Scary Noises in the Dark

There was one night a few years ago when my Mother heard a sound from the gully out behind our house. She couldn't figure out what it was. It wasn't a pleasant sound. It wasn't quite a human sound. It was a frightened or pained animal sound. In my mother's concern (it was very very late in the night) she called the police and described the frightful sound the best she could: "A crow the size of a bear!" The police said something like "Ahhh...Yeah, yes of course Ma'am. We will get right on that." Of course by the time an officer went to investigate the mutated crow was nowhere to be heard, but returned not long after the officers left. A friend of my mother's, a hunter, had her call so he could listen to the bizarre noises of the night. She called, the mutated crow cawed, he listened, he laughed hysterically. His experienced ears picked out the sound right away and put it with its originator--a fox.

I still hear my foxes sometimes. (I call them my foxes only because I feel a one-sided friendship with them, I have watched the little ones play in the riverbed, glared at the dogs who chased down their scent during their morning walks, listened to their calls at night) Although the sound makes me gather my kitties inside so they don't get eaten, I feel for the cute little fox family too.

On the same note, I think there might have been bats flying around outside my house this evening. I only guess because I could hear bird-like screech/squeaking. Ah, perhaps it was only a few birds, but bats are so much more mysterious and interesting to be flying around outside one's window. Perhaps it was a newly evolved species of flying rat. Probably was carrying rabies AND the avian flu. I am sure it can also throw lightning bolts from its whiskers when it sneezes.

Or...maybe I happened to eat a little more than half a pizza and the excesses of yummy goodness are adversely affecting my reasoning capabilities. But at least my toes are green and the front lawn is happily mowed! The backyard is being saved for wonderful, sunny tomorrow! Ummm...and a happy Klezmer to you!