USA Tales of Big Cats More Myth Than Reality
By David Rainer
While trying to finish my Christmas shopping in late December, I got a phone call from Dave in north Alabama." I need to tell you what I saw last night," Dave said. "I'm a painter, and I had just finished a job outside town. It was dark, and as I pulled out of the driveway, about 50-60 yards in front of me, four deer ran across the road. My headlights were shining right on them. Then, about 30 yards behind the deer were two big black cats. They looked like they were about four feet long and their tails were about four feet long. I got a good look at them. Because I'm a painter, I know all about colors and hues. These cats looked like a cougar that had been spray-painted black."
All of my life I've heard stories of panthers lurking in cane breaks and thickets. The bone-chilling cat screams would make the bravest of men look for an escape route. Yet, for the most part, the stories only included fleeting glimpses of the cats.That, however, does not diminish the hunting-camp banter about whether these elusive animals exist. And I'm certainly not going to be the one to say there isn't some kind of "panther" out there. Dave's call piqued my interest, so I started asking around. Most had never seen anything that resembled a panther, but they were sure up on the folklore about the creatures that haunt the night, almost like apparitions.
These reports of big cats are nothing new for Mark Sasser and Keith Guyse of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division.
Sasser, Non-Game Wildlife Coordinator, said there is one basic problem with black panther sightings: there are no melanistic (black) species of cougar in the wild or in captivity. However, Guyse is not about to argue with a person who claims to have seen a black panther.
"I'm pretty confident that we don't have cougars in the wild that were born of parents in the wild," he said. "I think if we had a population large enough to sustain itself, we would find evidence.
"But we're willing to go look at any evidence someone might have of a big cat. Protect it so we can take a look at it."
The Clanton Advertiser: January 2008

Black Panther or Eastern Cougar At Clemson University
Two reports of big cat sightings have emerged from South Carolina; but this time not from a rural setting but from a major university, Clemson. The initial sighting occurred on November 23 where the animal was spotted by a security officer and subsequently police officers. The follow up sighting occurred December 16, when a unidentified employee of Clemson university called the police to report seeing a big cat he described as a panther or cougar.
Both sightings are extremely light on detail, and the only mention of a melanistic animal comes from an email received by Cryptomundo, a website run by Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman. The sender is apparently someone who works at the university. He mentions two emails sent from campus security warning people about "large black mystery animal". The two emails are reproduced but make no mention of the animal's color. Furthermore, the original article from Independentmail.com does not mention a black animal either.
In my opinion this isn't a black panther sighting but rather an Eastern Cougar sighting; or a transplanted cougar. The Eastern Cougar was once abundant in South Carolina and sightings still occur today. The Eastern Cougar's fur is uniform, usually reddish brown or grayish brown, perhaps resulting in the color confusion stated above.
Sources: independentmail.com and Cryptomundo

Mountain Lion Sighting in North Dakota
Mary Jane Stubbe, a Devil's Lake North Dakota resident , was on her way home on Wednesday Nov 14 when she spotted a large tan colored cat. The sighting occurred around 3 PM on a rural road surrounding by trees. The article is a little light on details, but does mentioned that she reported the sighting to the Game and Fish Department; and apparently there had been two additional sightings in the area. No detail on these other sightings were given.
Officially there hasn't been a breeding population of Mountain Lions in North Dakota since the late 1900's. However reports are frequent in that state and the Game and Fish Department receives numerous sightings each year. Source : Devil's lake Journal

The "Legend" of the Large Cat
By Joe Keiley
BRUNSWICK COUNTY -- No sightings have been confirmed, but the talk continues to swirl about the "big cat" that may be to blame for the deaths of dogs in Bolivia.
Workers at the Brunswick County Animal Services office say they've received numerous phone calls about different sightings.
However, a lot of those phone calls have been about sightings from years past and in locations around the county away from Bolivia.
The "big cat" story has dominated the local discussion but is full of rumors and second-hand information.
Animal services say they're just trying to focus on "big cat" spottings near the Midway Road area.
"There hasn't been a sighting yet, but if there is one, I have a on-call animal officer. He will call me, and we'll begin to make an investigation," explained Richard Cooper of the Brunswick County Animal Services
Cooper tells WECT that they've checked the tracks left behind and are still trying to match the tracks with a specific animal.
Publication Unknown: 12th October 2007

