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Posts:
138
From:
Conroe, Texas
Registered:
1/24/07
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(1 of 2480)
Dec 12, 2007 8:43 AM
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For 30 years I've heard stories from people who live in rural areas of Southeast Texas and have occasionally seen large black cats (here we call them panthers). Some of these people were very credible, solid citizens with no reason to lie or make up stories.
On May 1, 2006, I saw one myself. I had recently moved to the River Plantation subdivision just south of Conroe, Texas, which is bordered by the San Jacinto river just south of Lake Conroe. My house sat on the sixth fairway of the golf course. About noon I walked into the backyard, and standing down the tree line was a large, black cat. It stood at least 2 feet tall and was about 3-1/2 feet long. I was no more than 50 yards from it as it slowly walked down the edge of the tree line toward the tee box, which was surrounded by woods and underbrush. Intrigued, I slowly followed it at a distance. I got a very good look at this animal from the side for several minutes and I know what I saw. It was coal black. After several minutes, a group of golfers approached the tee box in carts and the cat bounded into the woods to hide. I went to where it had entered the woods and looked around, but I never saw it again. I don't believe it ever saw me.
It is very common to see wildlife (deer, rabbits, squirrels, possums, raccoons, etc.) in this subdivision, which is heavily wooded in areas and mostly golf course with scattered houses. But I was quite surprised to see this animal at this time of day (it being noon), since most of the panther sightings I've ever heard of happened around dawn, dusk or late at night.
I grew up in Southeast Texas and I've spent many days and nights in the woods hunting, exploring, playing, etc. I've seen more than a few smaller wildcats, mostly bobcats. I've even seen a cougar while I was driving through North Central Texas. When I was a teen-ager I owned a a half-bobcat, half-housecat that was tame enough to keep as a pet. But this was the first large, black cat I'd ever seen in person. It was at least as big as the cougar that I saw (the cougar sighting was fleeting as it crossed the highway on a dead run just in front of my vehicle).
Throughout the year that I lived in this house, there were many neighbors whose pets (dogs, cats, etc.) just disappeared. I wonder how many of them were taken as prey by this cat?
There is no real mystery to this animal. It is a medium-sized wildcat that roams over a large territory. They do exist. They are rarely seen because they are few in number and mostly nocturnal.
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Posts:
24
Registered:
12/11/07
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(2 of 2480)
Dec 12, 2007 4:48 PM
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I believe that there are cats roaming around even though I was just introduced to this idea.I believe it is very possible.
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Posts:
3,354
Registered:
11/30/07
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(3 of 2480)
Dec 12, 2007 5:44 PM
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Of course it's possible. Heck, we know that there are black leopards and black jaguars, why not a black couger? Plus, there is a lot more evidence of "alien" big cats than most people realize.
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Posts:
1,184
From:
Connecticut
Registered:
11/5/07
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(4 of 2480)
Dec 12, 2007 6:12 PM
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This is part of an article on Illinois Mountain lions
Illinois. Parts of the state seem to be suffering a
plague of black panthers, which hereabouts means not leopards (the only
true black panther) but the black or melanistic form of the cougar. The
Eastern Puma Research Network, not to be confused with the science-based
Eastern Cougar Network, calculated that up to a third of more than 600
cougar sightings in the eastern United States from 1983 to 1989 involved
black panthers — a much higher proportion than in the western United
States. In Illinois, the incidence was even higher; a majority of the
sightings made around Shawnee National Forest in that period were
of black animals. In Decatur, farther north, so many black panthers have
been spotted since the 1950s that the city has become famous among
paranormals, who regard a black cat that can weigh up to 160 pounds as the
Cadillac Escalade of portents.
The problem is, it is not certain that the cougar has a melanistic form,
at least in North America. Black pumas are known in South America, where
the pet cougars sold in this country originate. That raises the
possibility that people are seeing escaped or released pets. But pet black
cougars would have to be as commonplace in Illinois as cocker spaniels to
explain so many sightings over so many years.
It seems there are a lot of black big cat sightings in the US
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Edited by CTHuntress at 12/12/2007 6:24 PM
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Posts:
3,354
Registered:
11/30/07
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(5 of 2480)
Dec 12, 2007 6:19 PM
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Interesting article. Thank you for sharing it.
