It’s been warm here, and our air conditioning has been broken (it’s being fixed probably as you read this – thank Cerberus). As you might imagine, we’ve been leaving screened doors and windows open as much as possible when we’re home to keep as much airflow going as possible.
Our front screen door has a top glass pane that slides down, leaving the screen open on top and the bottom of the door solid.
Our back screen door has lower pane of glass that slides up, and screen material on the bottom. That screen had a few holes in it before summer started. Since then, Mr. Apollo-dog has jumped through it, making it more screen ribbons and less effective at keeping…anything out.
A couple weeks ago, I was standing in the kitchen with my back to that ribbon-screen door making dog food (with a couple six-pound packs of hamburger on the counter). It had just gotten dark, the house was quiet, and I had one earbud in so I could listen to podcasts while I worked, and still hear the dogs if they got up to any shenanigans (they were in the living room).
There was a lull in the podcast and I was just starting to cut open the burger packs when I heard this “huff-huffing” sound behind me. Quick, heavy breathing, like an animal searching the air for scents. I turned around, expecting to see one of the dogs, but no one was there.
I sort of heard it again, softer, from the direction of the screen door. My pulse was a bit faster as I looked at the bits of screen blowing in the breeze, wondering if I should go investigate closer…or not. I sort of leaned in that direction and looked for glowing eyes, but seeing nothing, I decided I was probably imagining things, and went back to work.
A few seconds later, I heard an odd noise farther out on the patio, and heart pounding, I went all the way to the door to check. I couldn’t see anything in the darkness, and the motion sensor light near the door hadn’t come on, so I figured it was just the wind, and went back to work.
An hour or so later, I’d finished the dog food and was getting ready to take it out to the freezer in the garage. I let the dogs out first, and they went *nuts* sniffing all around the top steps to the door, off to the side, and Apollo even stepped on the patio rug I had rolled up behind the swing, which made the exact same noise I’d heard earlier. He’s a heavy dog – so whatever made that noise wasn’t a small animal.
There’s been a young mountain lion prowling our neighborhoods lately – a couple people have gotten pictures.
I’m guessing it may have paid me a visit that night, though I’ll never know for sure.
I’m just glad our dangling bits of screen material were enough to keep whatever was out there from coming through the door.
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