Fisher Cats Blamed After House Pets Go Missing Kathy Curran
(WBZ) Sudbury residents believe fisher cats are to blame for the disappearance of several house pets in the community.
There have been several sightings of the predator in the area.
Fliers on Sudbury's Plimpton Road, where house cats are disappearing one by one, sound the warning. Many said they believe a fisher is to blame.
Holly Leon's cat, Pepper, went missing two weeks ago.
"I think he met a fisher and he didn't know it was an enemy," Leon said.
Pepper isn't the only one. Lucky's a pretty big cat that doesn't like to wander outside, and for good reason, because outside is where his brother Tiger met his demise.
"I don't know what may have taken Tiger," said Sudbury resident Kathy Herold. "There are a lot of things that can kill him."
Experts say fisher cats mostly eat rabbits and squirrels, and said they can be fierce predators. Ron McAdow's motion-triggered cameras caught a snapshot of evidence that fishers are lurking in woods down the road.
While no one knows exactly what's on the prowl in the area, three cats have disappeared withing the last few months. Both fishers and coyotes have been spotted in the neighborhood.
"I assumed a coyote got my dog," Herold said.
"I do know there are a lot of fishers around, which is a good sign for the eco-system and nature," McAdow said.
"I always knew there was a good chance he'd get killed," Herold said. "I guess live by the sword, die by the sword."
In this case, it's life living on the edge of a wildlife reserve. Unfortunately the mainly nocturnal animal may be preying on family pets who wander into the night.
http://wbztv.com/local/local_story_268165505.html: October 2007

It's a panther. It's a dog. It's a big cat.
Whatever it was, it caused quite a stir at MHF Packing Solutions in the Sweetwater Industrial Park Tuesday morning.
Workers there saw some type of big black cat on a hill behind the plant around 8:30.
"We see deer out here all the time," said Charlotte Shell. But this was different, workers said.
Shell said some of her co-workers first saw the big cat as they walked past an open warehouse door.
Shell took pictures of the cat that perched by some brush on the hilltop and was still there meandering in and out of the brush some two hours later.
"She's our shutterbug," office manager Shelia Bryant said. "She always has her camera with her."
Shell and most of the observers estimated the mysterious cat was between three and four feet long not counting the tail.
But Sweetwater Police Captain Gary Newman said when a Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency officer later reviewed the pictures, the TWRA official determined the mystery cat was only a larger than normal house cat and there was no cause for alarm.
But Shell and other witnesses might not be convinced. "It looked huge," she said.
The Advocate & Democrat: 12th September 2007

Rare Black Bob Cat Captured
By Danielle Dubetz
For years there have been stories of Black Florida Panthers prowling in our wilderness, but there's never been any official record they exist.
Now that mystery may be over.
A cat has been captured and researchers at the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary say they now know what people were referring to when they said they saw the panther.
We're all familiar with the Florida Panther, golden in color and about 130 pounds.
You may have also heard of a "Black Panther," which has been like our local Loch Ness Monster; people have said they've seen it, but it's never been caught.
One woman recently called the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary because she said she had one right in her back yard.
"She said she had this gigantic Black Panther in her back yard and that it had killed a pet turkey that she'd had. She was hysterical," says David Hitzig with the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary.
"She describes to me this big black cat the size of a Labrador dog," says Deron Hartman, also with the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary.
Hartman responded to the woman's call for help and the turkey snatcher turned out to be no Black Panther instead, a Black Bobcat.
"It's a very unique animal. It's very rare. It's definitely the highlight of my trapping," says Hartman.
It weighs only about 20 pounds and it's color is black from head to tail with one white spot on the belly.
Hartman says less than a dozen have been recorded. Most of them in South Florida near the Loxahatchee River and St. Lucie Canal. The first was discovered about 70 years ago. But it's more than just a rare find, it can also help bring answers to an old Florida tale. "For years, people here in Florida have talked about Black Florida Panthers. First of all, Florida Panthers are basically a Cougar. There has never ever been a Black Cougar or a Florida Panther ever found. No record of them, no pictures, no hides, no skins, nothing. but still we hear these stories of black cats that lurk in the wilds of Florida," says Hitzig. "Maybe we have kind of found that missing piece of the puzzle and we now know what everybody's been talking about when they say, 'I saw a Black Panther in the wild.' But really they saw a Black Bobcat."
The sanctuary says they'll be working with the state to run DNA and blood tests. They want to make sure there's official documentation that the Black Bobcat exists... even if the Black Panther does not. The sanctuary plans to return the Black Bobcat to the wild.
wptv.com: 23rd August 2007