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Posts:
1
From:
Topeka, Kansas
Registered:
12/12/07
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(6 of 2480)
Dec 12, 2007 7:20 PM
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I love the show but I find the "Big Black Cats" a little confusing. Why are they making such fuss about it. I'm actually watching it right now and all these people are going through so much trouble trying to prove it exists. Well, I'm from the incredibly small town Mound City, MO and I have seen these cats all my life. In fact, the school mascot is the panther. I have since moved to Kansas but I remember when I was a child we would go out to Squa Creek Wildlife Refuge and if you were lucky, you could see one. They are very private cats there but can still be seen. I also remember when I was a child, we lived about 5 miles outside of town and my mother came out the door screaming while my sisters and I played in the yard. I was about 7 at the time and was trying to pet the 'kitty.' There were 3 big black cats out in the woods behind our house where we often played. There are quite a few pictures of them as well. So this is why I find this particular topic ridiculous. Go to Mound City, you will find plenty of them in this small Missouri town. Can't find one while visiting the Wildlife Refuge? Just go into the town taxidermy. There are plenty of them hanging on the wall or stuffed as statues.
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Posts:
2
Registered:
12/12/07
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(7 of 2480)
Dec 12, 2007 7:32 PM
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I live in West Tennennesse. I have seen these large black cats before. The first time was about 20 years ago. I have had rabbits in a cage about four feet off of the ground attacked be these animals. I, actually, witnessed this event. Others from around my area have, also, witnessed the cats.
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Edited by wmatlock at 12/12/2007 7:39 PM
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Edited by wmatlock at 12/12/2007 7:40 PM
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Posts:
1
Registered:
12/12/07
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(8 of 2480)
Dec 12, 2007 7:32 PM
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I've seen a black panther in person. There is one in captivity in Broken Arrow,OK at Safari's sancuary. I even fed it a chicken leg on a pvc pole. Have 2 pics.
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Posts:
1
From:
pennsylvania
Registered:
12/12/07
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(9 of 2480)
Dec 12, 2007 7:59 PM
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I was hunting in southeast Ohio about 30 miles from Parkersburg WV and twice saw a large black cat that was DEFINATELY a black panther of some type. I almost stepped on it ithe first time. I was sneaking down an old rocky creek bed when it jumped out in front of me and the about 2 weeks later I saw the same animal from a logging road right across from where i jumped the cat from the first time. I don't care what the experts say. I have twicw seen a large black panther in the same area and it was in the middle of the the morning in an open area. I took a shot at it the second time. The woods it was in were very remote and had no traffic or hunting except by permission.
Joe
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Posts:
1
Registered:
12/12/07
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(10 of 2480)
Dec 12, 2007 8:00 PM
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I noticed that they didnt mention the 5 in Florida... there are more.. but 5 confirmed
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Posts:
2
Registered:
12/12/07
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(11 of 2480)
Dec 12, 2007 8:23 PM
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hey guys they do live in northamerica check out this it was shot in georgia by a hunter near the end you can see the size of the buck next to the weeds that is on its left then look at the size of the cat next to the weeds its noooooo house cat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOHFT9RUW3I
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Posts:
1
From:
Washington, D.C.
Registered:
12/12/07
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(12 of 2480)
Dec 12, 2007 8:30 PM
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Great Program!
My family lives on a farm in Grantsville 15 Miles West of Frostburg, Maryland in Garrett County, which was mentioned on the program. I have no doubt that there are big black cats.
My grandfather always spoke of having seen one in the 70s, but we did not believe him because he had dementia. A few other people had spoken of seeing them from a distance. Then a few years ago my sister was on the phone with a friend at our house. Both she and the friend on the line heard a blood-curdling scream coming from outside. It was night, but an outdoor lamp was on the porch.
She opened the door and went onto the porch to investigate the noise and saw a large black panther just 15 feet away pacing behind the fenceline adjacent to the house. At the time, there were stray kittens living under the porch and they were very distressed by the larger cat so my sister directed her attention toward grabbing the kittens and putting them inside where they would be safe. Then the big cat disappeared into the darkness.
I absolutely believe her because it was so close to the house, she certainly would have had a sense of scale, especially since it was right at the fence line. She said it was comparable in size to a large dog, such as a lab or doberman. Also, the scream from the cat was so loud it was heard by her friend on the phone. She said she could not believe how long the tail was and its eyes were very bright, reflecting the light. I was very stealthy and smooth in its movements as it steadily paced back and forth.
