At one time or another, all of us have probably had an unexpected encounter with wildlife. Whether it was something scary like an owl flying around the house or something cute like a mama deer and her baby in the backyard, these moments stay with you forever.
Photographer Tim Newton of Anchorage, Alaska, was recently awakened by a strange noise coming from outside. Curious as to what it could be, Tim investigated the sounds. "I crept over to the window and opened the curtains a crack and could see it looked like a cat," he told Channel 2. "But then I noticed it had really big feet and little tiny hairs on its ears, so I knew then it was probably a lynx kitten – not a full grown cat."
Tim went to the screen door and opened it to see a mama lynx and her seven babies. Being a photographer, Tim wanted to capture this special moment, so he quickly grabbed his camera to document his sighting.
"One by one, all these baby lynx came to mama and shuffled out onto the deck, right in front of me, where I was standing behind the screen," he told Channel 2. "I was thrilled I could get a couple pictures of them playing on the deck. And I thought that might be the end of it."
Tim snapped a ton of photos and uploaded them to his Facebook page on September 27, 2017. After being posted for just two days, Tim's photos have received an astounding 94,000 reactions and more than 15,000 comments.
Keep scrolling to see all of the photos and what Tim had to say about his furry guests!
Tim Newton is a wildlife photographer based in Anchorage, Alaska. On September 27, 2017, he posted more than a dozen photos of a mama lynx and her seven babies who came to say hi.
"They were using the deck as a playground," he told Channel 2. "And those cats were chasing each other, and frolicking, and crouching and running. Just back and forth, across that deck, for about a half hour."
Being a photographer, Tim's camera wasn't too far from him, so he grabbed it to snap a few adorable photos.
Tim snapped this once-in-a-lifetime shot of all the babies and the mama lynx looking directly at him while sitting on his front porch.
"They're kind of confused that there might be anything near, because I'm behind the screen," Tim told Channel 2. "But they can hear my camera. That's that one picture where you see them on the deck. They're looking at the noise."
Including this photo, Tim uploaded two dozen other snapshots of the lynxes onto his Facebook page — and Facebook users have gone wild for the photos!
This is the post Tim uploaded to his Facebook account with over two dozen photos of the mama lynx and her babies.
His caption read:
Tim was awakened by noises on our deck last week – and looked outside. In astonishment, he grabbed his camera.. and can you believe it? Mama Lynx and her SEVEN kits!! She called to them and they all lined up right outside in front of where he was standing (he was inside the screen door!) Amazing ALASKA WILD LIFE!!! (They proceeded to run and play on our deck, and then in our yard!)
Tim wasn’t the only one amazed by this close encounter. People from all over the world flocked to his page to like and comment and share. Over 60,000 Facebook users shared his amazing photos and almost 100,000 people reacted to it.
This curious lynx was having fun using Tim's porch as her new playground. More than 5,000 Facebook users reacted to the photo.
Some of Tim's best shots were of the siblings playing together.
"Those cats were chasing each other and frolicking and crouching and running, just back and forth across that deck for about a half hour," Tim said. "I've concluded from this that lynx must spend about 1% of their time chasing rabbits, and 99% of their time chasing each other."
It looks like they're having a great time! Tim made sure not to disturb or feed them. He only took photos of them.
One lynx was so curious about a table and set of chairs that she jumped up on top of the table, which shows that wild cats are very much like house cats.
"Typical cat," one commenter wrote on the photo.
Tim also snapped this great photo of the mama lynx watching over her babies.
Before seeing the babies, Tim said he heard the mama meowing in the grass by his home. It was only moments later that the whole family jumped up onto Tim's porch.
Many commenters couldn't believe how much the lynxes resembled their cats at home and that Tim was lucky enough to get a visit.
"You are so blessed to witness these beautiful animals at your door," one person wrote.
Tim has the prints available for sale, which you can purchase here.
If you're also amazed by the mama lynx and her babies, please SHARE this post on Facebook with family and friends.
