In the jungle, the mighty jungle...

Well, we're all in one piece.

LB and JC and I were playing outside, since it's a gorgeous high-60s sunny kind of day. LB was riding his bike and JC was crawling around. I was chilling out in a patio chair, watching both boys play and discover and get messy.

About an hour into our outside foray, I heard a cat. It was far up our driveway, and even though I wrote it off as one of the neighbor's cats, it didn't sound like an ordinary cat.

Several minutes later, JC decides to walk holding onto the tricycle!! Holy crap, he's never done that before! I managed to take a quick picture and as I was texting the pic to Hubby, I heard the cat again.

It seemed closer. And very interested in something.

I started getting the "prey" vibe, like I was being hunted, so I shielded the sun out of my eyes and took a quick look up the driveway. Nothing. Nothing on the hill, either. The boys were oblivious to my concern, so I tried to shrug it off.

I had just remembered that there are big cats in our area when I heard the sound again, practically in my ear. I didn't think about it this time- I scooped up JC and yelled at LB to get in the house. I call it my "emergency" voice, and luckily he responds to it.

The boys were upset about having to come inside, but I didn't care. Whatever it was that I heard, it was getting closer, and it sounded friggin' hungry!

I googled the sound, thinking it was a bobcat, but it turned out to be a mountain lion cub. Yikes!!! Wherever there's a cub, momma is sure to follow, and we could have been a mountain lion's lunch!

I never saw the cub. I think there's a face imprint on all the south facing windows of the house from me trying to find it. Didn't see any other predatory animals, either. But you can bet we're staying inside for the rest of the day.

Kinda ironic, as I was just thinking earlier how my nails have become so long that I could fight a bobcat with them.

*sigh* I'm shaking as I type this. I scares the hell out of me that we were that close to being seriously hurt or dead in our own backyard. I don't think I'll be pushing for "country living" at our next duty station...