Week 10 Storytelling: Bobcat Tales

Bobcat kittens
Source: Wikipedia

Hello, friends. My name is Lauren. I am bobcat. You probably have an image in your head of what I look like: bobbed tail; flat face; long, slender body. But I am here to tell you that I have not always looked this way. You see, I used to have a long bushy tail, much like the fox’s. I also used to have a long snout, much like the wolf’s, and a round, sturdy body, like the tiger’s.

You may be wondering how I obtained the appearance I have now. It all comes down to Old Man, the toughest Blackfoot Indian I have ever met. Old Man had spent many hours roasting prairie dogs. I knew he had put much effort into preparing his feast because I had watched him toil over the fire pit all afternoon and evening. After he finally finished his work, he laid down to take a nap.

I knew I had to be patient and wait for him to fall into a deep sleep before I tried to steal some of his prairie dogs. He woke up once when a raven was flying over. But after he realized it was just a raven that posed no threat, he dozed back off. He then woke up a second time when there was a coyote lurking in the distance. However, he was not concerned with the coyote either, so he fell back asleep.

I realized that this was my chance. After waking up two times and dismissing the nearby creatures, I knew he would not wake up again when I crept over to steal some of the prairie dogs.

So, I snuck over to the campsite Old Man was sleeping at. Carefully and quietly, I began eating the prairie dogs. I ate until I had my fill but I decided to grab up a few extra to take back to my cave. Just as I thought I had made it away safely, I heard Old Man yelling from behind me. Next thing I knew he was chasing after me, but I was too full from eating all those prairie dogs to run away from him.

Before I knew what had happened, I found myself laying on a rock. My tail had been ripped off; my snout had been smashed in and was bleeding, and my body felt like it had been stretched out like a rubber band that had lost its elasticity. And that my friends, is how other bobcats like myself came to look the way we do.

Author's Note

In the original story, Bobcat and Birch Tree, the story is told by a third person narrator. The plot is basically the same, but includes an additional component that tells how the birch tree obtained its striped appearance. I decided to tell this story from the bobcat's point of view, just to change things up a little bit! Although the bobcat maintains the same basic story as to how it gained its appearance, I thought it would be more personal to hear it from the bobcat's perspective.

Bibliography

Book: Blackfeet Indian Stories
Author: George Bird Grinnell
Year: 1915
Web Source: Un-Textbook