Last time (before he took the hen) at 2am I awoke to a ruckus outside the bedroom window. One of the hens didn't come back to the coup that night to roost and I knew sometimes she bedded down in the cedar tree next to the front porch.

I grabbed the walking stick in the living room, turned on the outside lights and went out on the porch in the buff. I didn't see anything until my wife hollered out the window. The cat was 10 feet away motionless standing on the ground by the edge of the deck- under the cedar tree. I jumped. It ran.

When it took the hen it ran up a hill covered in thick brush. I followed and saw it 20' away facing me lying on a stump with the lifeless bird in its mouth- smiling with its eyes. It turned and zipped up the hill.

This cat is at least 45 lbs. Thanks for the warning Richard.