MYSTERY CRITTER FOUND

In my last blog I spoke of a ghost or mystery critter of some sort that had knocked things off the wall, defecated and vomited on the floor, and generally created a mess in the garage here at out mountain retreat.  I feared that it was an animal that wandered into the garage last fall as we were closing up and got shut in for the winter.

If so, that poor creature would have searched in vain for a way out.  Further, it would have also searched in vain for something to eat or for water, leading to a slow death from starvation and/or dehydration, if it didn't freeze to death first.

Yesterday afternoon, my nose led to search further into a plastic crate in which I found the poor creatures remains.  There was little smell left as the fully grown black cat had dried to mostly skin, fur and bones.

We held a cremation for the remains this morning.

Curiosity can indeed kill a cat.

I called Bob and Mary Campbell, our rancher neighbors, to determine if they were missing a black cat from among their barn cats.  She said yes, "But," she added, "our barn cats go missing all the time.  Some get hurt somewhere and go off to die alone.  Others just disappear, possibly taken by a coyote or some other bigger animal."  I told her that I found the black one and explained what I believed happened.  Her comment was typical of farmers and ranchers who live with animals.  She said, "Well."  Then added, "That's too bad."

I thought that was a little callus but then realized that on a ranch, horses get hurt and have to be put down, calves are born and then die, and cats wander off and get caught in traps or, in this case, get trapped inside a building they cannot get out of.  Shit happens.

Ranching -- dare I say, life? -- is for the living.  You regret losing a good horse.  You regret losing one or several calves during calving season, for whatever reason; they represent lost income.  And you regret the painful death of any animal, but life goes on and the ranch demands the attention of those living and still in charge.  That's just the way it is.  Take precautions to avoid accidents, but you have to take care of the life before you.

I'll try to remember that.