In the same vicinity people have tracked large cats and our neighbor saw a tawny colored mountain lion in daylight. It is hard to imagine jaguars coming so far north as Maryland, so I hold to the theory that they are mutant cougars.
I don't understand how people can say this cat doesn't exist. There have been so many sightings... If the cougar/mountain lion population was diminished in the last century, couldn't inbreeding among the few that remained lead to the genes for black fur having greater possiblility of being dominant and appearing in current generations of cougars? I didn't hear the large cat expert address that explaination.
Hopefully, more people will aquire the stealth cameras used by the wildlife experts and someone will get an undeniable picture of a black panther. If you're interested in the relationship of suburban sprawl and mountain lions, as a librarian I would strongly recommend David Baron's A Beast In The Garden.
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Edited by pierogie at 12/12/2007 8:58 PM
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Posts:
1
From:
Brunswick, Georgia
Registered:
12/12/07
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(13 of 2480)
Dec 12, 2007 8:43 PM
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I now live in Southeast Georgia but back in 1990 to 1994 I lived in a small community in Southeast Texas called Amsterdam. It is located in Brazoria County near Galveston Bay, on Chocolate Bayou. A lot of rumors had been told to me that there was black panthers in the area, and I have to admit I found it very believable. The story was that several years earlier a local had a male and a female which the Game Warden was going to pick up and when the owner found out he loaded them and took them to an area and released them.
I had my own personal spotting of one of these large cats one night around 11:00 pm. I was returning from picking up my step daughter and a girlfriend of hers from a skating party. I was about a mile from home on a dark remote one lane road with my headlights on bright when a black panther or whatever it was, started from my left and moved to the right in my headlights. From the sight of it it appeared to be around 30 inches long with that long drappy tail. It almost stopped and turned towards my car, those gold eyes seemed to be piercing me. I slammed the breaks on and the cat continued accross the road and jumped over a 4 foor fence.
Most of the sitings I heard about in the area was in the rice patties on the lieves. At one time a hunting and fishing preserve was located about a mile from where I had seen the cat, with several cabins. It has been closed for about 15 years at this time. If you want to find one alive I suggest you got to this area talk to locals I am sure one will point towards the rice patties.
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Posts:
2
Registered:
12/12/07
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(14 of 2480)
Dec 12, 2007 8:44 PM
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sorry it wasnt in georgia it was in alabama
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Posts:
2
From:
West TN
Registered:
12/12/07
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(15 of 2480)
Dec 12, 2007 8:57 PM
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I just finished watching tonights show and I have the following comments:
I moved to West TN in 1991 and during my first year I lived here, I saw a very large, jet black cat walking side by side with a very large tawny brown cat across the top of a ridge in a field of recently cut corn. While I was driving back from Camden to Paris, I spotted 2 large cats on the west side of the highway. These cats were obviously panthers, pumas, mountain lions or whatever term you may prefer due to their size and their very long tails that nearly their body lengths. I know what I saw because when I first spotted them I was driving on Hwy 641 in Henry county. Shocked, I had to make sure of what I saw. I immediately turned around and parked at the side of the road and watched the two big cats until they entered the woods and went out of sight. This was approximately 11 AM or so on a bright, clear summer day. I remember it well but I wished that I had a camera with me that day.
When I got back to the shop, I told my boss what I saw. He told me there were plenty of those big cats around, mostly in the Big Sandy River bottoms where few people go and the areas are remote. The location where I saw the cats is approximately 2-3 miles north of the Big Sandy River. Every time I pass that field, I look. Any of the locals here in the county can tell stories of these big cats being around these parts. They are shy and elusive but they do live among us.
I spent my first 25 years in Massachusetts and there was always a running debate on the existence of the mountain lions up there. Horses were attacked, sightings were made and tracks were evident in the snow. They live among us and go about there business just like all of the other wild creatures.
I think these shows glorify and vilify at the same time. Many of the people seem to hate the fact that these creatures are allowed to live out there. Leave them be unless they get a taste for human flesh. If you want your dogs and cats to be safe, take the necessary precautions. The big cats need to eat just like everybody else.
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