Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Mountain lions and other dangers in Green Valley Lake



                                   A mountain lion has been prowling the streets of
                                           Green Valley Lake the last few weeks


                    There's a story going around town that someone actually saw a mountain
                      lion kill a coyote and singlehandedly haul it up a tree, where he proceeded
                      to tear the animal apart limb from limb and eat him for dinner. Hmmmm.
                    In my opinion, a GVL.snopes.com check of this one would come up
                                      "unsubstantiated." But the rumor is out there.


                                        We've also heard about another attack --
                                 this one resulted in the fatality of a small dog.

                 

                               "Gooooooooood kitty. Sweet little, goooooood little kitty..."


           
                           The risk of a human being killed or attacked is pretty small.
                            We're certainly not going to stop going for walks or hikes
                                             around our beautiful mountain town.





                  Our friend Dennis had this wood carving of a majestic cougar commissioned
                  and placed it in the front yard of his Green Valley Lake home.  The artist says
                  that this is "life sized." Yikes. Anyway, Dennis has named his new cougar
                                                       statue "Demi Moore." Cute. :-}


     
                         Anyway, mountain lions aside, there are certain inherent risks
                               to living in a place as remote as Green Valley Lake.




                       This humorous sign adorns the home of a Green Valley Lake Cabin.
                            But never fear -- black bears, while they are certainly around,
                rarely attack or eat humans. As for the second part, I honestly have no idea if
                             humans taste  like chicken...and I hope I never have to find out.


     
     


      Another risk out here -- injury and no medical care nearby. 
     Chris suffered a pretty serious gash
to the forehead over the weekend while helping our new neighbors
     tear down a fence. It was a spurting, bloody mess. This photo is off 
          of the internet because Chris didn't want me to photograph his actual 
              wound. But trust me, it was about this bad (but closer to his hairline -- 
          his hair will cover the scar).  A 35 minute drive 
            to the nearest Urgent Care down the hill and 21 stitches later,
we're grateful his baby blue eyes were spared. :-) 


Other little known risks:



        Crazed attack chickens. This is our friend Carl's chicken coop. 
     Trust me. You don't want to rile these guys up. They'll peck you to death!




        Theoretically you could get run over by a train.
        This sign is next to the GVL meadow.
 While I've never seen any trains or railroad tracks, one never knows.
 Best to stay alert. 





     There is a gorilla behind Dave Burt's Family Hut. 
           I'm pretty sure it's plastic, but I've never gotten close enough 
              to know for sure. You don't want to mess with gorillas. 
       They'll tear you limb from limb.




          Another risk: angry, gun-toting neighbors. 
              For the most part we all get along well out here,
            but just in case, we'd best treat each other with kindness and respect. 
            And don't trespass without express permission.





Breaking and entering is always a concern. The trick is to make perspective burglars believe that someone is home, so they move on to the next house to do their nefarious business. Some people use motion activated lights, but I like the idea of our neighbors, shown in the photo above. See the cake in the window in the lower right? FAKE. It's a completely fake cake! So you think someone's home!
Brilliant! 




  Of course, we need always be on the alert for fire. 
  This photo is merely a fiery sunset, thankfully. But we stay alert, always. 




                OK, now, see if you can tell me what this is. 
                I saw this cloud formation about a week ago. Kinda weird, right? 




It got worse...horrifying, right? 




    It continued rolling and rumbling across the sky for several minutes
          before dissolving spontaneously, leaving behind just another peaceful forest sunset. 


What-EVER. I have no idea what in the hell that thing up in the sky was. 

But the good news is, despite some wild animals and even wilder weather, we're a tight knit community, and we take care of each other.  And all in all, these risks are pretty small, and worth taking for the beautiful life we are blessed to enjoy up here
at Green Valley Lake.




Green Valley Lake: it's the water --- and alot more.   :-) 



No comments:

Post a Comment