Not In My Yard

The day before last that I can remember, I was in the kitchen and I spotted a “little cat” looking inquisitively near the spa. Our outside girl Cali sometimes has the odd feral stray who spends a day with her. But this wasn’t the usual gray girl who likes to visit our cali-co. No this cat was taller and magestic, even from a distance. As I got closer I could see the black tufts on her ears, and the short tail .. I whispered at first under my breath .. bob cat.

Then I shouted … Bob Cat! BOB CAT!!

I wanted to take a picture but wanted to make certain more she did not feel safe or welcome in my yard. Mother Bear brain kicked into high gear and to be honest I can’t recall everything as well as my family who tell the story that I proceeded to fly out the door screaming NO NO NO YOU CAN’T BE HERE!!

I remember looking in her eyes as I ran toward the wild kitten, she certainly turned and ran for a bit, down a slope behind the pool where the skunks usually sleep. She stopped and stood her ground when she got to where the old septic tanks use to be. Looking at me again with those huge marble eyes.

NO NO NO!! I yelled down to her again from up on the landing of the deck of the spa.

By now the redneck was fast ripping off his socks and rushing down around the pool and over the hillside down past the pumps and filters. Standing in the thicket of vines and thistles he scoured everywhere on our side of the fence until he was certain she’d left our yard.

I like nature. I do. And I respect that everything needs to eat, and not everyone is a vegetarian. But you can’t eat one of my clan! Not on my watch. Not today anyway.

But who am I kidding? This morning when I opened my bedroom door to let the dogs out, I saw a large hawk sitting on the head of the little fishing boy statue at the koi pond. It doesn’t take much to get my over active dysfunctional ANS into NASCAR race mode. I shouted at the predator … “YOU CAN NOT FISH IN MY POND!!”

No doubt the black headed phoebe who hunts for tiny mosquito fish told him of the self-serve sushi bar in our backyard. But while we enjoy watching the tiny phoebe who can’t hurt our ecosystem with the abundance of minnows we have at all times. This bird of prey could take out all of our koi. And we’ve just now recovered from the worst winter virus that claimed the lives of three of our oldest fish friends.

Unlike the bobcat, the hawk didn’t budge at my shouting. And I wasn’t ready to take him on just yet, so I motioned to my hairless wonder and commanded … BO GIT EM. Bodi took off running in the direction of my hand and the hawk took to flight before she reached the water’s edge.

However he flew only feet away into a small pine tree above my grandson’s playhouse. Again, I’m not quite sure what happened next. I know I woke up my dear husband. Who is dear if for no other reason, that he lets me wake him up on a whim if I need him, which I often do. As he went back inside to get his glasses, I reached for a soccer ball laying in the grass and hurled it at the branch underneath the determined raptor. He took off over my head and landed in the magnolia tree next to my patio, still eyeing the prize in the pond. If not also the schnauzer at my feet.

We exchanged a few more words, the redneck found his glasses, and the uninvited breakfast guest flew over the top of the solar panels and out of sight. For now.

I wish I could guarantee the safety of my inner circle. But truth is, I can’t. I can’t protect my loved ones from pain or predators. What I can do, is love them each, unconditionally and with all my being for all my days. May they each know they have someone in their corner willing to stand up and fight for them, no matter what, no matter when.