During the winter, my favorite after school hobby in seventh grade was to go rabbit hunting on the railroad tracks behind our house.
Despite being surrounded by woods and rice fields, we were in the city limits so I had to carry a pellet gun for legal purposes.
It was a .20 caliber Sheridan which was as powerful as a .22 at short distances so it made a perfect rabbit gun in an environment where stealth was the key.
I was taught we only killed what we would eat and our family loved eat fresh rabbit. (It’s good folks!)
I had plans to cross through this particular field and look for rabbits along the edge of the trees but then I heard something.
There was no wind, so anything that moved made sounds in the dry leaves and dying grass and I thought I heard faint footsteps in the brush. I took a position beside a tallow tree, raised my gun and clicked off the safety.
My heart pounded as a large cougar walked slowly out of the brush and into the field. It had a medium-brown coat, a long tail as big around as my fist and a muscular, chiseled frame.
I was fascinated than scared as the cat turned around and looked me directly in the eye. It was a look of complete confidence almost as if it was saying that I was going to need something bigger than this Sheridan pellet gun to do it in.
The cat then turned and slowly made its way over a levee.
Once I knew it was gone I ran. Running from predators is never a good idea because it excites them so I waited until it was out of my line of vision and took off.
I flung our door open and shouted, “Cougar!”
Mom and Dad believed me right away because I was already an expert at wildlife identification but they suggested I call our neighbors down the road who had a cougar named “Sandy” for a pet. This cat was bigger than “Sandy” but I called anyway.
“Hey Cher, did Sandy get loose?”
“Hold on Chester, let me check.”
“Nope, she’s on the runner in the back yard. Why?”
“I just saw a cougar back on the railroad tracks. It was bigger than Sandy but I wanted to check anyway.”
“Oh that must be the male. She went into heat last month and a male was calling out to her at night from back there.”
Amazing!
Some “experts” will tell you there are no cougars in East Texas, but there certainly was one standing in front of me when I was in seventh grade.
My encounter cemented a love for cougars and for the proper management of their species in the ecosystem.
If you have had an exciting cougar sighting in Texas or have a photo or video of a cougar from anywhere email to chester@chestermoore.com. We want to share them in a future feature on this extremely popular topic.
Chester Moore
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