The sun set early this evening

Darkness would be prevalent very soon

The big tan cat called a cougar by man had been napping

He was a big boy all right at least two hundred pounds

He heard the greeting from afar

It was a female in heat only about one mile away

The big boy had a great memory, he remembered her from rendezvous they had six months ago

He stretched his long body as he got himself ready for his nightly jaunt

As he started to move in the direction of the female a jackrabbit ran only twenty feet in front of him

Foolish rabbit, with one quick blow from the big boy's paw the rabbit was dead

He buried the rabbits carcass as he would return for his snack later

He began to move quickly now as he could smell the female very close to him

It was dark now pitch black to most except the cougar

He spotted two eyes looking like shinning emeralds

Both big cats met as the female hissed playing hard to get

But the big boy righted himself on the females hind quarters

He plunged himself into the female and grabbed the back of the females neck with a vice like jaw grip

They mated both two cougars did for more than seventeen hours

It was now daylight as both large cats nuzzled there snouts together

They were communicating, setting the time when the cubs would be born 
The gestation period is only three months for the female cougar

Both cats made their appointment to meet again

The big guy would help the female raise the cubs for six months

And then the cycle will start again for the big guy in the world of the Cougar

TONY MIKE NERONE
9-4-10