weird things

[Minimor]

This summer we've had some wild critter in this neighborhood. It has been stealing cats--since mid-July it's taken quite a few. We lost our first one, taken right out of the hayshed where he always slept. The next night something grabbed another one, but that one got away--he had saliva across his hips and the skin was broken on one side, and he was very stiff & sore for a few days, but he did make a complete recovery. At that point we figured it was a fox and put out the word to have someone eliminate any foxes he could find. We thought the problem was gone. Then we lost another cat--that one would have been taken right out of the yard--and then a week & a half later another one (our favorite, Honey--she was grabbed in the corral behind the barn, we found some hair there). By then we had heard of a lot of other missing cats in this neighborhood & figured it must be a coyote that was taking them. We lost a 4th cat--another house cat that never left the front corner of the yard--on August 16th. Since then we have lost no more. We bring several cats in for the night and the few that stay out usually find a place to sleep and stay there, they aren't out roaming around during the night. As well, our dog has started barking and running 'something' out of the yard some nights--up until now she had no idea about wildlife, but it seems she has learned now! We figure that whatever-it-is is now avoiding our yard because of Arielle--and that is a good thing. However....late last month our horses started getting very nervous and spooky, and I began to think we had something worse than coyotes coming around--most likely a cougar. Two days later a neighbor called to tell me that someone a mile over had a cougar in their yard, actually on the deck, a few days ago. It wasn't a good feeling to know that I'd been right, that it was likely a cat that had been coming around here. More recently we've been hoping that the critter has moved on out of this area, but we can't say for sure. The horses have calmed down again--or they had, until last night--last night some were very spooked again--but there are still nights when the dog lights out after something.

One day, a little over 2 weeks ago, I was at work & Mom was home--she said the dog was having a royal fit, acting like she'd seen something on the road that really got her worked up--so Mom walked out there. There was nothing to be seen. Yesterday morning sometime after 7:30 the dog was once again having a real fit so I ran outside. I saw nothing but could hear something skittering down the road--not a jogger, not a horse, it was rather quick footfalls, and something very light footed. I ran out to the end of the driveway--and there was nothing. I then dashed out to the end of our tree line to where I could see beyond the curve in the road and out across our side pasture--and saw nothing there either. Whatever it was had to have cut across our pasture & was gone. It was a little creepy, really. We don't have a lot of dogs in this immediate area so I doubt it was a neighbor's dog.

And now tonight. I was feeding horses and I had just fed two in the front corral & was going back out to the yard to get more hay. Mom was filling water tubs in the front corrals. I heard a squeaking & stopped to listen, then decided it was a horse rubbing on the fence, or something--so I went on my way. Mom called to me & asked if the dog was with me. I said yes & she said then what is out here?? I went back--turns out the squeaking noise (which sounded a bit like a dog making soft yip noises, or like a horse rubbing on a very squeaky wire fence) was moving quite quickly across our side pasture, where it was pitch dark. The horses on that side of the property were terrified, all charging around in fear. I only had my little flashlight, which doesn't light up much, but I didn't take time to go get a better light--I just ran for the side pasture. Then I realized--the squeaking was from a wheel, like the wheel on one of those 2 wheeled dollies.

Now remember my post from a couple years ago, where I heard something similar one dark November night & when I went & got my spotlight I found a dolly and a strange wooden box lying out in that same side pasture? Then when I went back a short time later the box was still there but the dolly was gone?? This time I yelled back to Mom "It's that person with the trolley again" then I proceeded to yell after the person about how whoever it is better get his sorry butt out of there and keep out in future because I'm sick of trespassers...and well, let's just say that if it is some kid he/she might have learned a few new words tonight. When I stopped to listen I didn't hear anything at first, then finally heard the squeaky-squeaky from quite far away. Mom figures that the person was running, because the squeak was moving very fast! I have no doubt at all that the noise we heard was a squeaky wheel on a dolly--I just cannot figure out who it would have been or where they would be going. I could never figure out what that box was 2 years ago, where they got it, where they were taking it & what it was to be used for....and I have no idea now why anyone would be pulling a dolly across our pasture. Makes me wonder how often this person crosses the pasture with that dolly, and if maybe that is what has had our horses spooked these last few weeks. I wish I knew if/when this person will be going through again & I would be waiting with the spotlight. This really rubbed me the wrong way tonight--I was so peeved that if I'd met up with the person I'd have been hard pressed to refrain from sticking my pitchfork into his backside. Sadly my dog obviously did not associate the squeaky noise with anything threatening--she likely thought it was a horse rubbing on the fence too--had she seen a person out there she'd have run at him barking, but as it is, she wasn't paying any attention to the squeaking. Darn it.

