Loyal Guard Dogs on Duty

We were busy getting ready for our day when suddenly we heard intense barking, as a confrontation between our dogs, Sakara and Yowa, and some growling, four legged intruder was taking place outside. 

From time to time baboons pass through, but the sounds we were hearing were more like cat than baboon.  George and I ran through the kitchen, pausing briefly to grab a slingshot and a handful of marbles each as we followed the sound to the side yard. 

We had already missed most of the action, so when we arrived the creature had already left the ground. Thinking about it now, that's probably a really good thing. 

Although the swaying branches gave us clues about the animal's location, in the thick foliage we never got full view of its body. We only saw a glimpse of a thick, long, black furry tail through a clearing as the animal moved smoothly along a branch and into better cover near the top of a tree. For a short while, we all stood looking intently into the tree tops trying to get a better view, but he was gone. It was over. They may have been a little disappointed, but I am certainly glad the dogs didn't catch whatever it was. 

We think it may have been a civit cat, which we have caught glimpses of a couple of times at night as we passed along a road. George read that they are typically nocturnal, except when they are in mating season. Mating season, of course, is a time when many species engage in irrational behavior. That probably explains his passing through our yard with two full grown German shepherds!

We were proud of our dogs today. They were in their best guard-duty form, alerting us to danger and having fun while they were at it, so they each received a dog biscuit and our congratulations for a job well done.