The Last Catamount

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I know you must have at least a few doubts about me. After all, the experts seem to agree that the last of my kind died over a hundred years ago. I suppose if I knew what was good for me, I'd stay true to my secretive nature and let sleeping cats lie. But every soul needs a chance to tell its own side of the story, so here's mine.

This afternoon, for the first time in two months, I leave the den because I hear it coming and I want to watch, from a distance. It’s still there now, repeatedly bending over to rip out small plants, but it doesn’t eat them. Instead, it tosses them aside. Is it leaving them there to eat later? Does it know that bending over like that, with such predictable timing, makes it a ridiculously easy target? Occasionally, it whacks above at a tree branch or bends one back and forth until it falls to the ground. Then it just tosses the branch into the woods. Whatever it’s doing, it remains upright and utterly unafraid. At odd times, it stops and looks around, but it doesn’t appear to be scouting for prey. It acts and moves as if it’s the top predator, and I have to respect that, even though it’s size, strength, and movement suggest an easy kill. Maybe that’s what Ud was trying to tell me, that the Other must have a hidden and deadly weapon.

There aren’t very many of those kinds of animals around here, but they do exist, and my body not only knows they exist but also knows the best way of dealing with them. It’s a built-in mechanism. First of all, we take a lot of time, days even, to carefully observe any animal that we’ve never killed before. We know to be wary of camouflaged threats. Snakes, skunks, and porcupines are examples of these kinds of animals. The technique is to watch first, then approach slowly. While still at least two leaps away, it’s important to make a quick move to prompt a reaction, so if it really does have a hidden weapon, it will deploy it prematurely, while you are still at a safe distance. While it’s true that such a move reveals your location and spoils the immediate hunt, getting the information is more important. Then, if no hidden threat is triggered, you can hunt the prey in the usual manner.

That’s probably the reason Ud warned me off the Other that day; he was trying to tell me that they’re off-limits because they have hidden weapons. But there was something else in his eyes, a feeling, a deeper fear of the Other itself that went beyond just our own danger from its immediate response to an attack. Because Ud’s look was not routine. It wasn’t a reminder to test for the threat at two leaps. It said we need to leave now, and never since have I come within three giant leaps of the Other.

But today I am watching, from several leaps away, yes, but I am watching, and it’s only because of the awful sounds of my starving littles.

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