Years back my next door neighbor used to sneak around in our trees--never did figure out why!--while his wife was at work (she worked evenings, until midnight) He quite when he learned we knew he was there--though he didn't know that we knew that he was the one sneaking around. (Another neighbor told the Avon lady that "someone" was skulking around here at night--she told her hubby who told his buddy-- my next door neighbor!) His wife passed away a year ago & I have said that I hope he won't start his prowling again now that he's home alone so much. But I'm quite sure he isn't the one that is trundling this dolly around--for one thing he has bad knees & couldn't move that fast and for another he has a new girlfriend to keep him occupied, so I'm quite sure he wouldn't bother to prowl now. He's also 16 years older now, and I just don't think he has enough ambition to be out skulking around in the dark!

Ack, this is just a weird neighborhood sometimes.

 

[shorthorsemom]

OMG very scary!!!!

:shocked

 

[Genie]

That's a mystery

In the beginning I was thinking a wolf because a friend in northern Quebec lost her cat to a wolf.

Very wierd...,.the dolly thing

We have fox, coyotes and wolves around here as well. A neighbour had a calf killed while the cow was delivering...

 

[Minimor]

Genie--we considered wolves too, as there is a pack of them based in the forest east of here--we had them here a few times one winter, but they weren't real shy--I actually saw the 4 of them out in our back pasture, and then another morning they were on the back road after making a kill in the field just east of our place. I'm not sure wolves would go all through this subdivision--we're on the edge with nothing east of us between the forest & here so they'd come in here, but I don't know if they'd go all through the neighborhood taking cats. A bear we'd definitely have seen by now--they are not subtle creatures. Coyotes--I think if it were coyotes someone would have seen them by now--when they are around they are usually not at all shy about being seen & the horses have never been concerned by them.

Now of course the horses are so spooked they are terrified of a house cat. Last evening when I finished chores I called Jasper--he'd been at the barn not 5 minutes earlier. I saw him out at the end of the corral by the trees so called him again. He came running full speed and when he came out of the shadows the 2 horses in that corral took off--Jasper "chased" them right across the corral to the gate--for a minute I wondered if they were going to go over/through the fence & keep on going, they were that terrified. Totally out of character for these horses--they normally don't notice the cats at all. Of course this was after the squeaky squeaky noise went across the pasture on that side, so they were more spooked than usual.

I was wishing that when that person was out in the pasture the cat or whatever it is would have made an appearance right in front of the person--LMAO--a cougar would have been perfect, and if it cut loose with a good scream just then, so much the better. Bet the person wouldn't have been out in the dark any more after that, at least not for a good long time.

 

[Equuisize]

That's creepy alright whether it's a person or a cat or a wolf.....

Has anyone seen or heard a big cat in the area?

Ever since you wrote the first time about the dolly being left in the field, it's

been a puzzlement as to why anyone would be cutting thru your place with a dolly.

Do you think maybe they were going to steal feed?

Hope the mystery of your intruder, whatever it may be, gets solved sooner than later.

I just learned from a neighbor that about the time our little colt was born, 3 months ago, that the neighbors

had seen a big cat in the neighborhood.

We live right off the area with hundreds of heavily treed acres of the watershed for our area.

Bears have been spotted, coyotes, foxes, der, elk and other asst critters but this was the first I'd heard of a big cat.

The neighbor tracked it down the property that adjoins our property and it moved on out towards an actually

more populated area off the freeway, rather than heading back towards the watershed.

She said they ??didn't mention it to us?? because they knew our horses were stalled each night even though the cat

was spotted in broad daylight.

We've had a dry summer, actually sprinkling rain for the first time in nearly 2 months right now, but I wonder if

it was coming out of the hills for water? I've heard they'd do that.

 

[Minimor]

I have heard of only the one sighting of a cougar in this area this year--that was the one that the person said was on the deck, at a place just over a mile from here--I have since learned that there are others in this general area that has suspected there is a cat around, but I don't know all the details of why they think that. One person a couple miles south of here put up a trail cam but if they've seen anything on that I haven't heard about it. I do need to put up a couple (or 3 or 4) of those myself but it will have to wait until spring--I simply can't afford to buy them just now. There have been reports of a cougar in the Minnedosa area, about 20 miles north of here--I'm told that it attacked 2 dogs, one came back all torn up, the other hasn't been seen again. Again, I do not know all the details of how they know or why they think it was a cat that did this--perhaps someone saw the cat, I don't know. A cat in that area could certainly include this neighborhood in its range. There were multiple sightings within 2 miles of here last year through July & August, then the cat apparently moved on because there were no further sightings.

In any case....I don't like not knowing what is coming around, and I sure don't like not knowing WHO is cutting across my property, and what they are doing. Last night I was angry enough to have confronted them if I had caught up to them/him/her--but that isn't necessarily the smart thing to do. These days you don't know who is carrying a knife, and some will not think twice about using any weapon they do have on them. I am thinking that if they were really running across the pasture as the fast squeaks indicated they were, they were not anxious to be seen and weren't too dangerous.

