Friday, November 10, 2017

Wampus Cat

Back when I was a kid, we used to spend a lot of time at our family's camp near Tionesta, Pennsylvania.  At the time, it was at the end of a long dirt road which passed through two gates.  I was there when my parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins helped build it.  BTW, the first building completed was the outhouse.

In the evenings as it got dark, we built a fire outside in the fire ring that we made from rocks and told stories.  My cousin's husband told us about the Wampus Cat, a really scary and dangerous critter.  As we listened to those stories, the light from that camp fire that we were sitting around sure didn't shine as far into the darkness of the woods as it had before the story was told.  Here are a couple of pictures of Wampus Cats:


Now, just before you go to bed tonight, take a real close look at the two pictures above so that you will recognize them if they try to sneak into your bedrooms, and then have a peaceful sleep you hear?
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13 comments:

  1. GypsyNovember 10, 2017 at 8:22 PM

    Ugh, they look frightening! I had to laugh about building the outhouse first. That't the most important thing in a camp, or anywhere else!

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    1. Dizzy-DickNovember 10, 2017 at 10:32 PM

      Outhouse was first, and a wooden v-shaped to bring the spring water to a place where it could be reached easily, then the camp was built.

      Yes, those wampus cats were frightening.

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  2. Gorges SmytheNovember 10, 2017 at 8:32 PM

    The only wampus cat I ever saw was a coffee can with a string coming from the bottom center. Sliding your thumb and finger the length of the string made an awful racket. I think you had to wet the string first, but I can't remember for sure.

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    1. Dizzy-DickNovember 10, 2017 at 10:34 PM

      Never heard of that. We kids used to use two tin cans with a string between them and tried to use them as intercoms. Nope, it didn't work.

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  3. HermitJimNovember 10, 2017 at 9:41 PM

    Bet there was a line waiting at the outhouse after the Wampus Cat stories. Great story for camping out, especially with kids!

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    1. Dizzy-DickNovember 10, 2017 at 10:37 PM

      Let's put it this way. No one wanted to walk way up to the outhouse in the dark alone. . . There was a guard posted outside the door (grin)

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  4. bigfootNovember 11, 2017 at 6:46 AM

    Nearly 25 years ago while on fishing trips to my then Bro-in-law's fishing camp on Lake Pesca (Old Mexico), about 5 hours drive into Mexico... he had a short length of rope attached to a hollowed out gourd. The rope was heavily rosined. If you gripped it lightly and pulled your fingers quickly down the rope the vibrations would make a weird howling sound. This was what the local hunters used to call up jaguar. They hunted them.

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    1. Dizzy-DickNovember 11, 2017 at 8:54 PM

      I bet that would work. I suppose that they did it at night?

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    2. bigfootNovember 12, 2017 at 6:32 AM

      Yes. Sitting around a camp fire, you would constantly be checking behind you.

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  5. Andolphus GreyNovember 11, 2017 at 7:26 AM

    Nice kitty.

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    1. Dizzy-DickNovember 11, 2017 at 8:55 PM

      I am not sure if I would want to pet that kitty... (grin)

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  6. linda mNovember 13, 2017 at 6:44 AM

    Never heard of the Wampus Cat. It kind of looks like a Werewolf. That would scare the crap out of me.

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    1. Dizzy-DickNovember 13, 2017 at 9:03 AM

      What would scare me the most would be having to spend a night on the streets of a big city. I enjoy being in the woods at night.

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