Well, it’s been awhile since my encounter with the Black Widow spider in my cabin by the lake in Harrison Hot Springs and my sense of tranquility had been restored, as once again I felt safe and cocooned in my little oasis in the woods.
Or so I thought…
As, I slept peacefully with my beloved cat Cherry, the two of us carefully snuggled in, I was awakened by something that I have never heard before. It sounded like something fresh out of hell.
It was an awful sound, ghost-like, guttural and out of this world. I imagined Mothmen, or evil spectres, or perhaps at last the famed Sasquatch had found its way to my door. Perhaps it was badly wounded and in pain, and it was too distraught to disguise itself in its elusive custom.
All I know is that I felt a sense of terror, something I have never felt that strongly, aside from ingesting a scary movie that I shouldn’t have watched alone or shouldn’t be watching.
I jumped from the bed, and ran to the door, the one my cat has been able to open, the one that has been ajar in the middle of the night, as I thought of the creature outside. What if it had been opened? I thought, what if I woke up to said creature on top of me at the last minute…? What if it had been too late?
Cherry, had a wild look in her eyes, as she looked to me to save us, a look that acknowledged there was something beyond the door that was big and powerful. Was it a bear? I thought, perhaps some highly vocal raccoon that had lost it, but it was too ominous, too strange, too loud…
My face had gone ashen as I made sure the door was secure and I stood behind it, prepared to hold it, should said creature decide to paw, claw, or force its way into my room. It was little comfort to know that whatever was out there was only a door away from me. I could feel its presence, as it struck me that I had left mountain lion out of the mix…(which was even more disturbing as I imagined, a cougar, or puma waiting for us outside.) Its proximity, felt predatory to me, as I thought of the tasty snack my chubby tabby would offer this great and formidable creature.
Either way, my breathing stopped as I stood my ground and listened to it continue to howl, or growl, and thanked the universe that at last, after what seemed an eternity, it was moving on…hopefully.
In my abject terror I said a prayer and did the only rational thing I could think of and barricaded the door. Instead of peeking out the window I stayed fixated on the door in my terror. As soon as the sound fully dissipated and I felt that the immediate threat was gone I did again, what any good journalist would do, and started googling sounds for cougars, which was my hunch for the “thing” that had just visited us.
Sure enough in the description, it said that cougars make eerie ghost-like sounds that can mimic a woman screaming in pain. I listened to a youtube video, first of a lynx, then a lion, and finally a cougar, and the horrific sound was eerily close to the terrible noise I had just heard outside of my window.
Needless to say I turned on my youtube channel and let it play because the article I was reading said that cougars don’t like the radio, etc..
It was 1:30 a.m. and by the time I had calmed myself enough to sleep, and observe my cat settle down, the sun was coming up. Since then I have spoken of my experience to neighbours, friends, family and left a message for the RCMP on the weekend, stating that I suspected a cougar in close proximity to residential property (probably looking to make Cherry its next meal if I was correct.)
Either way a friend has mailed me bear spray and suggested I get an axe. Though that is of little comfort to me, and the thought of using either is just as terrifying a notion.
What I have learned is to be aware.
Don’t feed your pets outside if you live near the wilderness, and bring them in between the hours of dusk and dawn. I will not be opening the door to let Cherry out at 3 a.m. again…I realized how careless I had been and naive about the wild animals nearby. What turned out to be a good scare, could have been much worse. I was lucky, but never again will I forget that we are not alone, especially when you live in a little cabin by the lake.
