When I lived in Washington State (1982-1987) my house was remote and my 12 acres of land backed up to 1000 acres of State Forest. I had all kinds of trails through my own woods that I used to explore with my cats and dogs.
I was on the lookout for a spring that I could enlarge to make a pond. The best I could do was a low, marshy spot where fantastic, gigantic leaves grew. The odd thing is that my cats and dogs refused to go there with me. They’d stop dead in their tracks. The dogs would bark and whine, and the cats would climb a nearby tree and yowl.
One day I was back there, poking around, and I discovered a huge footprint — like a dog’s but much larger than my Golden Retriever’s would have been if she had followed me over to he soft spot in the forest floor.
I took my husband to see it and he said not to worry — it probably was a stray dog and the footptint just looked larger because the mud was soft and the print spread out on the edges.
Fast forward about 5 years (1994) and we made a trip back to the old neighborhood. We went to see our former house which had been purchaseed by the State of Washington and turned into the most elegant ranger station in the history of the state. My pasture had been turned into a parking lot, and my trails had been designated on trail maps available as handouts to the public. The most startling change, however, was a huge warning signn: “Beware of Panthers”.
I know that my animals were trying to warn me when I lived there. Listen to your animals. They know more than you think.
I live in a village with paved roads...the bear came out of my very wet back yard and crossed the road to disappear in the shadows of my neighbors side yard. The road had a bright street light over it...I couldn’t miss the wet paw prints crossing the road. OMG they were HUGE. No panther made those, it was a bear.