These things are awesome. I grew up in western Washington, in a rural-ish neighborhood and one summer we had one living in the area abducting people's cats and small dogs at night. The commenters who said you only see them if they've seen you first are 100% correct. These dudes are stealth masters.

One of my family's friends lost their poodle that summer - they heard whimpering in the back yard at night, ran out there, and found the dog still alive with gashes on its belly bleeding heavily. They ran back inside to grab a gun and when they came back out the dog was gone. They tried to follow it but to no avail. I got chills when they told us that the first time and I still do writing it.

And that's not all. That same summer one night I was up late talking to my mom, maybe around midnight or 1 AM and we heard it screeching off in the distance. Found this on youtube: one of the most frightening sounds I've ever heard.