Mystery Mountain Lion

When Mark and I first moved here back in 2012, we were invited to a friend's 4th of July party. The shindig was held in a big workshop on the property (which we lovingly call The Barn) and the big garage doors were left open to let the fresh air of the night in. This was your typical Ozarks gathering. Food, good music, drink and of course lots and lots of fireworks. After hours of merriment, Mark and I were the last guests still there. Our hostess called it a night and headed back to her house to go to bed. We hung back to finish our drinks. As we sat talking, we were interrupted by a terrible screaming sound. We both froze; alarmed by this weird noise we didn't recognize. We started guessing what it might be...a coyote? No. A dog killing a small animal? No. The Chupacabra? Possibly. Then I remembered a Youtube video I had seen a long time ago. I think we might have heard a mountain lion!

We told our story to my friend a few days later, and she confirmed that a female mountain lion had been spotted in Ozark a few weeks earlier. We decided that must have been what we heard and that was the end of it. We didn't hear it again.

Female Mountain Lion.

Fast forward to last week, Mark is in our front yard late at night taking the dog to do her business. He was out there for a good five minutes and when he came in, he was excited to report that he had heard the same weird screaming we had experienced on that 4th of July almost 3 years ago. He said that at first he thought it was a woman screaming but he quickly realized it was an animal. We googled the sound of a mountain lion screaming, and he confirmed it was the same noise as he had just heard. The following video is audio of a mountain lion also heard in Missouri. Some kids recorded it with a phone. You can hear why Mark thought at first that it was a lady screaming.

I'm going to go ahead and declare that we have at least one mountain lion here in Ozark, which is great! If she isn't hurting anyone, then let her continue to hunt on the river and live peacefully. Do be cautious if you are one of the many people around here who have yard chickens, or small dogs that spend a lot of time outside. Come to think of it, I haven't seen the neighborhood dog called Lucky in a long time...

Stay safe, friends! And enjoy nature and her creatures! 

~ Love and Light ~