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Posts:
3,354
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11/30/07
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(61 of 2575)
Dec 14, 2007 6:10 PM
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I'm not sure big black cats in the US fall into the cryptozoology category at all. It has been proven that cougers have many different colors, including black. That isn't entirely unnormal.
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Posts:
536
Registered:
12/5/07
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(62 of 2575)
Dec 14, 2007 6:14 PM
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Yea, I saw CThuntress' info after I posted so I edited it.
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Posts:
3,354
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11/30/07
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(63 of 2575)
Dec 14, 2007 6:18 PM
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Okay, just clarifying.
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Posts:
1,188
From:
Connecticut
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11/5/07
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(64 of 2575)
Dec 14, 2007 6:42 PM
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According to their fact sheet the sightings since 1960 and clusters known since the early 1900s of animals are verified, a lot of information on their sight , including a sighting form anyone who has had a sighting can print out and send in
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Posts:
1,048
From:
Crystal Springs, NV
Registered:
11/11/07
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(65 of 2575)
Dec 14, 2007 6:50 PM
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It also shows a 24 hr. hotline.
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Area 51
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Posts:
1,188
From:
Connecticut
Registered:
11/5/07
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(66 of 2575)
Dec 14, 2007 6:56 PM
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while not monsters , it could be said that they still fall into cryptozoology if the main question of the show is do we now in addition to the known panthers in the US now possibly have breeding populations of Leopard or Jaguar in the US?
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Posts:
1
From:
SC
Registered:
12/14/07
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(67 of 2575)
Dec 14, 2007 9:16 PM
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Hmmmm, go to www.santeedelta.funformobile.com ,and see what I found on my footage the morning after I filmed it. DNR said it wasnt a bear, but may be a form of wild hog. I disagree.
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Posts:
1
Registered:
12/17/07
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(68 of 2575)
Dec 17, 2007 5:05 PM
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Hi,
First post...so here it goes.
In the mid-1970s in Fremont California, there were many sightings of Big Black Cats. The best one was in Niles Canyon, a traffic copter caught one on film on the side of a hill. That time of year the grass is light brown and a black cat stands out. There was even a picture in the local paper (The Argus). At the time, fish and game people said it was a black mountain lion, a very rare genetic abnormality. 1973 seems to be the year when there were many sightings all over the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Posts:
3,354
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11/30/07
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(69 of 2575)
Dec 17, 2007 6:27 PM
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I don't reject the fact that there are sightings, I'm just not sure if the sightings deserve to be treated as equally as bigfoot sightings. We already know that there are black forms of different cats, some of them big cats, like leopards, jaguars, and the non big cat but pretty damn big couger. For that fact, I don't think the big cat sightings should be treated as seriously as they are.
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Posts:
3
From:
Grant County, West Virginia
Registered:
12/9/07
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(70 of 2575)
Dec 22, 2007 6:19 AM
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First off, the EASTERN PUMA RESEARCH NETWORK is as science based and factual as any other eastern wildlife group with top-notch professional wildlife biologists, zoologists and anthropologists, backed by certified trackers. Current EPRN all volunteer staff were the 1st to begin field studies on cougars and BLACK panthers in 1965 which led to documentation of current mountain lions & a few BLACK panthers aka, pumas, leopards or jaguars in eastern North America today.
To view current documented big cat ranges, go to the Eastern Puma Research Network's Website at:
www.easternpumaresearch.com & pull-up the color-coded maps in the tri-state map section for that factual data.
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Posts:
3,354
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11/30/07
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(71 of 2575)
Dec 22, 2007 6:31 AM
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Cool research Lutz. Very helpful.
