Three hours past Midnight
Posted by Carolyn Dewrance on Sunday, March 27, 2011
Three hours past midnight
THREE HOURS PAST MIDNIGHT
It's 3am, up until now I had been sleeping soundly, when I was rudely awoken by my Chow Chow Skye, who has her kennel right outside my bedroom window, she was not barking but almost screaming, what on earth is wrong this time I thought, this is the sound she makes when the monkeys are around, but there were no monkeys around at this time of the night, I got up and walked onto the veranda and looked into her pen, she was very agitated about something and Baxter was also bouncing around the kennel, well I thought there is no way bout but to go and see what is disturbing her, I walked around to her kennel and in the dark saw the shapes of Tao and Denim who have the run of the whole garden at night, attacking something under an old pile of wood we had used for making their kennels, I walked up to them calling their names, but to no avail, something was there, and they were trying to get at it, I could hear a sort of a "Yak Yak" noise and low growls coming from under the woodpile, they had cornered an animal, I tried to grad Tao by her coat, but she darted away from me, running to the other side of the wood pile, I eventually had to pick her up to get her out of danger, and carried her to her kennel where I locked her in, Denim now on his own wanted to go in for the kill but knowing this could be a dangerous situation, I made a grab at him risking his sharp teeth and shouting at him, I demanded that he return to his kennel, which surprisingly he did, I then tried in the dark to see what was there, but could only see two red eyes looking at me with the continued noise of"Yuk Yuk, growl" it must be a mongoose I thought, but being careful as to where I put my hands, I did not want a nasty bite from this terrified animal, I thought it best left alone, and hopefully it would make it's escape while the dogs were locked up. I went back to bed and tried to get back to sleep, but it was impossible.
Every now and again Skye would let out her terrible scream, so eventually I got up, and let her and Baxter out of their kennel into the protected area of the garden, Baxter listened to me buy Skye made straight for the wood pile, she had to have her say in this matter, I heard the terrified noise of the small animal, knowing that it was still there I grabbed Skye and pulled her through the gate, it was now 4am, I locked the gate behind me and allowed the two of them the run of the front garden knowing that they could not get into the back yard, I again went back to bed and tried to sleep, but it was impossible, I was wide awake, thinking of how I was going to capture this small animal, and at 5.30 I got up, hoping that it had gone, I put Skye and Baxter back into their kennel and allowed Tao out of hers, she went straight to the woodpile, but there was not a sound coming from it, the little animal had gone, Tao then went charging up the hill into the bush following it's scent, but it was gone, I'm sure it was a mongoose, and she was looking for a warm place to hide or make a nest, I felt sorry for the little creature and hope she finds somewhere in the bush away from my Chows to make her home, and hopefully will be able to get a good nights sleep tonight.
This morning I phoned the Natal Parks Board, and found out that it was not a mongoose but a Genet cat, possibly looking for food to feed her kittens; she may have had in a nest nearby. Although I have not seen her I believe they are incredibly beautiful cats, bigger then the house hold cat, they could also give the dogs a nasty bite if given a chance. They are very fast and will spend a lot of tie in the trees catching birds, they will eat anything, and this includes dog food, hopefully she does not come back tonight, and we are able to get some sleep.
THREE HOURS PAST MIDNIGHT
It's 3am, up until now I had been sleeping soundly, when I was rudely awoken by my Chow Chow Skye, who has her kennel right outside my bedroom window, she was not barking but almost screaming, what on earth is wrong this time I thought, this is the sound she makes when the monkeys are around, but there were no monkeys around at this time of the night, I got up and walked onto the veranda and looked into her pen, she was very agitated about something and Baxter was also bouncing around the kennel, well I thought there is no way bout but to go and see what is disturbing her, I walked around to her kennel and in the dark saw the shapes of Tao and Denim who have the run of the whole garden at night, attacking something under an old pile of wood we had used for making their kennels, I walked up to them calling their names, but to no avail, something was there, and they were trying to get at it, I could hear a sort of a "Yak Yak" noise and low growls coming from under the woodpile, they had cornered an animal, I tried to grad Tao by her coat, but she darted away from me, running to the other side of the wood pile, I eventually had to pick her up to get her out of danger, and carried her to her kennel where I locked her in, Denim now on his own wanted to go in for the kill but knowing this could be a dangerous situation, I made a grab at him risking his sharp teeth and shouting at him, I demanded that he return to his kennel, which surprisingly he did, I then tried in the dark to see what was there, but could only see two red eyes looking at me with the continued noise of"Yuk Yuk, growl" it must be a mongoose I thought, but being careful as to where I put my hands, I did not want a nasty bite from this terrified animal, I thought it best left alone, and hopefully it would make it's escape while the dogs were locked up. I went back to bed and tried to get back to sleep, but it was impossible.
Every now and again Skye would let out her terrible scream, so eventually I got up, and let her and Baxter out of their kennel into the protected area of the garden, Baxter listened to me buy Skye made straight for the wood pile, she had to have her say in this matter, I heard the terrified noise of the small animal, knowing that it was still there I grabbed Skye and pulled her through the gate, it was now 4am, I locked the gate behind me and allowed the two of them the run of the front garden knowing that they could not get into the back yard, I again went back to bed and tried to sleep, but it was impossible, I was wide awake, thinking of how I was going to capture this small animal, and at 5.30 I got up, hoping that it had gone, I put Skye and Baxter back into their kennel and allowed Tao out of hers, she went straight to the woodpile, but there was not a sound coming from it, the little animal had gone, Tao then went charging up the hill into the bush following it's scent, but it was gone, I'm sure it was a mongoose, and she was looking for a warm place to hide or make a nest, I felt sorry for the little creature and hope she finds somewhere in the bush away from my Chows to make her home, and hopefully will be able to get a good nights sleep tonight.
This morning I phoned the Natal Parks Board, and found out that it was not a mongoose but a Genet cat, possibly looking for food to feed her kittens; she may have had in a nest nearby. Although I have not seen her I believe they are incredibly beautiful cats, bigger then the house hold cat, they could also give the dogs a nasty bite if given a chance. They are very fast and will spend a lot of tie in the trees catching birds, they will eat anything, and this includes dog food, hopefully she does not come back tonight, and we are able to get some sleep.