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Topic: A SERIOUS late night visitor (Read 2415 times)
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ZboX
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Last night around midnight I heard a sound just down the street. It sounded like a cat in serious trouble. Naturally thinking it was one of ours I grabbed the flash light and went out front to see what was up. Well on the way out to the street I found Dude just laying on the back of the car in his normal fashion so I knew he was fine. Tootsie was inside and so was Missy. So that left Ellie. I couldn't see anything down the street and the sound had stopped. So I figured it was probably a neighbors cat. As I turned around to head back to the house all of a sudden all hell broke loose in the brush at the rear of our back yard. To give you the layout, our backyard is small. Maybe 20 feet deep and then ends in the brush next to the bank of the river. "Something" large was running around very quickly in the brush and making a very strange sound. The sound was obviously a distress cry. (By the way Ellie was just sitting on the back steps of the house. So she was just fine also). So armed with my trusty flashlight I went down to the back of the yard to see if I could see what in the heck was going on in there. The running through the bush sounds with the distress cry would stop for a couple of minutes, and then all of a sudden start up again. By this time Rox had come out onto the back porch. I said to her: "Honey, there's "something" out here!" By this time the cows across the river in the field all started mooing. I thought that very odd. Finally the sound of the running in the bush stopped and so did the cries. We didn't hear anything else after that.
Well after talking to neighbors, and some folks at the Fish and Game, most likely the commotion in the brush was a Cougar, going after a small doe or fawn. And what's worse is the "Cat in distress" sound I heard in the beginning was most likely a cub calling Mom. Mom didn't answer as she was busy stalking the deer. And here's big dummy city boy Bert standing in the back yard at the edge of the brush armed with only a flashlight!!! Guh! Can you imagine if the poor deer would have managed to make it through the brush into the backyard followed by "Mom" and here's Bert standing there with a grin and a flashlight??? Best case scenario there would have been that I would have needed to change my pants! Sheez!
This happens here from time to time. This is just such a rural area and seeing we are on the river at the edge of town it will continue to happen. In addition to deer and Cougars, bears and bobcats have been known to frequent this area. Needless to say, the furballs are now on curfew starting at dusk. And no they are NOT happy about it LOL!
~;-)
Bert
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dawhip
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glad it worked out ok for you and your kitties bert! wow! and glad ya didn't, um, have to change your pants, lol 
donna
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MisRox
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Yes indeedy! That was quite a night! I have called the State Fish and Wildlife, to let them know of our visitor to the neighborhood. Haven't heard back, as of yet.
We have also, let our neighbors know as some of them have small children, and pets.
Also, there is a huge garden on the other side of the river, which seems to be attracting the deer. So it makes since that the "Cat" would naturally hang around.  Rox
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ZboX
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And there's more! Just a little while ago Rox and me heard the "Cat in trouble" sound again. Ya'll know the sound two cats make when they are ready to go at it. It's like that, but very short. Kinda like a "whah, whah, whah". That sound came from our north. After that Rox started looking out our front window. All of a sudden Rox said "There it is!". I didn't see it as I didn't want to move and spook it in case it was watching us. Rox says it's about the height of a medium sized dog with a long tail. So it's NOT a bobcat. Update: I just saw it too. There appear to be two of them. I saw it as it walked down the street towards the Casino. It walked right under the street light and it's color looked black. Frankly it looked like a very very large Ellie. On steroids LOL! It had a very long body. It was just sauntering up the street. And Rox has the size dead on. About the height of a medium sized dog. But with a much longer body. This is NOT the same one Rox saw. That one went in the same direction as the one I saw did. So there's definitely more than one. I called 911 just in case and of course they said there is nothing they can do or want to do. Unless they attack somebody. Frankly getting an officer out here would mean he would need to get out of his car to look around and that could put him at risk. So tomorrow morning I go around to the neighbor houses and knock on doors. And tell them to contact the Fish and Game. The more complaints they get from the neighborhood the better. More info as it progresses.
Bert
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ZboX
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Well I called the fish and game. They gave me the number of a trapper who works for the Dept. of Agriculture. Due to enviromental laws there's nothing he can do unless it kills a domestic pet or injures a human. Guh! He did say though that if it is on our property and it's not supposed to be there (like a young cougar would be supposed to be on our property??) we have the right to shoot it. Even though we are in town. Guh! again! Rox's brother has a .410 shotgun that I think I'll borrow. Maybe if I can give one of them a little taste of buckshot they will think better of it and move on. The trapper did say this kind of behavior is unusual. Cougars are usually solitary animals. So the two of them together probably means they are young adults. And by their size I would agree with that. Or worse, they could actually be cubs approaching adulthood. Which would mean there is a Momma cougar somewhere close by to those two. Of course they could just move on. The trapper said that would be the most likely thing to happen if they are left alone.
