Last night I took Kodiak out for his post-dinner bathroom break. We have a motion sensor light on our shed, but it doesn’t reach very far, so I always grab a flashlight to avoid stepping on something of the poop variety.
All was going as usual, when suddenly I heard a child screaming at the top of its lungs.
“AHHHHH!!!!”
I stopped. Where was it coming from?
“AHHHH!!!! AHHHHH!!!!”
The sound was stopping my heart. I grazed the beam from the flashlight across the woods, but could see nothing. As the screaming continued I wondered, should I call out to them? Ask if they’re ok?
“AHHHHH!!!!”
By now, Kodiak was on high alert — hair standing up, deep bark and growl — and he was dragging me towards the woods. Scared by his reaction, I hauled him back into the house.
Back inside, I opened our bathroom window which faces the yard to see if the screaming continued. As I listened, a different sound began.
Footsteps in the brush. Right next to my house.
I slammed the window shut, locked it and grabbed my phone.
Once up there, I realized that I didn’t have any girl intruder armour. You know…something you could use in case of an attack. I know you’ve all looked around your room and thought would you could use in that situation. I’ve done it before. Only this time, the only thing I could find was a desk lamp and a pair of scissors.
So I sat, looking ridiculous I”m sure, in my hallway. Clutching a pair of scissors.
Moments later, two police officers were combing the backyard and surrounding woods and while nothing was discovered, I’m still glad they looked.
Michael’s friend, an outdoorsy guy, thinks that the noise was probably a Fisher Cat, a small weasel-like animal that is known in this area for attacking cats. He said the first time he heard it, he thought it was a child screaming.
You be the judge. This video (just sound) is one man’s recording of one. Hearing it still gives me chills.
27 comments
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February 16, 2009 at 10:31 am
girlrunningaround
Wow! I’d be scared too!
February 16, 2009 at 11:02 am
DevilsHeaven
Uh, yeah, that would freak ya out. Weird shit.
I’m gonna share my own call the cops moment. I was maybe 10 or 11 and my mom and I were out walking around our yard in the dark because we couldn’t sleep and I swore up and down that there was a man leaning against the business next door because I could see the red glow from his cigerette. I convinced her too and we called the cops who found nothing.
We lived in the country and the business was about a football field away. I think I was seeing things, but I checked the doors everynight before we went for about a year after that.
February 16, 2009 at 11:20 am
Aly
As least you have Kodiak! When the power went out on my street last week, all I had as protection was my 7 pound attack dog and a mini mag light.
February 16, 2009 at 11:59 am
Heidi Renée
When I played the video my cat went on high alert!
February 16, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Sara
Did you call the police or did someone else?
February 16, 2009 at 12:47 pm
A Super Girl
Creepy! As for the girl armor, I keep a child-size wooden bat next to my bed, presumably in case some attacker were to break in while I’m sleeping. Except, if that actually happened, I’d probably be so freaked out that I would completely forget to grab for the bat!
February 16, 2009 at 1:09 pm
acautionaryblog
Oh my gosh, the same thing happened to me the other night! I was sitting in my living room, and I swore I heard a small child screaming, so I went outside with Rufus, and sitting right outside was a yellow cat, just yowling its head off. I can’t believe cats can sound like that.
February 16, 2009 at 1:39 pm
kristen
Hmm, I’ve never heard of a Fisher Cat. That is so weird. Glad you’re safe & that you didn’t need to use the scissors.
February 16, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Mike
Are you sure that wasn’t your Valentine date’s reaction when he saw all of your shoes?
February 16, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Julia
yuck, thats horrible! you poor thing!
February 16, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Froggy
That is a seriously creepy noise. I probably would have wet myself.
February 16, 2009 at 5:17 pm
The New Black
I would have totally freaked out!! My boyfriend always makes fun of me and says that my back up plan in the case of an attack is to fall down screaming. I’d like to think that he’s wrong, but part of him is right!
February 16, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Kez
That is friggin’ creepy! I would have been just as disturbed as you!
February 16, 2009 at 11:57 pm
LovelyAnomaly
Creeeepy! I live on the outskirts of a rural town. That’s one more thing to freak me out at night… Super.
February 17, 2009 at 10:10 am
juliennejiggs
We’ve had the same thing in our area, but the sound comes from foxes fighting. Super creepy, especially late at night!
February 17, 2009 at 10:28 am
your mom
lol! and this coming from you, a kid who grew up behind a farm and on 75 acres in the woods…this coming from a kid who saw a bear in the back yard…this from a kid who used to count the bats coming out of the shutters….do you remember when you and abby came face to face with a pair of ragged coyotes in the driveway? oh little country girl, see what all this suburban living is doing to you?! 🙂
glad it was just a screaming fisher cat….. kudos to kodiak, nobody is going to bother you with that monster size canine in the house!
February 17, 2009 at 12:42 pm
gibsondog
that gave me the creeps! I was on edge reading!
February 17, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Sassafras
Holy crap – SCARY!
February 17, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Beth
oh my god, that was the creepiest noise I have EVER heard. I couldn’t even make it through the whole video because it made me so uncomfortable!
I feel so bad for you that you had to experience that… it gives me the willies just thinking about it!
February 17, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Kim
That is very creepy. Very creepy. At least you had the scissors. That’s some sort of weapon, right?
I always work myself up about stuff like that. Sounds like your fear was justified, though.
February 17, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Mike
Ghosts from the Morgan in your backyard? 🙂
February 18, 2009 at 4:13 am
Michelle
That would freak anyone out! And my first dog’s name was Kodiak. God, I loved that dog.
February 18, 2009 at 8:48 am
Shana Leigh
omg, that is so scary. I would have done the exact same thing. Creeeeepyyyyyy!
February 18, 2009 at 3:31 pm
elizabeth
I would have been right there with you!
But I have heard tell of the fisher cat screams.
Have you ever heard a buck scream? That happened to me a couple years ago – I took the pups out for their potty break and I was sure someone was being murdered in our field. As it turns out, bucks scream when they feel threatened (by Mabels) and that is what it sounds like. Terrifying!
February 18, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Anna
ok, I would be running if I heard that!
February 18, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Chelle
Jeesh! We have a fisher cat that wanders down from the woods here, but I’ve never heard screams. Just coyotes howling. Freaky stuff… Get ’em Kodiak… Get ’em, boy…
February 25, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Sue
I got chills just reading that!!!!!!