I live in central Illinois near Carlinville and close to a large creek that connects to a major river. Late in October, 2003, I was out for a walk in the country by a wooded area with my dog when I heard something jump into the brush ahead of me about twenty feet or so. I thought it might be a deer or maybe a raccoon but saw none. Being a wary person, though, I carry a 22 rifle just because. I fired a couple shots in the air and watched but saw nothing. Then something started making a growling sound in short, loud bursts. This continued and got more pronounced, so I backed out of the area about 150 feet or so. It finally stopped.

I heard the same noise earlier that spring when I was putting gas in the mower. I wondered what could make a sound like that. I continued with the task at hand, and a deer fawn ran up to me and scared the c**p out of me. It ran off with the dog chasing it.

The question I have is could what I heard be a cougar? I know without hearing it you couldn't say, but I found a sight called The Northwest Wildlife Preservation Society, and the sound there for a cougar growl matches what I heard. Is this an accurate sound?

My mother says she saw one late at night chasing a deer across a road close to here, and there have been some unconfirmed sightings by some other people in this area. This area has a lot of deer, and the Macoupin Creek, which runs south to the Illinois River, may serve as a natural highway for roaming lions. I have been watching this area, but so far I haven't seen a cat yet. If I do, I hope it is from a safe place. If a cat will go after a horse, I don't think any size person is safe.

Sources:  E-mails from Rick Richardson; 10/22/2003 and 03/13/2004

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