Depending on what you believe, some say that animals visit us in this life for a reason.  They visit us to send us messages from our ancestors, the Man above or our divine self.  Until 3 years ago, I had never even heard that.  20 years ago, there's no way that I ever would have believed that.  It wasn't until after my mom died that I REALLY believed in the afterlife.  I have just seen way too many things in the last 20 years to be able to logically say that there isn't one.  

 

As I mentioned before, I have some internal dog whistle inside of me...that freak attracting pheremone.  So, I kind of assumed that it worked on animals also because they too have always been drawn to me.  It wasn't until a couple years ago that I ever thought any different.  I have come across wild animals in the strangest and most unexplainable ways I've ever heard of.  Let me explain:

 

Animals 1 & 2 -

 

It was July 2021 and I was living where "the hills had eyes" as I used to say.  A small Foothill town in Northern California.  I had gotten off work that day around 6pm and was so tired that i just left the other half of my sandwich from my lunch in my truck.  I went in the house, showered, fed my "kids" (well my kid and her boyfriend), and then had some me time.

 

I like to think that I'm artsy, but really I'm not.  Any talent I have has been learned and practiced over and over and over again.  I'm just not natually gifted like that.  So, my me time usually consisted of some sort of random arts and craft or furniture painting or whatever.  We had this little covered walk way outside so I would often paint furniture there as to avoid the mess in the house.

 

Prior to my furniture painting, I had walked to my truck, 15 feet away because I remembered that I left my sandwich in there and I didn''t want my truck smelling bad the next morning.  I had also left my driver side window down and wanted to roll it up.My truck was a 2002 Chevy Avalanche and not just any stock Avalanche.  My truck was GINORMOUS!  It had a 12" suspension lift on it and 35" tires (I'll put pictures of it below).

 

I walk to my truck, open the door and there's my empty sandwich wrapper on the driver seat.  I scratch my head and just kind of stood there staring at it.  When I got out of the truck 4 hours earlier, I had a half of a sandwich, wrapped in it's little package, sitting on the passenger seat.  I kind of just sighed and said to myself, "Stupid raccoons, that's what you get for leaving the window down."

 

I got the trash, walked it over to the trash can and then started painting the vanity I was working on.  I was only 10' or so away from my truck, but kind of around a little bend so I couldn't see it.  Then I heard it.  Something just jumped into my truck again.

 

"FUCKIN RACCOONS!" I said out loud to myself.

 

I walk around that little bend and to my surprise it wasn't a raccoon.  In fact I couldn't really tell exactly what it was, but it was standing on top of the cab of my truck (9' off the ground).  I walk closer to my truck to get a better view of this mystery animal.

 

"Is it a cat?" I asked myself.  "If it is, it's an awfully big cat."  I am now standing 5' away from my truck , which means I'm 5' away from this big ass cat on the cab.  

 

I'm from the city, so I wasn't used to seeing any wild animals.  In fact, the first time I saw a cow on a farm I just about shit myself.  In Los Angeles, the only place I ever got to see a cow was in a petting zoo.

 

So, here I stand, 5' from this cat that looks to be about the size of a lion and I have my phone in my hand.  I get on the internet, go to my favorite website of all time, Google, and I type in the search bar, "What kind of wild cat has a long tail?"

 

Up pops pictures of cougars/mountain lions/pumas, whatever you'd like to call them.  I click on the "Images" tab and hold my phone up towards the cat to compare it to the pictures on Google.  As I'm doing this, the cat was just staring at me the entire time.  

 

I must not be very scary to animals because after it was done staring at me, I watched it climb inside my truck through the (Yup...still didn't roll it up), you guessed it the driver side window.  Like an idiot, not even thinking about the potential dangers of being this close to a cat of it's stature, I continue to stand there and read about mountain lions as I'm watching this motherfucker eat whatever else kind of food he can find in my truck.

 

I'm reading and every few seconds I'm looking up at him and he's doing the same to me.  He's inside my truck, on the passenger side, munching on God knows what and almost as if in sync with me, every time I look up from my phone, I see his 2 eyes pop up to the bottom of the window to check on me too.

 

I probably stood within killing distance of that cat for close to 3-4 minutes before it finally REALLY clicked as to what it was.  It clicked when I heard mom somewhere behind me (never found out where THANK GOD) release that baby screaming, ear piercing, spine chilling scream that they do....and that was my "ah ha" moment.

 

"Oh fuck!  I know EXACTLY what you are....I'm out."  I ran into the house and just sat in complete awe as my  brain started to really process what just happened.

 

This happened right when COVID began and America's "instincts" kicked in...you know, when the stores were still full of food but not toilet paper.  The very next day my landlord, who lives like 30 feet from me, is outside in our backyard. 

 

She yells to me, "Why is there toilet paper back here?"  I look over to her and she's holding what looks like a brand new roll of TP in her hands.  We lived on 12 acres, so our closest neighbor was still over an acre away; however, there have been times when transients have found their way up there to camp.

 

"I swear I heard people out there a couple nights ago." I tell her.

 

"Casey, there is never anyone up here...that's only happened a few times in 60 years." She tells me. 

 

And then "Ah ha" moment number two happened.

 

"OMG!" I tell her.  I paused as I remembered that on my way home from work yesterday, I had stopped at the store and bought a 12 pack of TP that I had left in my truck.

 

I proceed to tell her what I witnessed last night as I stood within 5 feet of the animal that completes the food chain where we begin it.  I then say, "No way did that cat take TP out of my truck."

 

I walk back to the truck, open the back door and wouldn't you know it?  My TP pack had been opened and a roll missing.  As I turn around to tell my landlord, I here her say, "OMG THERE'S TEETH MARKS IN THE TP!!"

 

Her and I crack a jo,ke about how even the animals were hoarding TP, laughed about it and went about our day.

 

The very next morning, I had to leave the house at 4:30am to take my daughter to her job which began at 5am.  She worked at a large retail company that was 7 miles away.  It was a Saturday morning so there was absolutely no traffic.  It's a straight shot to her work, down a 65mph 2 lane highway and I drove a Camaro (my other car).  We would make it there in about 4-5 minutes.

 

Not a soul in sight, nothing on the road it was a super easy and quick drive.  15 minutes from when I left the house, I'm now headed back home after dropping her off.  As I approach the last 100 feet of highway before my turn off, I notice something VERY large laying in the middle of my lane. 

 

Whatever this was, it wasn't there 15  minutes ago because I would have most definitely seen it.  I slow down and peer out the window and GAWD DAMN, if it isn't another frickin mountain lion.  In the last 12 minutes, this cat had come down to the highway, someone saw it, and shot it.  It had a single gunshot would to the head and was deceased.  Never in my life have I seen a mountain lion in person, now 2 in a matter of 15 hours.  

 

Knowing that, and the fact that there were no other cars out, I slam on the brakes, throw my car in reverse and back up to this magnificient beast.  I pulled off to the side of the road just to get out and take a quick look.  Maybe not the brightest idea, but ohhhh soooo worth it.

 

This was one of the most beautifully intimidating animals I had ever seen in my life.  I just sat and looked in awe,it's paws bigger than my head (and if you read my big head story, you know how big that is).  I couldnt stay because I was standing on the side of one of the most deadly highways in Nor Cal and I didn't feel like dying that day. So I told it that I was sorry that happened and I hope it's up in kitty heaven.  I got in my car and I left.

 

Later that day, I'm at the gas station down the street.  I had lived there so long, I was like Norm from Cheers,