Saturday, February 26, 2011

It's A Jungle Out There!



I just stepped out onto my rear deck. It was about a quarter after eleven, and since the temperature was mild, I wanted to get a breath of the cool night air. I flipped my porch light on and stepped out. Save for my light, and the distant porch lights of a few neighbors, it was pitch black out. Suddenly I heard what sounded like a very large cat letting out a loud snarl from a distance so close, that it made me very uncomfortable! This was nobody's pet tabby, nor was it a feral cat. It was much too loud. It had to be either a bobcat or a cougar. I know we have bobcats here in the Piedmont, but there have been no confirmed sightings of cougars for a very long time. Yet when I Googled wild cat sounds, this cougar sound was almost identical to what I heard coming from my woods, no more than 30 yards away. After hearing it a couple of times, I decided to douse the light, and step back into the safety of my house.

Melissa XX


3 comments:

Halle said...

Amazing! Not surprising though. Up here, we do not have the big cats (locally), and I suspect it is because their niche has been taken by the canine family, especially wolves.

Friends watched as a wolf pulled its deer kill from their lake to the safety of the shore a couple of days ago.

Yes, closing the door and staying inside seems like a very good idea, for you and any pets you may have.

Halle
xox

Caroline said...

If we ever get the chance to meet can we arrange for it to be in town!

We killed off all our natural large predators long ago in Scotland but for fun some big cats have been said to have been let loose.

Nobody had definitive proof but I have stood facing one of these creatures, less than ten yards apart, out in the woods far from habitations but sadly I was carrying a large format camera requiring a tripod and a couple of minutes to set up! I was never too happy going under the darkcloth to compose and focus for the rest of that year project!!

One snap could have more than paid for a trip to Thailand!!!

Elly said...

We have a bobcat that occasionally ventures into our backyard. It's about the size of a medium-sized beagle dog. We've named it 'Bob-the-Cat'.

Hugs, Elly