It is in the genes

In the early morning light yesterday morning I saw a hulking form come over the privacy fence in the back yard. It was a very large cat and it slunk along the fence line, behind the trees and sniffed under the evergreens. The big cat must have weighed more than 20 pounds. It climbed the fence and jumped away when I turned on the porch light. Later in the morning after the sun was fully up, I heard the cat growling under the spruce. Now I could see it was a big tom, tiger striped and it was after something, probably the bunny that lives under the tree.

I opened the patio door and the cat moved back unhurriedly along the fence and turning once more to glare in my direction, climbed the 6 feet of fence and leaped into the neighbor's back yard. A few moments later it scaled their fence and headed north.

He was back hunting in the early morning today. I have not seen the brute before this week. During the long weeks of snow cover this year, there were a plethora of rabbit tracks in the backyard, but no feline paw prints to be seen. I am not sure if this cat is new to the neighborhood, or has been shut up for the winter months, released to the wilds to hunt in the yet to arrive springtime warmth.