Companionship, entertainment, protection, loyalty....all excellent reasons why dogs are considered mans' best friend, but can being a Ghost detector fall in there too?

Everyone has heard remarkable stories of the extraordinary feats pets are capable of performing...the cat who dialed 9-1-1 when it's owner was having a heart attack or the dog who awakened the family in time to save them from a burning home. Amazing indeed, but not without some precedent. It has been documented that animals possess an ability to predict natural phenomena, for instance, horses become agitated prior to an earthquake or birds take to wing from an area preceding a volcanic explosion. One need only examine folklore to find numerous tales of animals as climate indicators or to be observant of wildlife behavior to predict approaching bad weather. In winter I mustn't be told to stock up on bread and milk in advance of a snow or ice storm. I already have...the little snowbirds combing my lawn for tasty seeds and insects gave me notice well before the local meteorologist.

Yet do animals and the paranormal have anything in common? In short, YES! A library could be filled the stories of brimstone breathing stallions galloping atop fiery hooves, demonic hell hounds baying doom for unwary souls, slit-eyed witch cats spitting curses and Dracula's bats, rats and wolves, but you're probably thinking those stories are just make-believe and don't mean anything, and you're perfectly right. Literary artifices can provide allegorical entertainment or a good crop of goose pimples, but are not proof of things supernatural, yet serious paranormal researchers can document case after case of pets which do react to spirits stirring up the family home. Indeed it is often the pets which give the first indication that something unusual is afoot. Abnormal behavior in an otherwise well-behaved pet such as continuous barking or growling, whining or cowering, staring fixedly at something unseen and refusal to go into a particular room or area are all signs that spirits may be actively haunting a location.
   

When the Ghost PRO team received an e-mail asking for assistance, the case managers followed up with a personal interview where additional details were revealed. The clients were life-long friends, yet had only become roommates in the past three months. The commonalities each shared were notable. Both had been touched by close family tragedies, one losing a parent, the other a sibling to suicide many years past. Each had a medical history that necessitated regulatory prescriptions, one for hypertension and migraines, the other for a degenerative heart condition which had already caused multiple heart attacks and required a dozen stent implantations. Separately each had previously experienced paranormal events in other locations which had made them ardent believers in the supernatural, and each was an enthusiastic and compassionate pet owner.

The pets, an adult Labrador and a three month-old miniature Chihuahua, resided in the dwelling and were well-behaved, however an especially deep bond had developed between the Chihuahua pup and the clients as it was a special needs animal. Just after its birth an accidental injury had caused total blindness, yet as in similar cases (both human and animal) where the remaining senses compensate for the loss of one, the pup was well-adjusted, moving freely about the home and surprisingly un-shy around the Ghost PRO visitors.

When purchasing the property in the early nineties, the homeowner had searched the site's history for the past hundred years and nothing unusual had been revealed, the area having once been predominantly farmed for cotton production. A deeper search by the Ghost PRO team revealed that several bloody Revolutionary War battles had been waged in the county.   Prior to the colonial era the area had been the ancestral home to various tribes of native Cherokee Indians.

The clients discussed how no unusual activity had been noted beyond an occasional feeling of being observed, the displacement of lighters or other small objects, and a frequent need to replace blown light bulbs in one of the bedrooms, however, all of these symptoms could be explained through natural means, too. It was related how several years past, during a slumber party, the daughter of the homeowner and two friends had awakened during the night to see a man standing over them in the bedroom, but a thorough check of the entire house revealed no male intruder. Still, the daughter switched bedrooms.

The event that prompted the call to the Ghost PRO team was explained as follows: On the evening of February 19, 2009, the chihuahua began to exhibit previously unobserved advanced aggressive behavior characterized by growling, barking, agitation, circling and snapping at the occupants. He was described as "though his hindquarters were being pushed down by an unseen hand" and his attention seemed to be focused on a point near the ceiling peak above the hallway entering the aforementioned bedroom. This immoderate episode lasted roughly four hours between eight and midnight at which time through the combined efforts of the clients to alleviate his duress and the animal's own physical exhaustion, it ceased. Though the Ghost PRO team felt this unsettling activity could be explained by natural means, it was voted to assign an investigative team as it is part of our mission to resolve unanswered curiosities that might not have a paranormal origin.

The evening of March 21, 2009 began with the team taking base temperature and EMF readings along with photographs of each room before conducting a contact session in the bedroom where activity had been noted. Other than some minor dust orbs, nothing manifested. The team brought the pup into the room to see if his presence might provoke anything, but the only thing that occurred was his tinkling on the foot of one of the investigators which caused quite a bit of hilarity. Deciding to attempt another session in the living room the team and the clients were seated around a glass coffee table in the center of the room atop which lay the EMF meter well away from any electrical sources. Almost immediately with the first question asked, the EMF meter began to blink, beep and give out elevated readings. To insure that no explainable interference was the cause, another sweep of the area was performed with no notable variations. The meter was repositioned and once again immediate results were obtained as soon as the questioning began.

Quite specific answers were received to "yes" and "no" queries, such as "Are you male?" No reading. "Are you female?" Reading of 4. "Are you Cherokee?" Reading of 5. "Are there others with you?" Reading of 3. "Do you wish anyone present harm?" No reading. In the excitement of having such a reciprocal "conversation", both team members and clients neglected to allow sufficient time for response, yet even with rapidly fired questions running together, answers were given and appropriately corresponded to the sequence in which they were asked! EVPs captured during the session bear out the results and, at one point during the most intense portion of the Q&A recording, a static interference came into play which is quite irregular in digital media. Further substantiation came from a Ghost PRO investigator with clairsentient abilities. Her impressions of a young female native American were quite strong.

Wrapping up the evening, the team was excited about the unexpected results, but were hesitant to make any declarations until all of the accumulated evidence could be thoroughly analyzed. It was during the review phase that a photograph surfaced that shows a distinctly pink heart-shaped orb in motion. Subsequent comparison of other photographic evidence failed to reveal anything similar or any object that could by way of reflection or color account for the anomaly. Additional research into animal behavior did turn up several reasons for the pup's unusual antics however, the most likely being a seizure disorder which is not uncommon with smaller, frailer breeds.

The clients, of their own initiative, also did some research into Cherokee tribal names and lore and dubbed their unseen guest "Taponi" (Tay-pon-ee), a name which means "the important one", and welcomed the spirit into their home. Although Ghost PRO does not advocate recognition of an entity as it might adversely cause an increase of unwanted activity, in this case the results have been mutually satisfying. The activity has decreased significantly. There have been no more blown bulbs, no more disruptive episodes with the pup, and the clients feel as though there is a sense of protective harmony about the home that was not noticed before the investigation.

Can this be proof of the adage that "Ghosts were people too"? Everyone likes a bit of attention now and then!

```LadyJem

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