Heber is in an area of Arizona where “wild animals” were numerous and common. It was not unusual at all to see wildlife as we drove to Snowflake or Holbrook or as we drove through the forest. Most common were squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, skunks, buzzards, deer, and coyotes, but once in a while we would also see wild turkeys, raccoons or elk. Although we seldom saw a live mountain lion, they were in the forest and occasionally someone would kill one and we would see it in the back of their pickup. Uncle Alma Bigler killed several of them. There was a bounty on mountain lions at that time so some of the men hunted them in the winter when there was snow on the ground. I think they were paid one hundred dollars for killing a lion because the lions killed the cattle and calves and could do a lot of damage to a herd.
Although we saw wild animals quite often, my older brother Vard decided that he wanted to have a wild animal for a pet. I think somewhere along the line he had seen a pet bobcat someone had, and it sparked a desire in his heart that was very strong. Nothing would stop him from trying to find a wild animal to be his pet. The rest of us were recruited to help find one.
I can remember our plotting and planning. We decided that the best options would be to find a baby raccoon or baby skunk to make into a pet. We knew that baby skunks didn’t develop their “stink” until they were older and we figured if we could catch one before it did develop the ability to spray, we would be OK. Raccoons were another option. We also knew that the best time to see wildlife was after sundown and before it was too dark to see.
With this information in mind, we went out night after night and roamed the hills around Heber looking for a baby skunk or a baby raccoon. I don’t remember how many nights we looked, but our search was in vain. We never even saw a mother skunk or raccoon, much less a baby one. We finally gave up.
We finally did get to have a baby wild animal years later. To learn more about that, you can read the chapter titled “Savage Sam”.