 

[shorthorsemom]

video camera set up for night time viewing like the type you use to photograph deer and wildlife?

 

[Valerie]

That is very scary.......I remember the box incident....do you think they are using the box to trap the cats?

There are so very, very odd people out there........ I think at the least you and your mom should arm yourselves with pepper spray and have a better flash light on you both.....it sounds like this problem is not really going away.

Maybe it was a cougar that took the cats, but the squeaky wheel dolly....that is something entirely too creepy!

Hope it gets resolved soon, but please, please be extra cautious....but carry protection!

Valerie

 

[ErikaS.]

A shot gun filled with rock salt is what you need.

 

[Minimor]

Valerie--I've wondered that too, if the box was meant to be some sort of a trap, but I don't know how it would have worked as one unless it wasn't yet finished. As for "someone" taking our cats--Petey and Felix would have likely let a stranger catch them, but there is no way that Honey and KC would have allowed anyone other than my mom or myself to get hold of them. KC used to go across the road to the neighbors to "help" with the building of their house--good thing they liked her, because she was over there all the time, following them around, walking along the beams & supports, spending time inside the house once the walls were up & before the doors were closed off--for all the hours she spent there with them she would never let them catch her. They got a dog a couple of years ago & at that time she stopped going over there. She'd just sit on our drive way and watch their place! So, I'm quite sure nothing human took those two cats. Andy was definitely grabbed by a critter--likely a fox, as I don't believe he'd have ever gotten away from anything bigger.

I should at least hang a can of wasp spray on my belt--that has good range and is easy to get...I was even thinking a flare gun, since handguns aren't allowed here. I could light up someone's backside with one of those!

Though right now it's so dry a flare could start a grassfire, and that wouldn't be good.

Tonight everything was quiet; no critters and no creepy squeaky-squeaking noises--either the guy didn't come back tonight or else he was smart enough to oil his wheels.

 

[Marty]

You aren't going to like this:

When I first began reading this I thought it could be an owl. But as I read on, this SCREAMED to me to be some kind of evil thingy that I'm even afraid to say.

This is September and did it happen at the full moon or near it? And guess what comes next month? There are sacrifices going on all over the place in certain "groups" and kidnappings going on right now. One of my organizations that I work for is missing children so I do keep up on this.

I first learned about all this stuff the hard way in Florida when our beloved cats went missing and an altar was found a couple of miles from us. This is the time you better be sure your animals are very secured and especially your children. Cats are a favorite as well as goats etc.

 

[Sonya]

I would be setting up a camera if I were you...one of those wildlife cameras hunters use are fairly inexpensive...but you better attach it to the tree with some kind of lock because if this is a person , they will probably just take the camera down when they see the flash take their picture. Good luck, very freaky...I'd be taking a gun with me for sure when I go out to feed at night!

 

[SampleMM]

I've been creeped out about this for along time and it ranks right up there with Marty's white creatures. It's these things that make me afraid to go to the barn alone. I've have wondered about that box and while reading your post, I was thinking it was some sort of satanic cult ritual thing. It sounds so morbid that I hated to say but I really think Marty is right. I started to type it out earlier but didn't really want to say it. This really is scary and I'm worried for you and your mom. I sure hope you call the police and have them come out. Perhaps they could stake out your pastures at night and catch somebody.

Please, be very careful at night and I really hope you aren't going outside alone. If you do, be sure and have your cell phone so that you can call for help if need be.

 

[Minimor]

Hmm, I hadn't thought of the satanic cult thing--not in a very long time anyway. Many years ago, before we moved to this area and that was 26 years ago this December, there was (so I am told) a very active satanic cult in this general area. It had a name but I cannot remember what it was--I haven't heard it even mentioned in 10 or 15 years. We used to ride in Spruce Woods forest, which is a mile & a half from us, and borders CFB Shilo. We never came across anything unusual on our rides, but we also didn't get off the main trails a lot as there was plenty of riding miles on those trails. After I heard about the cult--and at that time there was talk that the cult hadn't actually died out as many beieved, tehre were some that believed it was still practicing, just less openly--I was not completely comfortable being down in the forest. especially in the evening! One time...and this would be, probably, 15 years ago, maybe a little more?...friends were riding in the forest. I'm not sure if they were on the main trails, or if they had cut accross, but they came into this clearing and there were signs that made it obvious that some satanic ritual had been held there. There was no evidence of a sacrifice or anything like that, but there was an upside down cross hanging on a tree, and a little board with the words "it's a good day to die" written on them. Someone had been having some sort of satanic service, but there's no saying how many people were involved, or how serious they were about Satanism.

