Oops

Our local newspaper was punked last week. Someone turned in a photograph of a mountain lion taken with a game camera, stating it was in the eastern part of the county.

After the newspaper was published and the picture was put on their facebook page, someone from Mo. saw it and sent them the same picture shown in a newspaper there two years ago.

Of course, the editor has apologized, and talked about how many folks responded to the facebook post, claiming when and where they, themselves, had seen a mountain lion in this area. One of the people who runs a rescue wildlife center, who has actual, rescued mountain lions behind a fence, stated she knew for sure we still had mountain lions around here because the wild ones had come around when one of her female captive mountain lions was in heat.

Well, goodness, if that didn't bring one out of the woods, what would?

A person working for Department of something or other stated in all his decade of working here, he'd never seen proof /evidence of one in this area, but would certainly not tell people they didn't know what they were talking about. You see, the mountain lion has been considered no longer in residence in the North Georgia mountains for several years.

All this took me back to two incidents in my own life.

One, when I was a small child, occurred when I was with my parents coming home from their friends house. It was summer time, and our car windows were down. Daddy had just pulled out into the highway, when he suddenly pulled over on the side of the road and said, "Listen."

A hair raising scream came from across a field, somewhere around the edge of the woods. And again. After about the third time, Daddy explained it was a mountain lion.

The other incident was a few years ago at dusk. Daughter and I were headed to town for some reason. Suddenly, leaping off the bank in front of us was a mountain lion! I slammed on my brakes and watched him touch the middle of the road on his first jump, then bound off down the ravine with one more leap. His tail was as long as his body.

Daughter turned to me and said, "Wow. Big kitty."

I told her she had just seen something many people doubt still in existence here.

Well, one is, for sure.

Make fun of me if you will. Doubt me if you want.

I don't care.

It's not like I claimed to see Bigfoot or something.

Although, I do have a friend who is very tall, pretty hairy, and wears a size 22 shoe....

Hmmmm.