Wildlife

OK, Y'all...I was walking Rylea this afternoon, and we hadn't gotten very far from the house when I heard a screech--like a bird screech. I didn't think too much of it, because we have red tailed hawks all over the place. They screech at me all the time. Imagine my surprise when I looked up and it wasn't a red tailed hawk. It was a flippin BALD EAGLE!!!!!

Of all days for me not to have my camera. It wouldn't have done any good anyway, because all I could do was stand there with my mouth hanging open, saying, "that's a bald eagle!" And there was nobody to tell. I finally had the presence of mind to dig out my phone and try to take a photo with it, but by that time he was too far away.

I knew they lived around here, because they have that eagle census down at the lake every year, but this is the first time I ever saw one. It's the first time I've ever seen a wild eagle at all.


One day earlier this week, I was letting Rylea out very early in the morning. A weird noise was coming from the woods next door. As soon as she heard it, Ry took off barking that hound dog yawp she has, and whatever it was screamed.

"Dadgum," I thought. "That sounds like a panther!"

It sounded like this: Cougar Sound, especially that last bit.

A day or two later, I was walking Rylea. We walk down this dirt road, and we're always seeing tracks. Dog, and coyote tracks, deer tracks, possum, raccoon, rabbit...even snake tracks. Anyway, this day, I spotted something that was very unusual. It was kind of like a dog track, but not exactly the right shape. It was wider than a dog track, and had no claw marks. It was also a lot larger than any of the dogs around here. The track was about as big as my hand. It looked a lot like the sketch found here.

I stopped and looked at the track, and said out loud, "That looks like a panther track!" I kept my eyes open, but didn't see any more, and I haven't seen one since. Now, I don't know that there are panthers in Mississippi. Maybe what I was hearing and seeing was a bobcat--a very big bobcat, but I don't know. I just keeps getting curiouser and curiouser.