At the crack of dawn for a week now, Stan has walked a mile to a fitness center, worked on his offensive body parts, then walked briskly home. This has brought a certain measure of results and satisfaction, along with a serious threat of extreme boredom.Fortunately, it is not all just grumpy old Republicans down here. There's a ton of wildlife that can make a hiker's walk very interesting.
Yesterday a mature bobcat ambled across the main drag, paused on the center line for a good long look at the approaching hiker, then lightly sprang to the top of a backyard fence, presumably with high hopes of spying a tender puppy doing his daily morning business unattended. The cat had a "bobbed" tail, not a long swishy one like the mountain lions.Today a pair of mule deer moved up the hillside, crossing the hiker's path and watching him huff and puff up the steep hill. The pair was fresh from a big breakfast down at the driving range, where they favor the grass growing just beyond the reach of a well-struck 3-iron.
The hiker has yet to cross paths with the javelinas. It is just as well. They travel in rude, odiferous packs on garbage day and are often smelled before they are seen. Recently a European got bit by one near here. He filed suit last week for $400,000.
Here's the Associated Press story about that.
"A tourist from the Netherlands who was attacked by a javelina at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has taken the first step to filing a lawsuit against the Tucson facility and Pima County taxpayers.
"Rene Zegerius filed a claim for $400,000 over last summer's attack.
"Zegerius was visiting Tucson with his family and was attacked by the javelina as he stood inside the museum grounds.
"The animal tore muscle and nerves and severed veins and arteries in his right calf and left hand.
"Zegerius spent eight days in a hospital, and says he lost money on hotel and travel reservations. Medical expenses came to $70,000, and a last-minute ticket back to the Netherlands cost more than $15,000.
"Robert Edison, the museum's executive director, says the javelina that attacked Zegerius did not belong to the museum."
-Associated Press
And so it goes.
(Readers may recall the photo of the neighborhood bobcat, above, that Kathleen shot last year. For details on her hunt, type "bobcat" into the search box, above.)
