Last week I got a call from my mom, warning me to be careful if I walk the dogs out at some of the county parks in my area. Upon asking why she let me know that there have been increased sightings of coyote in the area. Then she told me that last week she was laying in bed watching tv at about 11pm. She had her window open a crack and could hear something moving around outside the window, in the dogs area of the backyard, which is fenced with 5ft chain link. She leaned over near the window and yelled, "Get outta there!!" figuring it was a stray cat or raccoon. She said the hair on her entire body stood up when she received a strange loud growl in reply. She promptly shut the window and motated to the couch for the night.
Fast forward to last night. My grandma calls her at one thirty am. She was woken up by the sounds of a large cat screaming and howling. She said the sounds were at first somewhat far away, she guessed between the houses across the street. As she was on the phone with mom she described the sounds getting closer but also said she was worried that there weren't the wounds of two cats, such as in a fight between two tomcats. Mom couldn't talk on her cell when driving so when she got to the other end of town about ten minutes later my grandma told her the sounds had stopped right outside of her bedroom window.
Its pretty graphic to describe so I'll just say there wasn't much left of the poor cat. She lied to grandma, and said the cat must have gotten away. So mom called all day while I was gone and when I called her back she replayed the story.
So when I got off the phone I googled a list of predators native to this area. Fox, bobcat, coyote. We've also had reports of black bear and cougar in the area sporadically. I called my mom back and made her listen to the growls of each and she said the bobcat was definitely what she heard. Something that large would explain the mess that she found upon getting to grandma's.
Its all logical too. I'm in northern Iowa, and southern Minnesota was subject to major flooding last month. All the predators in that area are going to be on the move for new hunting grounds and territory when theirs was covered in water.
So I post a short blurb about it on facebook. Another freind that lives in the same town (30 miles away) also says that she's had a cat disappear, and suddenly her mother's cat refuses to go outside when since she was born she's been going outside, and said a neighbors cat had been hurt pretty badly by something while outside one night.
Ok, No more nighttime dog walks, thats for sure! I'm really nervous about this whole situation because Halloween is so close
Fast forward to last night. My grandma calls her at one thirty am. She was woken up by the sounds of a large cat screaming and howling. She said the sounds were at first somewhat far away, she guessed between the houses across the street. As she was on the phone with mom she described the sounds getting closer but also said she was worried that there weren't the wounds of two cats, such as in a fight between two tomcats. Mom couldn't talk on her cell when driving so when she got to the other end of town about ten minutes later my grandma told her the sounds had stopped right outside of her bedroom window.
Its pretty graphic to describe so I'll just say there wasn't much left of the poor cat. She lied to grandma, and said the cat must have gotten away. So mom called all day while I was gone and when I called her back she replayed the story.
So when I got off the phone I googled a list of predators native to this area. Fox, bobcat, coyote. We've also had reports of black bear and cougar in the area sporadically. I called my mom back and made her listen to the growls of each and she said the bobcat was definitely what she heard. Something that large would explain the mess that she found upon getting to grandma's.
Its all logical too. I'm in northern Iowa, and southern Minnesota was subject to major flooding last month. All the predators in that area are going to be on the move for new hunting grounds and territory when theirs was covered in water.
So I post a short blurb about it on facebook. Another freind that lives in the same town (30 miles away) also says that she's had a cat disappear, and suddenly her mother's cat refuses to go outside when since she was born she's been going outside, and said a neighbors cat had been hurt pretty badly by something while outside one night.
Ok, No more nighttime dog walks, thats for sure! I'm really nervous about this whole situation because Halloween is so close