The giant Saguaro cactus in the Sonora Desert is a 40-foot tall plant with huge spikes. It is thought to […]
The giant Saguaro cactus in the Sonora Desert is a 40-foot tall plant with huge spikes. It is thought to be over 300 years old with many animals constantly “inhabiting” the top. Well, only if we’re talking about birds. No one really expects a bobcat to sit on the top of the cactus, right?
Curt Fonder, a photographer, received a phone call from a friend whose crew of workers was working nearby. They’ve apparently seen a bobcat chased by a mountain lion which isn’t that unusual. What’s unusual is that the bobcat climbed up to the top of the cactus to escape the mountain lion and it succeeded!
He said: “A friend called me at 7am saying one of his workers had seen a bobcat being chased by a mountain lion.
“It ran across the road in front of his car and climbed up a large saguaro cactus at the roadside, with the lion hot on its tail.’The lion didn’t pursue the bobcat up the cactus but circled the base.
“It looked up at the bobcat, growled several times, then turned around and trotted back up from where it had come.’The mountain lion probably had cubs, the bobcat had intruded on its territory and she gave chase to warn the bobcat not to come close to her young family.
The bobcat spent six hours on the top of the cactus before coming down. Surprisingly, when Curt examined the perch of the cactus, there was no blood at all – only claw marks.
It was a one-in-a-million event that went well for the bobcat.
Here’s a video of the bobcat atop the Saguaro cactus: