A couple of nights ago I was reading by the fire. I heard a noise that I have never heard before. At the risk of sounding like a wimp, I will readily admit that the sound alone unnerved me.
However, it also unnerved the dogs. They all sat up and perked up their ears. None of the five dogs made a sound. I immediately picked up my Maglite and shined it at the goat pen. The sound came from that direction. Both goats were inside their house, but were standing with their heads outside of it. They were both looking behind their house. I guess we all heard the same thing.
I texted Jennifer and asked her to download some .mp3s of screech owls, bobcats, and cougars. I was pretty sure that I knew what sound a screech owl makes, but I wanted to be sure. I really have no idea about bobcats or cougars, except that sound that a mountain lion always makes in the movies. This wasn’t that sound.
Jennifer was nice enough to download those sounds for me before coming home.
I woke up this morning at 4 am, unable to sleep. I managed to work a little on my book. I also listened to the .mp3s that Jennifer downloaded for me. The results make me not want to leave the goats alone anymore. I ended up waking her up after I listened to them all. I’m not quite sure that she appreciated my enthusiasm at 5:30 in the morning.
She downloaded screech owl, bobcat and cougar sounds. I listened to them all, starting with screech owl, then bobcat, and then cougar. When I heard the “cougar in heat” sound, I immediately recognized it as the sound the dogs, the goats, and I had heard that night in question.
Jennifer said she had no problem believing that it was a cougar. She said she saw a bobcat on the way to work Friday night. After notifying our neighbor, he said that he had seen some strange tracks.
As Jennifer put it, goats are breakfast for cougars, mountain lions, or whatever you want to call them. Athena and Tigh may have serious problems with a big cat living in the neighborhood.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission recently acknowledged that cougars are living in Arkansas. They really didn’t have a choice, since one was caught on video by a State Trooper’s dash cam and part of one was caught on a trail cam. However, they state that the cougars are merely migratory and that there is not a breeding population here. It seems to me that with the recent sightings, and my recent hearing, there is evidence that they are more than migratory. I believe that they may be here to stay.
That’s fine with us, as long as they don’t bother the goats. Or the chickens. Or the dogs. Or us.
The Gray Homestead 