The evenings when I go to the Garden after work are over. Starting on October 1, the Garden closes at 5 pm. I went up there on Monday, which was September 30, and it was open until 7:30, so I was able to record blooms that night. It was kind of cold. I think the temperature was in the mid 50s and it was breezy. I did have a sweatshirt and jeans, so I was comfortable but I wish I'd had a hat to keep my ears warm and to keep my hair out of my face.
As I mentioned, there isn't a lot blooming, so I finished fairly quickly and thought I would take a quick stroll through the terrace gardens before I went home. I was walking through the Fragrance Garden - it still smells wonderful! - and I took the twisty path to go up to the Medicinal Garden instead of up the stairs. At the top of the twisty path, I was going to go left when I noticed some tall, bright yellow flowers at the fork in path to the Floral Walk. I decided to go have a look to see what they were.
When I got to the yellow flowers, I happened to glance down the Floral Walk and I noticed an animal about 25 - 30 feet from me coming up the path. For a brief moment I thought it was a dog, causing me to think, "What the heck is a dog doing here?" The animal didn't move at all like a dog because it was definitely a cat: a bobcat. My breath came a little quicker and my hands were shaking a bit, but I managed to pull my phone out of my pocket to take this photo:
Here is a cropped pic. It is more pixalated, but you check it out:
Just after I took the photo, it went into the woods there on the left, which is toward the Visitor Center, by the way.
I stood there for a minute thinking "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! That was cool and kinda scary!" then I went the other way, quickly walking through the Medicinal Garden and the Herb Garden, constantly glancing to my right to see if I could spot the bobcat in the woods. (I didn't.) I figured I should tell someone about the critter. I texted Mom and Lizzie to tell them about it, and I was also planning to tell the staff at the front desk, but then I ran into the Garden boss coming out of his office, so I told him about it. You know what he said?
He said, "You are so lucky! There is a family of bobcats that live in and around the garden, but we hardly ever see them." I showed him the picture and he glowed. He said, "And you got a photo! That's fantastic!" When I told him I was a little scared, he said, "Oh, there's no need to be scared. The bobcats eat rodents and squirrels and rabbits. They eat quail if they can catch them. We've had so many nuts and berries this year that the critters are all well fed. You don't have anything to be scared of. Wow! That's really cool that you saw the bobcat." Then he walked away, after wishing me a pleasant evening.
After all that, I did not tell the front desk staff about seeing the bobcat because I guess it's all fine.
Here's the thing though. I spent quite a lot of time down at the Donor Gate on Saturday nights all by myself doing wedding gigs. I walked up the Shoreline Trail alone after concerts many times throughout the summer. Sometimes on Saturday nights, I would feel kind of uneasy and I would shut the gate. Sometimes walking up the trail after a concert, I thought about raccoons or porcupines or other critters that might be traveling through the brush on either side of the trail. Now I'm just convinced it was that bobcat or his family that was keeping an eye on me all summer, hopefully in a friendly manner. Since the season is nearly over, the bobcat showed himself to me to let me know he is there.
Okay, I know my imagination is getting the best of me, but there is no denying that I saw a bobcat on Monday night on the Floral Walk in the service berry tunnel. Awesome and little unnerving!
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