After finding the skulls in the greenbelt behind my house I was extremely interested to find out who the culprit was. I have always heard that coyotes are in Lake Travis but my dad and his friend weren’t convinced that coyotes were the cause. While returning to the area where I first found the skulls I wasn’t surprised that the area looks the same, I’m happy that there isn’t any trace of humans, such as trails or trash in the water. Even though rough hollow is under construction the houses aren’t in view because of the trees, which I find to be amazing. One change I noticed was that the water is flowing a lot faster and it is starting to pool at the bottom of the water fall, I hope closer to the spring it stays that way. Even though there could be animals lurking that would hurt me, such as coyotes or mountain lions, I find it is an extremely relaxing spot to go to. I find it to be one of the most beautiful spots left out near Lake Travis since there is so much construction in that area especially in my neighborhood. “Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language.” I believe that my love for this area will expand the more I visit it and that Aldo Leopold makes a great point that we view the quality of it at such a surface level when there’s more to be found. So, back to the dangerous animal that could be the cause to the found skulls in the greenbelt. My dad had to ask a family friend of ours to come help him move things out of the garage and while in there his friend noticed the skulls. He then proceeded to show my dad an image of a mountain lion on pursuit of a feral hog that was caught on a night trap camera.
The friend told him this was taken in Buda, Texas and even though that’s a trek from Lake Travis on foot there could be a possibility one is left out near our area. It is very unlikely since one hasn’t been spotted since 2005 but when I was told the news I was just happy that there are still any left in Central Texas. I was hoping that I would be able to set up trap cameras out in the greenbelt but unfortunately they are very pricey so I will just keep myself updated on the camera in Buda. So as I go back to this same place and I take notes on the changes I see in the area and I will also try and see if I can spot any prints in the mud, hopefully I won’t get into any bad situations out there. The last thing I want is for these blogs to be about a mountain lion injury.