Pearl's Children

The news went out this morning, warning of a new set of tracks from a big new Tom mountain lion that seems to be following the scent of J&H's goats. Pearl just gave birth to four little kids. The first concern was the ravens that are everywere day and night. Second concern was the hawks by day and owls by night. But now it seems a big cat has come out of the mountains at the scent of the new kids, and anything else it can find.





All I can say to that is, bring it on. The time of the mountain lions has passed. If any individual cat thinks it can make its living with the livestock we bring here, it's asking to become a rug.



Luna's just a puppy, but she's still bigger than my big mutt Little Bear. She can't be expected to defend the flock against a full-grown tom all by herself, but her time will come. In the meantime, all she has to do is bark and she'll find herself backed by a half-dozen rifles. Mountain cats are beautiful creatures, and we have nothing at all against them. But that doesn't give them the right to hunt our livestock.

Learn this and live, newcomer: Eat all the desert rabbits and rats you want, and our blessings will remain upon you. But hunt our livestock, and you die.