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Why Does It Sound Like A Woman Screaming?
Black Panthers are being heard and seen in Mississippi
Black panthers have long been rumored to roam up and down the creek near my house. My brother and I were sitting on my porch — listening to the night sounds of the surrounding woods, and suddenly blood-curdling screams pierced the dark. We looked at each other and knew we were hearing the same sounds our Granny had recounted to us years before.
If you’ve never heard what sounds like a woman screaming somewhere deep in the woods — but at a sound that is decibels above a normal range, then you’ve probably never heard a panther!
Our Granny told a story that had happened years ago, probably in the 1930s, when my uncles were teenagers. My grandfather’s Aunt Charity would come for a visit. Since there were no phones, the visit would have been arranged earlier or by word of mouth or letter.
Aunt Charity would walk through the woods to Granny and Grandpa’s house. When Aunt Charity got to the branch — down in the woods behind Granny’s house, she would yell, and Granny would send one of my uncles running through the woods to help her across the water.
On this particular day, Granny heard the “yell” and sent my Uncle Ray running toward the sound to help Aunt Charity. A few minutes later, when he was out of sight, Granny heard another “yell.” The first sound had, no doubt, come from the panther that roamed up and down the branch. Granny quickly sent Uncle C.L. running toward the second sound. Thankfully, Uncle Ray had also heard the second yell (which sounded more like Aunt Charity).
Aunt Charity was safely retrieved, and both Uncles returned to the house, breathing a sigh of relief. On any visit to Granny’s house, if we heard the screams of the panther — Aunt Charity’s story was retold.
We all believed, regardless of what the Department of Wildlife said, that panthers did exist in the Mississippi woods.
Recently, a resident of Bogue Chitto, Mississippi, a town 80 miles southwest of Taylorsville, saw a Black Panther crossing his backyard. One had been seen near Natchez, MS, in 2019.
The Brookhaven Daily Leader reported the Bogue Chitto sighting and stated, “Rumors of black…
