Madeline (Giles) DeJournett is the Advance writer for the North Stoddard Countian. A retired high school English/history teacher, she spent 32 years teaching in 5 schools in Missouri and Alaska. These days, she lives quietly with a menagerie of wild and domestic animals on 52 secluded acres in the remote Tillman hills south of Advance. She graduated from Dexter High School in 1960 and Southeast Missouri State in 1964. She can be contacted at advancensc@sbcglobal.net.

Are there cougars in Advance? (Take 2)

Posted Wednesday, October 23, 2013, at 8:53 PM

Six years ago, I wrote my first blog for the Statesman, choosing as my topic a strange sighting reported to me by Sgt. David Garner of the Advance Police. In fact, he gave me a CD of what he saw while on duty in the squad car one dark night, across from Town & Country supermarket. If you go to "archives" and scroll down past 350 previous blogs, you can read my first attempt to write about this eerie sight.

I sent the CD to a former student of mine from Alaska, and he tried to make some still photos for me, but they were all so fuzzy that it looked as if we had a picture of a fluffy hamster with a long tail. No way could I post it.

So, anyway, my student posted the video on UTube. You have to be patient if you view it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as9K3QkssNE, because it takes a while to see the creature walking from behind the truck.

Is it a mountain lion or just a very large house cat?

It's hard to see the same thing that David Garner saw on that dark night, as he trained his spotlight across Highway 25 into the Semo RediMix lot, but I have to think that he knew the difference between a house cat and a mountain lion.

Several local residents have reported sightings of the big cats over the years. About 2005, a neighbor of mine reportedly saw a mountain lion on County Road 309, just around the corner from my farm. A reporter from KFVS TV came out and did an interview. The sighting occurred in broad daylight.

My daughter, who has a biology degree, is sure she saw a mountain lion in her headlights, running south across Highway C near BB one night. That's a couple of miles west of Advance.

Years ago, my neighbor Wally Knight told of a terrible injury that one of his horses sustained one night. He insisted that his animal's shoulder was ripped up by what appeared to be claw marks.

Of course, there is one definitive piece of evidence which I've been avoiding. Another neighbor caught a big cat on his game camera. I admit that I'm reluctant to go see the evidence, for fear of starting some sort of frenzy. Still, this photo was captured several years ago, so I'm sure that cat has moved on.

I know the coyotes are moving in closer. My dogs killed one that came too close to the house recently. In the 30+ years that we've lived out there in the boonies, that has NEVER happened before.

As Halloween approaches, just keep your eyes peeled....You never know...

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Madeline,

The video shows a fearless four legged "creature" with eyes that sparkle devilishly in the dark. According to Youtube.com the video has been viewed about 5,000 times and no one has conclusively identified what the "creature" is. Man has gone to the Moon, been to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and created the I-Pad, but the "creature" lurking around Advance has defied identification. Yikes!!!

-- Posted by FJGuy on Fri, Oct 25, 2013, at 4:01 PM
Well, I think the creature is definitely a cat, judging from the long tail--but the question is--How large a cat is it? Though it seems unlikely that it would be prowling near a busy highway, it was spotted late at night. And the region behind Semo Redimix is wild enough that stray dogs have had feral puppies out there.

Quite obviously, a member of law enforcement would not be impressed with a simple house cat!

-- Posted by goat lady on Sun, Oct 27, 2013, at 7:43 PM

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