Category : Stories

Sub Category : Horror

Encountering A Shape Shifting Cougar.


 

‘Shape shifters’ are a well known  phenomenon in MOST indigenous communities… it was to easy – coming from a   western modern education system – to laugh such matters off as being ‘superstitious nonsense. On Morgan Lee Road ,in rural Pearl River County Mississippi I encountered my first of many co-incidences’ over the years. Now, I am not so willing to dismiss shape shifters and other unexplained phenomenon as superstition.

There is one Cherokee man close to me who says things like “the deer will be at such & such a place at this time of year, because I am  a deer  and as a deer, the gray Buck leads the herd there at this time of year. We continue to go there every year because the food and water are plentiful and humans are scarce . Those who have tested he story say,"when you DO go to where he says certain animals,  he ‘changes into’ will be there. I've witnessed his transformation….and dammit to hell EVERY TIME you find the prey there just as he said…and he is no hunter so it is not like he ‘knows the bush from hunting for a living’. SUPERNATURAL , yes there is something supernatural happening here.

Another native American  I know will leave camp or home  in the dead of night bare-handed and  barefooted, by himself at night, with no lights, just a short pants  or his thong on. On occasion,  he has left Stark naked. Regardless, before sunrise he is back with meat from some freshly killed animal, or with a string of fish he caught.

When other hunters and fishermen from the surrounding community  trace his footsteps they always abruptly end where cougar paw prints begin.

Once when he and I were going to camp in the woods near Hobolchitto creek he kept falling behind (then again  many of the trackers were tall and walked  fast – and he is short and can’t match their pace)  More than one man swore they saw him hiding into bushes. One man claims "I told him ‘If I look behind me and see a Panther – I’ll know it’s you – so don’t bother " he laughed heatedily and stopped doing it.

I know a Choctaw woman who was out hunting and shot a deer and she claims she  heard a man holler out in pain when the deer fell, but there was no other human in the woods that day. She was the only person out there hunting on the wide clearing . According to the huntress where she made the kill, there were no trees, no shrubbery to obscure her field of vision.​ Unsure of what she had killed but, convinced whatever she shot was more than venison ,she left.

There are  a few cases of animals being shot and a freshly dead human corpse being found where the animal went down. no-one reports these to the Authorities for fear of being charged with murder.  I suppose they should but, there are somethings that cannot be explained to law enforcement so, it remains a secret in the tribes among those who experienced it.

I know a shaman who told me before you sleep this night a Panther will visit you tonight – but don’t be afraid because it will be me. I will come to strengthen the cougar with in you. I will come to strengthen the spirit within you and cleanse your soul for the Great One. just as he said,  on my way home that night. in the night a Panther WILL come into the building you are sleeping WHILE YOU ARE STILL AWAKE that night and look at you for a few minutes before going away. 

From childhood I'd heard stories about a massive black cat, a female panther prowling, searching, for her Cubs and the trappers who stole her young. The Elders of the surrounding community cautioned all who would listen," The panther will be known by her cry, the cry is that of a woman, a mother in pain. When, if you hear this squall, stay inside your home. If you encounter this panther in an open space or the woods, Stop FREEZE ,if possible stop breathing . Allow her to inspect you. The she_ cat hunts for two distinct scents. Control your fear. The wild feed on fear. When I encountered the grieving panther I did as my elders had advised . Because of this one eye to eye ,breath to breath encounter I believe this was and is no ordinary cat.