An uncommon excuse for missing work

Though Juan Guzman has been trying to fight off a cold, he had another good reason for missing part of a day of work Friday: A bobcat made its way into his family's back yard and decided to stay for a while.

He took a picture of the wild cat to prove it. How could the boss question a photograph with the time and date emblazoned in the corner?

"This bobcat was in my yard next to the dog run," Guzman said. "It was checking out the neighborhood when the dogs' barking scared him or her" up into a tree in the yard.

"After a long night - and half a morning - of waiting and (me) keeping the dogs away, it decided it was safe to come down and scooted back into the brush," he said.

This wasn't the first time a bobcat has made an appearance in Guzman's yard. He was eating breakfast when he saw one walk past the kitchen window the other morning.

"I couldn't believe it," he said. "It was big!"

Other wild animals have visited the Guzman residence. The sound of a bump into a window initially thought to have been made by a bird flying off course turned out to be a bear lumbering next to the house one evening.

"It really scared my daughter," Guzman remembered.

The bear had been searching for something to eat. Better securing their trash made it decide to go elsewhere after a couple of return visits, Guzman said.

Deer also have been known to make appearances in their yard.

Guzman lives near Foothill Road, south of Kingsbury Grade, in Douglas County. He is open-space manager for Carson City.