The Screaming Cat

June 04, 2009 11:58 pm

— By Marcus Anderson

Ronald, Billy Wade, Mule and I were in Ronald's old jeep headed down toward the Navy Base turkey hunting early one morning. This was prior to the base being built and the area was a wilderness, completely isolated; no houses, no sounds except the lonesome whistle made by distant trains. There were no improvements at all, even the road was just a pig trail through the woods impenetrable except by four-wheel drive vehicles. We were riding along in the jet black before day surrounded by forest when Ronald related the following story.
It seems earlier he and Morris Whitfield had driven on over close to the railroad tracks and slipped across to one of Nunn and Company's fish ponds. It was a bright moonlight night and the pond was in a pasture with cows lying nearby in a group of trees contentedly chewing their cuds. The men were talking and bragging about all the fish they expected to catch and just thoroughly enjoying a beautiful night.
Suddenly there was the most blood thirsty scream imaginable from south of the pool. It sent shivers up and down their spines, but the most shocking thing was the reaction of the cows. They all jumped up bellowing, with their tails in the air and stampeding away, scared, terrified of the unseen creature.
Ronald and Morris looked at each other in amazement, “What in tar-nation was that,” one asked as both hurriedly got their fishing gear together. About that time the creature screamed again, seemingly a little closer. That did it. If he was bad enough to put the cows into a frenzy the two sure needed to run away. Across the pasture they went with hearts pounding wildly.

Closing In

That scream or roar sounded again. “It appears to be following us,” exclaimed Morris.”
“Sure does seem to be close,” replied Ronald as he quickened his pace, trying desperately to out run this 'what ever.
“That must be the panther we hear about from time to time,” one of them reasoned. He roared again even closer, the sound penetrating the stillness of the night. Its sounds were horrifying, best described as sounding like a woman's screams while being slowly burned at the stake. They were scared, now realizing it was trailing them. It was difficult for Ronald to describe their state of mind. They were only hoping to reach their truck before he overtook them.
They jumped the fence with a mighty leap, crossed the railroad just barely touching the ground and rushed over, jumping in that blessed truck. They never saw a truck look so good before. Although the weather was warm up went the windows just leaving a crack to listen through.
Ronald continues, "That panther, devil or whatever stalked up into the woods just out of sight and howled as if to say, ‘Come on back I'm hungry.’ He prowled up and down in the woods never exposing himself and continued those blood thirsty screams. We sat paralyzed in awe; not exactly fear because of a gun in the truck, but never got a glimpse of this creature. When we left he was still roaring while looking and hoping for an easy meal.
Remember this all transpired about a mile from where we were turkey hunting.
Here we are in the night, still black as the ace of spades; can't see a thing without the headlights. Ronald turns the jeep up the gas pipe line and stops, "Marcus this is where you need to get out.”

You Kidding?

"Who, me?" I retort, thinking about that bad cat and not being able to even see the woods beside the pipeline. "Yeer, I've got to carry everyone else on down before it gets light," he replies.
Reluctantly I get my gear and crawl out with visions of this story dancing in my mind as the jeep pulls off and disappears over the hill. “Man, man, am I crazy or what?” rolls through my thoughts as I flip on a small flashlight and ease into the edge of the woods. I sit down by a tree and wait for daylight. I flip off the small light.
Here I sit, so dark I can't see the end of my nose let alone anything else around me, the images of that panther running through my head. What would I do if encountering this creature? In fact I'd never even know he was around as dark as it is. My emotions are on a high about like a little boy trying to sleep after watching a horror movie,
Then a piercing screech penetrates the woods, the sound not 20 feet away. My heart jumps into my mouth and temporally stops beating. Like to have scared me to death! Quickly flipping on the light and expecting to see some monster ready to devour me, I discover a small screech owl on a low limb right next to where I am sitting.
What a relief to believe now that I will live to see my wife and family once more. It still takes me till daylight to calm down enough to enjoy my turkey hunt.
Later I had the opportunity to see this panther first hand. It was a mountain lion and I watched him trot across the woods for at least a hundred yards with a clear view. I say that to emphasize the fact that it was not an illusion, but fact. It was a mountain lion and in Kemper County, Mississippi.