Who's Been Sleeping in Our Bed?

Who's been sleeping in our bed? Our flower bed that is. 

Every photo has a story. Some stories more interesting than others. Some stories involve driving great distances, hiking up mountains, walking through creeks, bushwacking through chiggers, sleeping in a sleeping bag at minus eleven degrees, etc. Other stories come to your doorstep when you least expect it. 

I went over to my office at 6:00 this morning, raised the shades so I could see out the front and the sides. I was in the middle of responding to an email request when a male Bobcat came walking by the front door. I grabbed my camera (from the credenza behind me) and went out the front door believing that he would head over to the Catalina Guest House. Sure enough he did, but he never looked back at me so the only photos were of his backside. He walked around the front of the guest house, but by the time I got there he was gone -- or, at least out of sight. I didn't want to disturb our guests so I went back the other way thinking he might head down along the fence west of the guest house. But, no luck. As I headed back now toward the guest house he appeared again jumping up on the courtyard wall and then down into the courtyard. I positioned myself for a good photo believing that he would eventually have to jump up on the wall to get out of the courtyard. I waited. I waited. And, I waited some more. Was he in there? So I walked up to the wall where I could see inside. There he was asleep in the flower bed:

I found another angle to get a better photo:

I realized that I needed to get to the market to get food for breakfast, so I said goodbye and off I went. A half hour later I was back from the market and starting to prepare breakfast. But, curiosity got the best of me and I grabbed the camera and went back over to see if he was still there. He was. And he was all curled up -- the way cats do. I took another photo:

Of course I couldn't quite see his face, so went around to the other side:

I had to "zoom-out" to get that photo. Then decided to zoom back in for a closeup:

By this time, I am thinking I better get to work so went back to the kitchen. About 15 minutes later one of our guests came in the kitchen. Sue and her husband Sandy have stayed with us each year for the last eight years. They typically stay 4 to 6 weeks (in our Santa Ana Guest House), but she had never seen a Bobcat. So I thought, I should take her over to the Catalina Guest House just in case the Bobcat was still there. As we approached the Bobcat was sitting on the courtyard wall. Sue was about three steps behind me, but by the time she got around the corner the Bobcat had jumped down. Now, I am afraid that Sue will miss the Bobcat again. But --- NO! Here comes the Bobcat walking at an angle in front of us. A wide open view. Although the Bobcat was not walking directly toward us, he was getting closer and we could clearly see his face. I took a dozen more photos as he was walking. Here is one of those:

So, Sue not only got to see a Bobcat she got to see one up close -- no more than 20 feet away. What a great way to start the morning she said. I agree!!! Didn't even have to get in the Jeep.