Why Are They There?

Story and Photos by Ryan Richardson

I woke to the sound of my phone buzzing emphatically, welcoming me to another ninety-five-degree day here outside Plummer. It was approximately 10 a.m. (I wasn’t exactly starting the day on a productive note) and I had multiple texts from my uncle: “Ryan, come downstairs. I just saw a bobcat on the road leading to the house.” 

My uncle knows I love photography, and even more important, I love photographing wildlife. There’s something about capturing moments completely out of your control—freezing them in time when they’re often so fleeting—that is magical to me. The bobcat could be one of those moments. 

I went downstairs, half-awake, with intentions of drinking enough coffee to induce cardiac arrest in a small animal, but that plan went largely unfulfilled.