Cactus Cat at sunset

The scanner killed my oranges D:

US campfire tales of the nineteenth century holds that the nighttime screams of what others claimed were ordinary cougars were actually the cactus cats, fearsome critters with spined hides-- especially on the ears --and branched tails like a swishy saguaro. Endowed with bony blades jutting from their forelimbs, they slashed at cacti to lap up the moisture inside. It's said that the liquid somehow fermented-- or perhaps it was just one of those cacti* --and the cats would become drunken, gamboling across the sandy plains hollering and shrieking.

*It's the quenchiest!