Cubs Vs. Cougars – The Cavorting Carnivores

By Bennett Owen

Obviously Zeus the watch-cat was Lion down on the job.  Caught napping, our fearless feline awakened to the pitter-patter of Puma paws on the back deck of this Boulder, Colorado home.  In a classic case of fight or flight, Zeus…did neither. Obviously, he couldn’t be bothered.

Credit: Galil Loveman and The Denverpost.com

It’s hard to tell who got the best of this stare-down but Zeus didn’t seem too perturbed.  

Credit: Galil Loveman and The Denverpost.com

Our young mountain lion soon tired of efforts to bond with his domesticated cousin. He wandered into the yard and appeared to be rather enamored with the statue of…what else…a mountain lion.

Credit: Galil Loveman and The Denverpost.com

Eventually, his mate joined him….a mini puma pride.

Credit: Galil Loveman and The Denverpost.com

Zeus bears a striking resemblance to our neighborhood wild cat, Apollo…and we DO live at the foot of Mount Olympus… .

Speaking of bears, compare that cat encounter with the Five Cubs in a Bear Tree… (Hum that to the tune of ’12 Days of Christmas.’) 

This family of rambunctious bruins scrambled up an Aspen tree near Whitefish, Montana. No one knows why…confusion…fear…we’re guessing it probably wasn’t the view… But they sure brought traffic to a halt on highway 93 as nearly 100 cars stopped to take a look.  

Authorities say it’s pretty uncommon for a black bear to have a litter of five baby bruins. They attribute it to the abundant food in the region over the past few years.  Kind of makes you wonder how many house pets have gone missing in that period, doesn’t it? 

Get the whole story here, courtesy the Daily Inter Lake:

Credit: dailyinterlake.com

And now it’s time for Cubs Vs. Cougars…let us know which you’d rather cuddle with and why!

Credit: dailyinterlake.com

A ‘Fortune’ Teller – In the Truest Sense

By Bennett Owen

Credit: Yahoo.News

Virginia City, Montana sits on the remains of one the most lucrative gold rush sites of the pioneer west. The US Assay Office estimates that $90-million in gold was extracted from Alder Gulch between 1863 and 1889 – and given the price of the precious metal nowadays, that value soars to – count the zeros - $40,000,000,000.

Man with a rocker cradling for gold near Virginia City, Mont. Terr. By Jackson, 1871 Credit: Marion Doss

Now, the popular ghost town is celebrating a lucrative find of a much different kind… namely, a 100-year old fortune telling contraption that’s gathered dust in a back room of the "Gypsy Arcade" which has the nation's largest collection of woking music machines and arcade games from the early 20th century. 

Credit: Ernie Hathaway

The Gypsy Fortune Teller – drop a nickel in the slot and her eyes would flash, and her teeth chatter as a mysterious voice told you your fortune. Yikes! The 'eyes' have it!

The Montana Heritage Commission has found that the Gypsy is one of only two or three “verbal” fortune-tellers left in the world! And magician David Copperfield has gone a step further, saying he believes it’s the only one. He’s reportedly offered $2-million for the relic, hoping to make it the crown jewel in his collection of turn-of the century penny arcade games.

Credit: nicolekiss.blogspot

Now a bidding war has broken out and experts say the piece might ultimately fetch upwards of $10-million.  I wonder if one of the Gypsy’s fortunes went something like, “you will fall back-asswards into boo-koo dolores”? Now that’s a fortune worth telling about.

Read the Chicago Sun Times account here.

Virginia City, Montana, c. 1939.  Credit: Library of Congress

Virginia City, Montana, c. 1939.  Credit: Library of Congress

Cowboys Get Their Due – From the Barons of Bull

By Bennett Owen

Bighorn County, Montana. Credit: Library of Congress

‘The Hill’ reports that the US Senate has recessed for the July 4th holiday after approving a bipartisan resolution to “recognize the contributions of cowboys and cowgirls to American life.” The measure designates July 23 as ‘National Day of the American Cowboy.’

“The Hill” notes that the move came amid bickering over stalled debt talks and wrangling over a resolution authorizing continued use of force in Libya.

Well, at least they got something right. Now if they’d just declare Rodeo the national sport…

Montana Politics - Irons in the Fire

By Bennett Owen

Credit: KTVQ.com

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has been vetoing legislation he decries as “frivolous” almost as fast as the state legislature can crank it out.

Credit: KJA18.com

Credit: Cody Bloomsburg

Never the shrinking violet, he’s now brought out his “VETO” branding iron to ceremoniously transform those bills into puffs of smoke, although he does vow to stop short of the castration that takes place during real branding parties. 

Credit: KTVQ.com

In what was surely a gesture of conciliation, legislators responded with a branding iron of their own, which will emboss the governor’s initials on anything it touches…

Credit: KXLH.com

Now, we figure any politician with that kind of moxie should have his deeds immortalized in song, and therefore we offer:

VETO!

(Must sing to the tune of “Branded” Here’s the original, in case you forgot how it goes…)

VETO!

He was governor…
Up in Helena…
And they say he gave them Hell…

VETO! Pen mightier than sword!
What do you do with a VETO?
His popularity soared!

Schweitzer’s branding iron….
Branded him a star…
Now he’s re-booked for Colbert…

VETO! Public Relations ploy!
What do you do with your VETO?
Well you play the cowboy!

But his work’s never done cause they’ve already tried….
To OVERRIDE!