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Photo John Fazel
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While hiking near Orinda on the EBMUD watershed land, on the American Discovery Trail Oct 12, John Fazel first thought he saw a mountain lion because it was much larger than any bobcat he had seen in captivity, mounted or during his many wilderness adventures.
"I first spotted him about 100 yards ahead of me and he didn't run off as bobcats are prone to do," Fazel said, "but kept walking on the fire trail toward me. He only stopped a couple of times as I yelled and waived my arms at him, but he continued toward me. Because of the shading, colors of the fall foliage and his staying close to the edge of the trail, I thought he was a mountain lion and I was getting a little nervous."
Fazel grabbed a better lens on his Nikon and took a few shots of the cat. "It wasn't until I got home and got a better look at them that I realized he was a beautiful, very large bobcat," Fazel said. "Bobcats usually only get to be 21 inches tall and 39 pounds. My guess is that this one was in the 50 pound range."
The last bobcat Fazel saw in the north Orinda area was 30 years ago when he was finishing a 40-mile all-night training run and a bobcat screeched at him as he ran under a tree where the cat was perched.
"I didn't realize how fast I could go after 8 hours of running," Fazel said. "No coffee needed ... I was wide awake." - submitted by John Fazel
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA