This time I am not joking, we think there may be a Bob Cat on our farm. Several times here lately we have heard a cat cry and it was a more powerful cry than a house cat (plus our cats were in when this happened). Also the dogs have gone crazy barking at something outside a few times. The dogs are used to most of the wild things around here and whatever this was really set them off. Last night as I was walking out the door to take Ryan to Girl Scouts, I heard the cry again. Really sends chills up your spine even though I know it will run away. We do not have any baby goats either and it is really past time for them to be showing up. We don't regulate the breeding so the exact dates aren't known but they are usually here by now. So something may be getting them. A bob cat would not be big enough to bother the full grown goats but could get a baby. We have not seen any tracks or anything but it sure makes us wonder. We know there are bears and bob cats on the mountains but like to think that they will stay there. I'll keep you updated if we find out anything for sure.

Wow Pat, stay safe. I remember when Prairie Maid had a bear and how scarey it was, I can't imagine what it would be like having a Bob cat around. I sure hope it isn't getting your baby goats.

Pat if it is, please keep the young kids near the house. I don't know what you call a bob cat, but around here it's another name for cougars.

Vancouver Island has cougars, and they are a real problem near school yards there. A lady riding her horse a few hours away from here where I live was pulled off by one, and mauled as she kept it from getting her kids who were riding with her. She bled to death but saved her kids. It was a couple of years back and it's rare but they can be exceedingly dangerous.

I'd listen to the dogs. They are telling you something isn't right. They know. Our dozer dog is a good little bear dog. She can tell, and it's the only time she makes noises other than the very odd time if she's excited about a car ride.

She has a funny harsh throaty growly bark when she smells one. One time up at my dads, she woke us in the night, the kids were all sleeping around the cabin in various tents, and my stepmum was ticked because the dog woke us up.

But the dog was carefully escorting a big black bear AROUND the yard. He was trying to get thru, and she was barking and carrying on, and he wasn't into a confrontation, she wasn't backing down, and he had to go around.

She used to do this at hunting camp all the time.

Wow that's some dog. As for keeping the kids near the house, we try to keep the moms in the barn which is not far from the house but goats are stubborn and seem to want to wander when it's time to deliver. I'm hoping they are just running late this year. I think what we call a bob cat is smaller than your cougar. It's more like a huge house cat size. Your cougar would probably be called a mountain lion here. The bob cats have no tail only a stub. (no wonder they sound irritated).

LOL Pat, I meant the children. I remember the independant ways of goats from having them as a girl, and nope, you can't keep them penned for long.

sound's like the bob cat is a different animal, and smaller than our cougar.

Pat did you ever find out if it was, indeed a bob cat? We have seen several here and have heard them cry at night. It is an eary cry. Almost as if something were strangling them.

Yikes! Scary story about that woman, Margery. (Good boy Dozer.)
Pat, I hope all is well at your place now. Did you ever see the animal?

Nope, never saw him. Haven't found any more tracks in a while either. Guess he moved on - Thank Goodness!

Oh my Pat! Hope that he has left the area. Our resident bear has been around, mostly at night. I've found his scat and tracks all arount the woods walkway and the road. He stirs clear of where the dogs are.

Susie in MN