I recently had a fox try to eat one of my cats on my back patio. I
live on a wooded lot well within the Cary town limits and I'm in the
center of a heavily populated subdivision. (MacGregor Downs, for those
who know the area.) My neighbor chased it off with his cane and called
the Animal Control. They told him that foxes and coyotes were snacking
on domestic pets all over Wake County and they'd even had reports of
wolves. When I lived in Michigan, we usually saw wolves running the
deer down for dinner. Scary sight. I like to watch the National
Geographic Explorer and the Crocodile Hunter etc in the comfort and
safety of my living room with some popcorn. You're right that the real
thing takes your breath away.

On Fri, 11 Oct 2002 11:18:33 -0400, "Mark C."
wrote:

Speaking of close encounters, I had one while seeding my lawn a couple
of days ago that was rather breathtaking. Our house and yard is on the
side of a hill, and there's a sheer drop of about 8 feet in the back
yard where a spot for the garden had been excavated, and then woods
beyond that. As I was standing in the front yard with my bag of seed, I
heard a commotion back toward the garden. When I turned to look, there
was a deer leaping over the 8-foot embankment and heading right for me.
Hard on its heels was something big and black, which immediately turned
(as if in midair) when it saw me and hightailed it back down the bank
and into the woods. Meanwhile, the deer nearly ran into me as it charged
past, wild-eyed and panting. It stopped at the other end of the yard to
catch its breath, finally noticed me and bounded away, across the road
and into the neighbor's woods. That's when I realized my mouth was open.
I have no idea what the big black thing was, since it only appeared for
a moment and was so jet-black I couldn't see much detail. I have heard a
sound like a woman screaming back in the woods a couple of times,
though. Sure is fun to live in the woods.

MAC
Wake Forest

---
Merle Finch SAS Institute, Inc. Cary NC USA
Opinions expressed probably never reflect those of SAS Institute.