It was sometime in the mid to late 90’s, I was at my boyfriend’s house looking at an article with many pictures, in National Geographic, about animals native to Southern California. I had seen most of them, coyotes were very common, but when I saw a picture of a bobcat- I just couldn’t believe they were native to LA- I had never seen one, and I was in my twentys!- so I thought “how could that be- it must be a mistake!- The National Geographic is wrong”- I headed home to Shadow Hills shortly after looking at the magazine. My route was taking Coldwater Canyon across the Valley to Wentworth. I loved that route. As Coldwater Canyon turned into Wentworth I looked to my left, and there he was! Across the street on the side of the reserve, where we called the swamp growing up, a bobcat!- looking straight at me! I couldn’t believe my eyes! Time stood still as we looked into each other’s eyes. He looked exactly like the picture I had just seen. And he practically lived in my backyard- where I hiked all the time! Seeing is believing I thought- and I wondered if he had had doubts about me that day.
