Whitefish River So We Meet Again

So focussed on the tuft of fur, trying to make heads or tails of it. He dreaded his own answer, with the texture, color, and length, he already had a good guess as to what it was. He could only hope he was wrong. That it was some kind of rabbit whose fur just got caught in the wind. Even then, that rabbit had some mighty long fur. 

His focus was snatched away by a young voice, ears, and eyes following to see the youthful face of one of this year's puppies. His heart lept into his throat, the last thing they needed was one of those things lurking nearby, especially with one so young now wandering nearby too! Swallowing the hard lump in his throat, he cleared his nerves just enough to smile genuinely at the young lass. I always do a midnight patrol. Which he did, he was just not often caught doing so.

She smelled the creature, her reaction was alarming. It wasn't a rabbit, she must have smelled the prey before - and this couldn't be it. What do you smell, mind explaining it to me?