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Posts:
38
From:
Tamaqua
Registered:
12/22/07
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(72 of 2575)
Re: Big Black Cats -- BBCs
Dec 24, 2007 6:53 PM
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Hi. I'm new here. I don't believe that there are mysterious big black cats (MBBCs) in America. MQ was correct in their findings of the examples given in the show as only being black housecats BHC. The Hugo cat from MN was a BHC. It had a round head with a pointed snout with no chin. A Leopard, cougar, or jaguar would have a very prominent chin giving a aquarish snout with an elliptical head. The Smith Creek cat was investigated in person by Todd Lester from the Eastern Cougar Foundation. His data was sent to my and I personally analyzed it and found, without a doubt, that the Smith Creek cat was a BHC. Jason Bowers was informed of our findings. We photographed a hound dog placed on the cat's location. When we compared the cat photo with the dog photo, we found that the cat was as big as the dog. BUT, the walnut tree was 2x the diameter in the cat photo. When we magnified the dog photo so that the walnut tree was equal in both photos, the cat was only 1/4 the size of the dog. And yet, when Jason Bowers first saw the cat at 264 yards, he thought it was a BEAR! Now why did he think that? Google the Ponzo illusion effect. That will explain more thoroughly than I can here. In the show, the dead panther by the fence turned out to be a black dog. I investigate MBBCs for the ECF. Every video, photo, or what have you, always turned out to be a BHC. I can easily explain each case I investigated. I am a felid expert. I spent time at zoos photographing cougars, jaguars, and leopards in various poses and learned to identify these 3 cats by their silhouettes. When I started investigating MBBCs, I was anxious to see if they were leopards, cougars, or jaguars. Much to my surprise, they were neither. They were all BHCs. I read most of the reports of MBBCs given here and they all (except for the video clip from Alabama) fall under the category of anecdote. If you are dealing with anecdote, you must keep in mind that human perception is unreliable over distance. I could say that none of the statements are valid, but that would cause a lot of debate. If the statements are not substantiated with evidence, then they are anecdotes. 1000 anecdotes do not make a fact. NO matter how sure the witness claims to be, his anecdote is unreliable. It's like heresay in a court of law. Another thing, these BBCs do is disappear mysteriously. That is because everybody is looking for leopards, cougars, or jaguars when the BBC is really a BHC right under their noses. So if you believe you have evidence for a BBC and are told it's a BHC, accept it or you will look foolish. Jason Bowers was told right off the bat that all of his videos of cougars and panther were housecats. He would not believe the truth and even went on national TV about it. He was confronted with the truth once more by a very reputable investigator. Does he accept it? I doubt it. I can justify any bit of evidence for BBC to be merely a BHC. Any takers?
J.A.LANKALIS
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Posts:
3,354
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11/30/07
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(73 of 2575)
Re: Big Black Cats -- BBCs
Dec 24, 2007 7:42 PM
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I believe there are big black cats in America, I just don't think they are much of a mystery. Very cool post, though. You'll fit in here just fine.
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Edited by Yeti16 at 12/24/2007 7:43 PM
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Posts:
3
From:
Rockville Maryland
Registered:
12/25/07
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(74 of 2575)
Dec 25, 2007 7:49 PM
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Back in the late 1980's a large group of friends from the DC area used to rent out a ski house in Canaan Valley West Virginia. Back in those days especially in the wintertime getting to Canaan Valley could be dicey at best even if the weather in the DC area was clear with moderate temperatures once past the Continental Divide the weather was alway very unpredictable. In 1988 me and my friend Jeff left DC around 5:00pm in January with snow flurries in the DC area but by the time we got to Frostburg Maryland it turned into a white knucle drive through white out blizzard condtions. We were driving a front wheel drive Ford Escort Wagon which I put chains on in the town of Keysers Ridge. Heading south from Keysers Ridge toward Canaan Valley down US 219 we made it to and past the Blackwater Falls State Park and were making our final approach toward Canaan Valley. Jeff was asleep at this point but as we wound our way up and around Canaan Heights suddenly there appeared this deer with antlers being chased by a very large mountain lion both of which bounded across the road during this blizzard. I awoke Jeff but he missed seeing it. He did not believe me and when we got to the house with all our friends they all thought I was hallucenating or tired and seeing things. The next day we had to go to Canaan Realty off or Route 32 and that small office also shared the US Ranger Station and I happened to mention this sighting to the Realtor Cary Reid and he suggested that I go and report this to the Ranger. Jeff accompanied me to the Rangers desk and when I told the Ranger where I saw this very large tawny colored cat chasing this deer he said to me, " Your the 4th person to see that cat this week", to which Jeff said in a frenzied excitement, "Man Jimmy why didn't you wake me up so I could of seen it"
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Posts:
1
Registered:
12/25/07
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(75 of 2575)
Dec 25, 2007 8:14 PM
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Well, not to disparage what others have seen, but based on the scaled 25 inches of the Video, I grabbed my biggest domestic shorthair (tabby) and put a tape measure to him from nose to butt. 23 inches people. Now at 19 pounds he is a big house cat, but certainly not the biggest house cat. 25 inches is not outside the house cat size.
To add to that we had the Michigan Panther of the 70s and 80s. Big Blacks Cats? I think that all real sighting can likely be placed at the feet of irresponsible exotic pet owners, or should I say exotic pet dumpers. For some reason that angle never seen to get any attention. People will buy illegal exotic animals, find they are too much to handle, and dump them in the woods somewhere rather than own up to the beast. They are out there. We don't see enough for a "breeding" population.
Llama farmer caught bears and a Puma in his camera, he needs to stop looking.
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Edited by tesral at 12/25/2007 8:21 PM
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