave Creek Ranch where I do my laundry, and also have encountered lone males while backcountry hiking. Males are loners out of breeding season, whereas groups of females and young can number 10-30+. However, this is the first time I looked out the window of my RV and saw one. Sadly, my camera was out in my truck, and when I opened my door, he disappeared up the slope towards Silver Peak Trail. Since I couldn’t capture his photo, nor that of the momentary lion experience, I’ll share a White-nosed Coati image from last year up South Fork Trail. I know I shared it in a previous entry, but that was some time ago.
White-nosed Coati (Nasua narica)
Temperatures have been as low as 20ºF overnight at my homestead, yet the magnificent RIvoli’s Hummingbirds keep coming to my feeders. There might not be much wildlife active at this time of year, but Bobcats, Mountain Lions, Coatis, and one of the largest and prettiest hummingbirds you’ll ever see are good enough for me. On warm sunny afternoons, I even see insect life around the corral. Oh, why not add another photo? Here’s a male “Mag” or Rivoli’s Hummingbird. I avoid taking photographs of birds at feeders, but I’ve always liked this one from my first year in the Chiricahuas.
Rivoli’s (aka Magnificent) Hummingbird (Eugenes fulgens), male
Christmas is one week away. I don’t celebrate it, but my last blog entry revealed that I decorated the Wheelhouse and have a tree. I was motivated to do a little decorating… we will just leave it at that. Unfortunately, the frequent high winds have forced me to keep the small live tree inside next to my much smaller artificial Christmas tree.
Whatever you might do for the holidays, I wish you all the best. I will just be snug in my Wheelhouse reading and writing, and probably playing the guitar. I’ll raise a glass of whiskey to all of you.
MJ