Talina and Me

July 10, 2010
    I’ve missed being stalked by a cougar.

    Until her gall bladder infection and subsequent exploratory surgery several months ago, Talina stalked me on a daily basis.  We had a sort of game played out with the twelve-foot-high cage fencing between us.

    As I walked inside the perimeter fence by John’s house, Talina would silently creep up on me from her side of the cage.  Sometimes I would stop at each post just ahead of her.  Once, momentarily forgetting what I was doing, I leaned up against the fence and almost had a heart attack when she jumped, declawed paws against where I stood.  Usually, she would follow slowly; sometimes, I would squat down to eye level with her; often, she would hiss.  Our parting play was at the end of her outdoor cage where the perimeter fence door opens up in front of Mom’s house.  I would stand there nonchalantly until she slunk or ran over for one last paw slap against the cage and one last hiss.

    This morning she stalked me again for the first time in months.  Instead of slinking along behind me as I walked along, she stayed hidden and poised for action in the grass.  Finally, when I reached the end and turned to stand there, waiting for her, she ran across her caged yard in great leaps, landing front paws against the fence.  She hissed.  I smiled.  We regarded each other for some seconds before I turned to head out the gate.