A little mystery

A shooting star in the early morning western sky, is expressed with a short arc over the treetops. Moments earlier, stepping out to the balcony I heard a whoosh thump rustle huff huff huff. Maybe the creature was midlevel in the trees, though possibly there was a brief moment on the ground. Then, stillness. It was bigger than squirrels who are regular neighbors. Their pathways are reported by the endless branches and leaves of Ramon, Chechen, Chaka, Yax Nik, Chico Zapote, whispering loudly tracking squirrel’s trail. Dude’s fast.

Of course I am crazy curious who was a few feet away. There was some size and weight. Chacalaca birds are clumsy and land on branches with lots of noise. But they don’t huff. And they don’t stay in one place for long. Huffy didn’t move again. There just aren’t many mammals in close vicinity. Aouti (rabbit size, hamster-like cutie), skunk (left a scented calling card), and jaguar (dog killer) are the only ones I know have been around in the last months.

What if it was a big cat? One startled jump from tree to tree? But none of the limbs in that section of the woods could support much weight. I’ll have to double check in the day light. Do cats huff? Curiouser and curiouser.

An Owl. It must have been Owl.