A JABBERWOCKY!!! Ok. Maybe just a 狸…

But still.

Here I am, semi-lost in the woods on a little windy trail on the far side of a large volcanic caldera in 九州の大分県 (Ooita-ken on the big island of Kyuushuu) when I hear some scratchings and scramblings on the trail before me.

Just before the abject panic sets in I glance around the massive tree right in front of me, and this is what I see:



NICE. He was kinda cute, very ornery, and utterly oblivious. I managed to get a few pictures without startling him, but after about 5 minutes I decided it was best to let him know (quietly) I was there so he could get any shock and aggression out of his system and we could both go on with our days.



Which turned out a good move after all the growling he hurled at me before bounding up over a few fallen trees and off down the hillside to hide.





Anyway. If it IS a 狸 [たぬき = tanuki], it seemed to be an awful big one. His face reminded me very strongly of red pandas I'd seen in pictures; I have no idea if they live here in Japan or not. He was kinda cute, in a rascally, furry kind of way.

ADDED(next day): I've had three people tell me they think it was a 狸 and one person, without prompting, also exclaim she thought it was a (lesser) red panda, but was surprised because she didn't think those lived in her native japan. If only I'd gotten a picture of his face!! Being that city people can be notoriously good at identifying animals (I still vividly remember Alice's misidentification of Horses as Cows back in Alexandria, MN, more than 12 years ago...) I have done some research and concluded from behavior and my memory of it's face that it WAS a Tanuki, it was horny, and it was in the process of turning into a Red Panda, probably to throw me off. But he was slow and I must have interrupted him in the process. :END ADDED

see www.onmarkproductions.com/html/tanuki.shtml for a nice read about Tanukis in english.

And otherwise, my rather unexpectedly (but happily) long hike had beautiful weather and wonderful views all along. (see below) 山桜 (mountain Sakura) were even still blooming, I think...



The trail was awesome; really easy, fairly well marked (except on the less-travelled backside of the caldera where I misunderstood some Kanjis and ended up looping back around the base of the whole thing, as well as finding my big Tanuki friend.) and had lots of interesting, varied terrain. Unlike the day before with Orie on her favorite mountain near her home in 防府市, where I was happily scrambling, bounding, and occasionally climbing from boulder to boulder to reach the top.



The steepness was staggering, but you know, you just walk right on up it. And once you're there, you glance back, and realize what you've just done. It was actually a really easy hike, except for this last bit on the first peak:



…but that part was, for a monkey like me, the most fun of all. :) The second peak of the Caldera was just walkable; no hands required, though a little rock-hopping was needed at times.

You Never Know What You Will Find.

-erk.