Black Panther

[harveyhorses]

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I was surprised too. I am just wondering what my family has put into the freezer.......they are sure it was deer that they were hunting - looked like deer from the pictures. Just wait until I tell them that there is no deer population.


I say - house cat (or coat

). Within the last year, I have been up close and personal with some cougars - that kitty looks too small, even for a young cougar.





I also wonder..............that east coast cat that traveled from SD - how do they know? Did he have travel stickers stuck to him? Was he carrying a map? Did he ask for directions?

Got lost, obviously. That is one of those things I've wondered about. Someone said DNA but how do they know?
Had a mild 'disagreement' yesterday with a woman at work. I was giving One of our chefs (yep we got two of 'em) some info on a new Deer processing place. Talking hunting and stuff ( I don't hunt except with a camera) he said there were more bear on their hunt club than in recent years. This woman pipes up with "There are NO bears in Virginia, except a very few in the mountains." After a moment of sort of stunned silence, I told her not to make statements before she had the facts. She said we both had overactive imaginations.

Don't know what the op pic is, does not look like a house cat IMO, but does not look like a 'big cat' either.
I KNOW they are breeding with domestic cats, like the coyotes and dogs! (I am kidding)

 

[woodmort]

I have a feeling that some of the people seeing black panthers are the same ones that shoot goats, cows and dogs thinking they are deer or bears. If you don't know what you're looking for you'll see it every where.

ETA In case you're insulted by this let me clarify. I'll believe these sightings when someone who is familiar with this kind of animal confirms the sighting.

 

[harveyhorses]

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We had a Wallaby in our neighborhood, Chesterfield Va, that was shot during doe season. It escaped from a guy who keeps exotics. I just try not to think about what else might have gotten loose.
People are as bright as I would like them to be.

It was running with the herd of deer, or chasing them, still not sure about that, we saw them, once, deer flat out hauling and wallaby just bouncing along, keeping up. The head did look similar.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

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The one I saw was close enough I could tell what it is. BTW - Grad Bio Student speaking.

 

[Debbi]

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Not in the cases around here. These are old hunters, and people who have hunted and have been raised here. Honest people, not nut jobs or city folk. One that talked about the Black Panther that he saw, was a Highway Patrol officer and friend, and true outdoorsman. Then there was a woman that lived three miles from me, that kept insisting on seeing a monkey! Came into her yard and would watch her. I really thought she was losing it! She kept saying it walked on two legs, and had a striped tail, and dark eyes, and she had been very close to it. We would all laugh at her, and she would stomp off. I stopped laughing when I saw the darned thing myself!!! She had spoken of the "monkey" many years before I saw this one, 2 years ago. It stood on it's hind legs, it did indeed have a striped tail (gray/black), and had a coon-like mask. It was probaly the size of a two year old toddler, and it stood there in the middle of the road looking at my truck approaching. I stopped to look at it, and it stood there for a bit, then got down on all fours and took off into the woods. I'd never seen anything like that around here!! All I could think of was a Lemur, that I'd seen pics of on TV. Started looking it up on the internet, and it appears to be a Ring Tailed Cat?? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring-tailed_Cat But this one I saw had a long gray body, long tail gray/black, and stood almost 3 feet tall when on his hind legs, and he? had a dark mask and dark brown eyes. He had little black hands like a racoon too. To me, he looked more like a Lemur, but seeing as how they live only in Madagascar, unless someone was breeding them here, that would be one heck of a long trip! The one I saw looked much more like this. http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemur Oh, Ring Tailed Cats aren't here either?

 

[Tracydr]

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OK definitely has mountain lion. I know someone who was face to face with one. She lives on the Red River. There have also been many sightings in the Wichita Mountains.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around why that coon hunter shot three cougars. Is that even legal?

 

[mama24]

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I haven't read the whole thread, but I agree. I can't help but wonder where all the "normal" colored ones are if people are seeing so many black ones. Black ones are quite rare, and for every black, there are quite a few normal tawny colored ones (or spotted, if they are jaguars or leopards). I can't believe there are that many cougar/panthers/whatever wandering around unseen and undocumented! Just not possible. I do however, think that there may be some feral cat/larger cat (like bobcat/lynx/more common "larger" wildcats) crosses that may be more common in black and are larger than domestic cats, but still not as big as a cougar. Hybrids tend to be bigger than their parents, and I have read that domestic cat hybrids tend to be black more commonly than regular single species of cats. Not sure how accurate that it, it's been a long time since I've read up on big cat sighting, what they could be, and hybrid genetics, etc.

At the same time, I admit I am also a bit skeptical of claims that "there are no more cougars" in certain places like the NE US. My mother was attacked by a cougar in the late 60's/early 70's, when there were supposed to be no cougars in that part of the country. She was riding through the hilly woods in SE PA where we are from (and where she still lives) when her horse suddenly shied and at the same time she heard a horrible scream. She said she didn't get a good look, but she was 100% sure it was a cougar of the normal tawny colored variety that dropped out of the trees and would have landed right on her if her horse hadn't shied. Her horse took of like a shot and she still has crooked toes from the incident. The horse was trained to turn at gates so the rider could open them, but she was so terrified, she ran full speed and slammed her side right into the gate, breaking several of my mom's toes. She said her farmer friend who owned the horses had had a few calf and foal killings, but hadn't known what was doing it. They found out then. That was the first and last time anyone saw the cougar, though. Anyone who admitted to it anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if some local farmer just SSS about the whole thing.

 

[woodmort]

Let me further clarify: Have you ever studied mt. lions, panthers, jaguars, etc. in the wild? Were those animals that were confirmed by others? Can you identify pug marks as to what kind of animal they actually belong to? Do you know what their kill sites look like? Can you identify their scat? Can you tell their fur from that of a domestic species? In other words have you had previous experience and knowledge of the animal you saw? Even the best woodsman can misidentify an animal if he has never seen one before.

 

[Debbi]

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I've never seen or experienced an Elephant either, but I bet I would know one when I saw one.

 

[dixiebeast]

Not to get involved in this argument of credintials...but I HAVE handled large felines...not in wild but in captivity and I know that cannot compare to years of field study...I can go see the cougar at at friend who runs a rescue/rehab any day I want. I have interacted with him,I have always been obsesssed with large felines and I know that alot of people mistake what they see as a "Black Panther" but I feel they are seeing some form of LARGE BLACK FELINE...I have seen a large black feline on a regular basis,cougar in size and form...and I do have DNR trying to trap a large feline( color unknown) based on tracks and livestock attacks in my area. I expect it will be a tawney when and if they do. I also have spent time with bobcats during a visit to a rescue outside Baton Rouge...they are all wonderfull but dangerous animals...Oh and there are all the ZOO trips!LOL

I see people mis label what breed of chickens they have too..still chickens...they cant help they order from a hatchery and are told wrong

This is getting worse than the EE/Ameraucana arguement!!

Pardon any typos...I type slower than I think and my hands get in trouble keeping up!!