Jill Browne, from home and away

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

As the city limits expand, there are more opportunities for humans to move into the territory of the native wildlife.

A couple of years ago I was driving around to the southwest of town and saw a cougar up close and personal. It was chasing a coyote.

The cougar had an exaggerated jutting jaw, just like the Pink Panther.

It was also much more of an orange colour than I expected. In the zoo and in photos, cougars always looked tawny to me, more golden than orange.

The truly orange animal is the fox, though.

On another day, on that same road, I sat in my car and watched a curious, beautiful fox for ten minutes. They really are gorgeous creatures.