Sunday, June 15, 2008

Behold the Beast that Could Have Eaten Me






My mother, Big K, sent me this picture today. It's a catamount (cougar) that was hit by a car not far from where I grew up in the mountains of North Carolina. Look at the size of that thing! I hear someone spotted it just a few days before it died hauling off a full-grown steer from a farm yard. (I want to see the contents of its stomach. I bet there's at least one hitchhiker in there, too.)

I had NO IDEA there were creatures like that in the North Carolina woods these days! I'm glad they're not extinct as I imagined, (and I'm sorry this one didn't make it) but how many times did I come close to being cat food? I will never leave New York again. Sorry, mom.

KM

16 comments:

dangerous said...

1st comment? anyway, that is one huge cat. I wonder where i could get one...

Random Irregular said...

I saw a dead kitten today and I could see its small skull. It was on the sidewalk(footpath). I took two pictures. So sad.

sekrit7 said...

1st Comment?
When we lived on a farm, there was a couger not 50 feet from our house! It was pretty cool!

Kirsten Miller said...

RI: OK, I'm going to stop trying to disgust you. Cause I think you might just have a super-human tolerance for grossness.

sakura said...

I had assumed that you used to live in Texas (because you said that Austin was the 2nd best city in the world.)but North Carolina....I was way off.

Raph said...

My music teacher told me today that we wouldn't have a lesson next week because she was going to New York. I smiled, thinking of you. I asked her if she would be playing in a group there. She said she would be, but not in NYC.
"But I'll be playing in a master class in the mountains of North Carolina."
I almost fell off my chair. xD

Irregular Kiki said...

Poor thing! There was this cat that kept coming in my backyard because I have two cats of my own. I felt sorry for it and I fed it a couple of times.
One day I noticed that he had some sort of disease. His throat had a hole in it! Yes, a hole! And another hole next to it, you could see his actual bones! I asked people if he belonged to anyone but he was homeless.
So I had to call the animal people to get him collected. It was so sad, they said he might have cancer.
I'll never forget that look on his face when he was in that cage, getting taken away :(

Cupcakedoll said...

Wow. That is not a small cougar. It's much bigger than the one in the local zoo. I wonder how many cryptozoological sightings that fellow inspired..

Raph said...

Sorry about the multiple posts, but I just keep finding great things today! ^^

A Chinese sign which agrees with us:

Link is here.

liltomboyblue11;) said...

that is so cool!!! i have found lot's of cuogar bones, and i love to play with them!!! (weird?) i live in NC to!!! i have lived here my entire life, and my granny lives up in that area.

Kirsten Miller said...

Liltomboyblue: Where does your grandma live? I grew up in Sylva.

Kitty said...

*BWAHAHAHAHA* You could tell your mom to skin it! XD jk jk jk But that's pretty neat! *meow*

SoccerRocks!! said...

Iregular Kiki: Awww I love cats, When I moved into my new house I saw a stray Cat. She was white with black spots we named her Misu in Memory of my moms cat who lived for 18 years and was also white with black spots. We have had her for 9 months now and we let her go outside in the mornings, She's even learned her name! I think a cat with cancer is soo sad:(

P.S I used to be allergic to Cats but ever since I touched misu I'm fine (she's a miracle cat!)

I hope the cancer cat gets well soon!!

liltomboyblue11;) said...

she lives on a mountain a little outside burnsville. it's in the blueridge parkway area.

ss chick said...

it's sad that it got hit by a car. so did my stepmom's cat that was 1/4 th bobcat (or was it mt. lion?). but his son, my cat is 1/6th huge cat and is like 14 (!) and has not yet been hit by a car (thankfully.)

random irregular: that is extremely sad. is there some grudge against cats these days? alot of them seem to be getting killed/dying.

irregular kiki: o my god, that is so sad!

ss (how's that for gross?) chick said...

hehehe....

(barf)

just a hint: is you REALLY want to be grossed out and disgusted, read the Demonta series. i could only get half way through one book. they are vile and disturbing, and i'm pretty tough when it comes to those 2 things. they literally made me neasous (??).


seriously.