After talking to neighbors this neighborhood is prone to getting visits by wild animals. In addition to the deer folks see here all the time last year there was a little brouhaha as a mamma bear and two cubs decided to take a stroll down Klenke Lane.
We'll keep an eye out again tonight for our feline visitors. Would be cool if we could get a pic of one.
Bert
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garenasix
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lol welcome to the country ... i know the feeling me being from NYC .. i keep all my cats in the house most of em never seen the outside ..movin out here from New York to North Carolina was a trip i went from usin a freekin broom and shovle to clean my yard to and a big ass tracktor .. doin the dich that runs along my yard was fun to do on that with out turning it over ... ooh and then from buildings and cars and subways to freekin nothing but cows and chickins and tabbacco and corn fields .. on my porch i put food out for afew out door cats that i guess came with the property .. but iv had babby red foxes,, possums,, bob cats, and even a freekin deer on that porch .. ooh and the nabors pigs afew times and there rooster ... the nabors think im nuts they all come out to watch the dumb yankee mow his lawn to see what stupied thing he will do today... we had no cable lines out here when i first moved here .. so i goto wallyworld and buy a dish system .. hell i aint never set one up befor i hook up the box to the TV and then go outside and put up the dish ...come back in nothin just a stuped beepin sound and some retarded lines on the tv ..sooo i go freek this i get my cell phone give my wife her cell phone ,, go outside rip out the dish outta the ground like a nut ..curssing at it.. then walk around the yard with it yellin in the cell phone ...you gettin anything yet ...then i move around the yard some more .. you getin anything now (( using the F word after every other word like a true New Yorker )))) .. the freekin nabors was pissin them selfs .. all i needed was a freekin tinfoil hat out there with the dish in my hand walkin around the yard yellin in the cell phone like a nut
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« Last Edit: June 30, 2006, 04:36:56 PM by garenasix »
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MisRox
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Jerry ROFLMBO 
And our "Cougar Saga" got better last night. We had neightbors on the roof tops, armed with rifles! Yikes! Then there was the folks from the near by motel that went plodding through the bushes armed with ( you'll like this) Flashlights!!!! BwaaaaHaaaa! Guess their intent was to skeer 'em off. Well I would be skeert to if I had Bubba's on rooftops and their nights scopes aimming at me! Ohhhh and those flashlights, well yep I'd be skeert of those too!
Ohhh, man, this just gets better and better! LOL
We'll see what tonight brings. Rox
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ZboX
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Jerry ROFLMBO
And our "Cougar Saga" got better last night. We had neightbors on the roof tops, armed with rifles! Yikes! Then there was the folks from the near by motel that went plodding through the bushes armed with ( you'll like this) Flashlights!!!! BwaaaaHaaaa! Guess their intent was to skeer 'em off. Well I would be skeert to if I had Bubba's on rooftops and their nights scopes aimming at me! Ohhhh and those flashlights, well yep I'd be skeert of those too!
Ohhh, man, this just gets better and better! LOL
We'll see what tonight brings. Rox
All we need now is Jerry on the rooftop armed with his trusty satellite dish, in his best designer tin foil hat, yellin at the Cougar Overlords in his cell phone! LOL!
Well either the cougars won't be back cause they think the folks in this neighborhood are just plain crazy, or they might make this a permanent home as the comedy level is just too good!
Guh!
Bert
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ZboX
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And it continues. This morning around 3:00 AM we were wakened by the sound of a large cat and the trumpeting of most likely a buck in the brush behind the house. The first sound was the cat noise followed by the trumpeting. The cat noise was weird. Now cougars don't make sounds when they attack, so I'm guessing what happened was the cougar tried to jump the buck, and the buck got the best of him either with a kick or his antlers. I heard the buck further down the river a few seconds later so it seems he got away. Didn't hear anything more from the cat.
I'm about ready to call in an air strike!
Bert
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w4ngo
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Hey Bert... ummmm where did you hear that cougars never make any noise when they attack??? that may be the rule, but I've heard big cats attack & kill prey in the middle of the night b4... & it ain't no where near purty... downright ugly in fact... nothin gives up without a hellion fight for it's life... wait till you hear it for the first time... movin' may cross your mind...LoL I'm thinkin' up near where you're at those verdamnt coydogs are rampant too...ack those are bad news, they have no inherent fear of man... you need a good size dog... & you need tabe carryun a big stick around with you at night outside... swingin' an ordinary broom actually makes 'em think twice... no foolin...law of the club & fang? I guess... I do happenta know where you can get a free pitbull puppy down in Kansas if'n yawanna go down & pick it up...LoL about 2 months ago I was walkin max at night & we ran into a large cat... couldn't tell if it was a big bobcat or a small mountain lion in the darkness... 1 thang 4 sure, it weren't no dog... Max didn't even bark... he swooped right in between me & the cat & it hauled ass... thankya jezuz... gooooood dog... gooooood gooooood dog...
they like huntin the river banks... just for fun go down in the daylight look around for trax in the mud near the waterline... look up on alltheweb image search mountain lion tracks... theres some good pics on there... & be careful...
first bobcat I ever saw in the wild, when I was 8 yrs old... tried to hand feed it a canna tuna....heheheheheh (it wouldn't eat it tho...)
