Hail (as in Ice Rain)

That front that passed through on the last day of winter brought rain and hail to Tucson, about a half an inch of precipitation. We got the jet stream from Seattle, I swear. And a hearty thank you.

It was our small taste of winter in what has been a very mild season.  No rain is unappreciated in this part of the world.

We had two days of rain, wind and occasional hail. It's only a memory now. We are in spring and temperatures reach the eighties this week, maybe even ninety on Saturday.

Shucks, the cement pond is up to seventy-two and I've been dipping for weeks now.

Bobcats

One of two bobcats whose snarling and howling yesterday
got me out of my office grabbing my camera.

We've had a lot of bobcat sightings the last month or so. Different bobcats have been walking through yards and driveways. One big one was scratching its front paws on our gum tree by the house. Yesterday, a couple of young ones were wandering below our house.  Shari put out a tub of water in case they were thirsty.

"The bobcat is a medium-size cat weighing 12 to 30 pounds with an average adult length of 2 to 2.5 feet. Bobcats are timid and typically avoid human contact, but do not let their relatively small size fool you. They are tremendously strong and can bring down a small deer. They can become ferocious when challenged, so never approach a bobcat."

Last year I was trimming bush below the house when I saw a bobcat passing below me.  It didn't seem to be bothered by me. The cat was looking for food.

Photo courtesy of our neighbors, Randy & Sandy, who
write, "We have been seeing them every couple of months
and believe they were fighting outside our window last week.
Also been seeing the coyotes and javelinas a lot.
Watch out for the rattlesnakes.
They will be out soon and please don't kill them."

I have read that bobcats are more fussy eaters than, say, coyotes. Bobcats like rabbits. Over the course of several long minutes, this bobcat traversed the gully below me, then up the slope where a rabbit was munching on a cactus. I was hoping to witness a kill (sorry, Mr. Rabbit), but the rabbit disappeared and the bobcat continued traversing down the other slope on the west of our house.

Several times these past couple of months, we've been sitting in the front of our house, watching the cactus grow, when we spotted a bobcat. It's a trick to keep the dogs from barking, much less running out and tempting the gourmet sensitivities of a wild and very capable hunter.

Usually, by the time you get your camera, you get a shot of the cat's backside. In 2007, howling and snarling sounds from the back of the house were from two bobcats in the pine tree. Maybe they had slept there. I got video of them climbing down the tree.