So, it wouldn't surprise me if there is Satanic cult activity in the area now; I do doubt that the cat disappearances are related to Satanism. A neighbor was walking in the ditch along our back road some time ago & came across the remains of a cat--she said quite plainly something had eaten a cat in that location--it wasn't one of mine, the fur was the wrong color. Off & on we do have problems with critters (foxes are generally the culprit) taking cats--but usually we soon know for sure that there is a fox in the area, and foxes are easy to eliminate.

I keep thinking of Chupacabras (not sure how that is actually spelled)--I first heard of that on Unsolved Mysteries years ago--the "goat sucker" with glowing red eyes that was killing goats & frightening people in Puerto Rico. It was said there had been a few reported sightings in Florida as well, but.... I've always hoped that our cold winters would discourage Chupacabras from coming this far north!

I sure hope so--GADS! If I went out in the pasture and encountered something with glowing red eyes

I would surely die on the spot.

The Mounties are very good about giving extra patrols to the area when asked--I haven't called them this time--but they do not have a lot of manpower and cannot spend a lot of time out here. Two years ago when I phoned them after finding that box it sounded like there was only one officer on duty that night and he was 20 miles away when I called. I was surprised that in an area this size, in such close proximity to Brandon, that they'd have so few officers--and especially that they would have only one on duty on a Saturday night. So, I don't like to call them if I don't have anything more than a squeaky-squeaky noise in the night. If it were to become a nightly things, or even a 3 nights a week thing that I know someone is "out there" then I will call.

I've been trying to think where I could put a camera. It's hard to put anything out in the pasture--there are no trees in the pasture itself, just along the outside, mostly between the pasture & our yard/barnyard. So, there's no place to hang a camera--putting a post in would work for critters but for people, they could simply skirt around it once they realized it was there. I don't think they come near the trees, unless of course I surprise them & they run in there to hide. I've said I should have a mechanical Chupacabras to patrol the pasture--a robot thing with glowing red eyes that would be out & about and give banshee wails if it encountered anything! Ah, wouldn't the neighbors love it?

 

[RockRiverTiff]

I am also concerned that the person with the box might be catching cats and putting them in it; since you haven't caught sight of them yet, it's possible they're carrying a net or something with them too. But since there have been cougar sightings in your area, let's just hope the weirdo with a box is a coincidence. As for wildlife cameras, we put up a post to mount our new one at the farm entrance, but we put the camera in a birdhouse so it doesn't look conspicuous.

 

[REO]

The guy, the box and the dolly has creeped me out all this time. Scares the crap out of me!

It HAS to be the same person as before. WHY???? What is out there? Any wheel tracks out there to follow?

I've been thinking about this.

Comes out at night?

Doesn't want to be seen?

Is wheeling a cart?

In a horse pasture?

.

.

.

Could it be the horse poop elf?

Seriously, could it be someone growing weed or making meth or something? I don't think you'll know until you get a camera.

 

[Minimor]

I looked for wheel tracks--but it's been so dry here that the ground is very hard. On our approach off the road there wasn't enough loose dirt to leave tracks. I thought maybe I'd see tracks up at the neighbor's corner where he likely ducked through the fence, but there is a wide enough strip of grass there that he was able to stay on that without even trying--he didn't have to cross the worked up dirt along the trees at the corner. There's a mowed strip where we drive across the pasture to the gate into the back pasture--there was one place where someone might have cut across there but the flattened grass "trail" was too indistinct to follow. I did find truck tracks where the hydro guy was driving around--he was out there the other day when he came to read the meter in our back yard--I thought he'd just drove in & over to the tree line, but looks like he drove out to the end of the pasture & made a loop (or someone did). That day when he tried to walk into the yard Arielle went out there & kept him away--no way she was letting him walk through the trees into the yard. I'd been leaving the pasture gate open because we aren't using the pasture at the moment and I have been hauling round bales through there regularly, so it's easier to leave the gate open. It's now closed--it wouldn't keep out anyone on foot and anyone in a vehicle can open it easily enough but perhaps the closed gate will at least give them a hint....or my 'keep out' signs might?

The horse poop elf? I wish it were he--but if it is the little stinker isn't doing a very good job!

It just makes no sense!

 

[Minimor]

oops, double post!

 

[Equuisize]

......

Could it be the horse poop elf?

LOL LOL Robin.

IF it just happens to be the good poop elf don't hog him on your side of the border!!! Share, please.

I'd love someone to bring their own equipment, clean the paddocks and haul

it away on their own dolly, all while I'm sleeping.

How cool would that be

 

[REO]

It's just that is bugs me not knowing WHY is someone going in her pasture?

WHAT could be there that they want?

Is there a hidden cave (gold mine) up there that can only be gotten to through that pasture?

I mean....WHY??????