ZK: Things That Screech In The Nite?

Zelda Krup: I have a deep woods mystery. I live on a heavily wooded lot but it’s still suburbia. I was awakened about 2:30 a.m. by unearthly, blood-curdling shrieks and screams coming from the woods below my backyard. At first I thought it was coyotes. Then I thought it might be a cat or maybe a dog being torn apart by a predator. The shrieking lasted about 30 seconds — long enough for my dog to alternate between trying to jump out the window and searching for a place to hide. When the shrieks stopped, the strong odor of skunk came through the open window. Took me a long time to get back to sleep. I’m not positive what was screaming, but I think it was more predator than prey.

Question (from Zelda Krup): Has anyone else out there in Huckleberry Land heard forest noises like this? Was it a great-horned owl or its owlets? A cougar? Big Foot?