It's in the trees....

Out walking with my trusty jack russell sidekick Jake this evening. It was just getting beginning to get dark and the woods near my house had taken a suitably atmospheric Hammer House of Horror look with a grey mist filtering through the treetops and lots of shadowy shapes among the undergrowth. We were on our way back and had just passed an old stone gate post by the side of the path when said pup suddenly flew into a rage and focussed a volley of barks and snarls at some invisible point off into the trees. Aha...another one of those pesky squirrels! Luckily this time my little furry mate was on his lead or he'd be off and running, galloping around the woods half the night and being a general hooligan. Hmm...bit weird though, there's no squirrel in these parts who would be stupid enough to stand still whilst Jake bared his teeth and yelled at him - but whatever this was it wasn't moving.

We stayed there for a minute or two, Jake growling away and me peering into the dark trying to see what was hiding there. Likely candidates flickered through my mind. Mad backwoodsman? Mouse? Rabbit?(hardly likely) Badger?(possible but unlikely) Leopard? Well, there are folks around here who believe in the Beast of Bodmin Moor, big cats living wild etc, but I am firmly not one of them... Roe deer? Yes, that was my best bet, a roe deer spooked by us passing and stood stock still in the shadows and hoping we would clear off.

Which after a little while longer we did, Jake protesting all the way home.