The Rare Times

I spend a lot of times in the woods and every so often I experience something that is just incredible.  I can never predict or even imagine what these surprises will be.  More often than not these things happen before 9 AM.  One morning I was walking down a scrub ridge.  In scrub habitats you generally don't see a lot but when you do see something it's usually pretty awesome and wild predators are generally pretty secretive.  They often hunt in the morning and evening or even at night.  For the most part they just don't show themselves.  So imagine my surprise when I'm on this scrub ridge and I hear something crash in the bushes followed by a high pitch squeak.  I immediately scooted behind a tree. 

I could envision an eight foot eastern diamondback rattlesnake that had just latched onto a rabbit and was pumping it full of venom.  I froze waiting and listening to what would happen next.  I heard something slowly making its way toward the path.  I flipped my camera on and got it rolling.  The bushes were moving and I could tell the creature was about to emerge into the openness of the path.

The most amazing sight was had.  An adult bobcat came out with a squirrel dangling from its mouth.  It trotted down the path then stopped and looked back at me.  I remained calm and kept recording.  It continued down the path and did one more look-back before it disappeared into the woods.

This was the most incredible moment I've had in the woods this Summer!