What The Heck Was That?

Every year my boyfriend Tad goes squirrel hunting the first few days of the season in Ritchie County. I always meet him there for the weekend. His best friend Joe had a farm on top of Oil Ridge. Joe has passed on, but his son still allows Tad to hunt there. It is way up away from everything. At night all you can hear are the crickets and the gas wells pumping. We always camp there in the woods. There is no electric, no street lights, no water and no cell service. So you are truly away from it all. There are plenty of critters deer, squirrel, raccoons, skunk, coyotes, turkey, bear, snakes, spiders, and other creepy crawlers.

The fun stared Friday night, October 10, 2008. We went to our tent not long after dark. The crickets were singing up a storm. It was 4 days till a full moon, so it shined brightly through the tent. I could not get to sleep to save my life. When it did get quiet I could hear what I thought were deer walking around in the tall grass between the tents. I think around 4:30 I was finally sleeping. Then, I could hear movement from the grand kids next-door. They were anxious to get up, even though sunrise was a couple of hours away. Then all of the sudden, on the bank above us, something let out this blood curdling screech followed by 2 deep grunts. Tad and I both jumped and I said “What the heck was that?” he said,” I don’t know probably just a bobcat or coyote.” Now we have both heard bob cats and coyotes and although they do sound intense it is nowhere near as intense as this screech was. What I remember most were the 2 grunts that followed. After he went out and lit the lanterns I heard it again, but it had moved down below us. The next morning I heard it down below us again. I don’t know what it was, but I do know that it was not something I’d care to hear again.