Later...J
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ZboX
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Well it seems after the lesson the buck taught them, they have moved across the river to where the cattle are. There was a calf that was killed. Wasn't eaten just killed and maimed. The owner has experience with Cougars going after cattle. Seeing that they are just young adults it/they were most likely just seeing how they would do with a small calf. They have not been spotted or heard in our neighborhood for a few nights now. So far so good. Also there have been reports of gunshots coming from across the river, so the owner of the cattle has hopefully taken one or both out. A neighbor that knows the cattle owner is going to call him to see how he fared. So maybe this is now all over. Until next time that is LOL! We are going to keep us and the furballs inside at night at least for a week until we are sure.
Frankly this all saddens me. I love animals, but when something like this happens I don't cater to the folks that say "well they were here first". That doesn't really matter. Especially when it's predators such as these. I seriously doubt that everyone is just going to up and move out so the cougars can have their "habitat" back!
Another sad thing is that I'm probably going to have to wind up bying a shotgun. Seems the deer trail to the riverbank ends right behind our house. I am NOT a hunter, but I do know how to handle guns. And in a neighborhood such as this a shotgun would be the best thing. It has the best close range stopping power and "collateral damage" from a missed shot would be the most minimal as opposed to a hunting rifle. And yes I will teach Rox the right way to fire one. And yes hopefully we'll never have to use it.
~;-)
Bert
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ZboX
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And now it seems the "Next Time" is here. Three nights ago my brother in law (who lives just around the corner) told me his dogs were going ape over something in their backyard. They are used to the 'possums and racoons that are prevalent in this neighborhood so he doubted that was what set them off.
Fast forward to two nights ago. I was sitting here at my PC and all of a sudden heard the "cat getting shredded" sound. I went running out the patio door and Dude and Tootsie came zipping past me into the house. Our oddball Miss Elvira was just doing her usual thing sitting in the middle of the backyard. Very odd. I grabbed the flashlight and could see a 'possum about half way up a tree at the edge of our backyard. But there was something else. I could here something moving in the brush just to the left of the 'possums tree. The sound stopped but I sensed something was there. Couldn't see anything with the flashlight though but I just kept getting that feeling there was something there. Rox came out and stood next to me armed with a rake. I laughed and said "what you gonna do with that?" Naturally she told me to 'shup. <G> We kept looking but still couldn't see anything. So I took a deep breath and shouted "GET OUT OF HERE!!" And was immediately answered by a very loud and large hiss from the spot where I thought the "something" was. That hiss made the hair on the back of my neck stand up! I took a step back and looked over at Rox and there was only a Roxy sized hole in the air. She had beet feet back into the house LOL! Common sense broke out and I went back into the house also. Miss Ellie decided in her infinite wisdom it was time to come in a short time later. We haven't to this point actually seen a cougar but the consesus is that we have another!
Bert
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dawhip
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yep, sounds like it's back; be careful, keep the cats in at night
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suzhuz
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Woweeee... how exciting! See what I'm missing by not checking in more often? And I thought my coyotes were irritating. I see you two are finding life in the wild country of beautiful Oregon exciting. LOL
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ZboX
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Well it seems it's yet again time for another episode of "Fun with Cougars!". About 1:00 AM this morning, I couldn't sleep and was laying on the couch watching tv, when all of a sudden I heard that familiar "wha wha wha" sound! The back patio door was open with the screen shut. I stood there listening, then the high pitched whistle like sound of a deer in distress could be heard. Wasn't as close as last year. It was probably on the other side of the river. Since last years episode we've learned that there is a female Cougar that lives about a mile down river. Most likely what we are dealing with is a Momma Cougar teaching her cubs how to hunt deer. That "wha wha wha" sound is her at the head of the deer trail, spooking the deer so it will run down the trail, where her cub or cubs are waiting. Classic ambush. The two that we saw last year were the cubs. We probably won't ever see Momma as she's an experienced adult. And when she's teaching them how to hunt she'll be in full on stealth mode. So she'll be a ghost. The good news is that they are acting normal. And there are plenty of deer for them to hunt. We have deer sign all over this area. We've even noticed apples from the tree on our front lawn are being eaten. Normally Cougars won't go after pets. That usually occurs when they are sick or injured, or there is no large game for them to hunt. They just get more bang for the buck (no pun intended) by going after the deer. So, we'll just keep our eyes and ears peeled, and cross our fingers there are no incidents involving them and humans or pets. Welcome to Cougar season in Canyonville!
Bert
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dawhip
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nice to know a little more about them now, huh :)
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LOL
Rox