Big Cat Sightings in Maine
On the 29th of June the Lewiston Sun Journal posted a picture of a large cat taken in Sidney, central Maine. The newspaper speculated that the cat might be a mountain lion. The author of the photograph wishes to remain anonymous.
Officially, Maine hasn't had a mountain Lion population since the late 1800"s; though a mountain lion was killed in the state in 1938. And since then, aside from eyewitness sightings, definite proof of a mountain lion population has remained elusive. Fur was recovered and identified as belonging to a mountain lion in the mid 1990"s, and in 2001 some tracks were identified as also belonging to a mountain lion. This of course doesn't prove that a population exist, as these animals could have been released in the wild by certain individuals. Unfortunately the tail is hidden by a tree in the current photograph. Tail length and thickness often help in specie identification. Mark Latti a spokesman for the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife said that a biologist was dispatched to look for tracks, and measure the rock upon witch the animal was standing in order to obtain a better sense of scale. He also stated that it is very unlikely that a population of mountain lion exists in the state.
Five days later on the 4th of July the Blethen Maine News Service ran a story of another sighting, this time in Oakland Maine. Oakland is less than 15 miles from Sidney. The eyewitness a kelvin Higgins decided to tell his story after he read about the Sidney sighting. The Higgins sighting took place in April of this year.
Higgins saw the animal from his porch. The cat, about 30 yards away, was grooming itself on a rock. The rock was where Higgins found a little bit of fur and skin. According to Higgins when the cat saw him, he casually stood up, streched and bounded off. Higgins cannot say for sure if it was a mountain lion, but he described the cat as 4 feet long, with an equal length tail and an estimated weight of 100 pounds. The fur sample was sent to Southern Illinois University for analysis.

Dangerous Cats Spotted in Hot Springs Neighborhood
Hot Springs
Officials in Hot Springs say a big cat--possibly a mountain lion or cougar--has been spotted in the Lakeside area, along with similar younger cats.
One resident says she saw a large black cat carry off her small dog when she let the pet outside last week. The dog has not been found.
Other residents have also reported seeing the big cats. Hot Springs Animal Services has set up traps and cameras to try to catch them before they attack anything else. So far, they've only been able to find a footprint that measures about six inches wide.
(Dan Bugg, Animal Services Supervisor) "The issue here is public safety. Safety of our neighborhoods, safety for folks, pets, children and folks who live here. That's why we're here."
Residents in the Lakeside area of Hot Springs are urged to use extra caution around dusk and dawn, and keep a close eye on your pets and kids.
KATV Channel 7: 7th June 2007

This isn't really a report on a particular new sighting, but some
interesting comments were made recently by Jim Boggs,
an assistant field supervisor with the U.S Fish and Wildlife
Services in Lafayette Louisiana regarding Black Panther
sightings in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana. What I felt was
of interest was his comments on specie identification for
these sightings, which exemplifies the difficulty in dealing
with specie identification for Black Panther sightings in the
United States in general.

N.J. asks: Panther or just Big Cat?
By Rebecca Santana
TRENTON, N.J. - Residents of rural parts of New Jersey are used to seeing wild turkey, deer and even an occasional black bear. But the possibility of another kind of wild animal on the prowl has some people worried.
"I knew by the size that it was not a house cat. It wasn‘t a tiny dog. It looked like some kind of wild cat," said Zoe Paraskevas, who photographed it Saturday. "I just got chills. I said ‘Oh, my God!‘"
"I can‘t tell you if it was a panther, but I can tell you that it wasn‘t a domesticated house cat," said Fiocchi. She‘s worried about the possibility of a dangerous cat roaming the woods and fields where her four children sometimes play.
© 2007 The Associated Press: 2nd May 2007

New Jersey
In late April and May, over 30 residents called the local police station in Vineland, New Jersey, to report sightings of a Black Panther. This was preceded by a sighting at about 150 yards from Zoe Paraskevas on Saturday April 28th.
Zoe managed to photograph the animal at that distance. He estimated the animal to be about 80 pounds and the size of a German Shepherd.
Some of his neighbours have reported hearing growls near their houses.
Animal control officers claim that an overweight house cat was responsible.

Eastern Texas
Various livestock have been found mutilated in the last few months in Raintree Lakes, Upshur County. One farmer found one of his calf with both stomach and throat ripped open. Mithchell Bransford had a close encounter with a Black Panther in April, which some resident feel has been responsible for the mutilations.
He was unable to identify the specie, but he told wildlife experts that it was either a black panther or black jaguar. I am not sure if by panther he meant leopard or mountain lion. Local authorities stated that people were seeing either black otters or black hogs and misidentifying them as large cats.
Nearby Cherokee County also had its share of sightings in March and April. Eyewitnesses in Dialville claim to have seen a large Black Panther with tree cubs on multiple occasions.

San Luis Obispo County, California Jersey
The department of Fish have Game have confirmed sightings of a Black Panther or Jaguar in Fern and Squire Canyons from the month of April.
The animal has been described as about 6 feet in length. One eyewitness felt that the animal had to be between 200 and 300 pounds; which might be an exaggeration, but nonetheless speaks to the size of the animal.

A Cougar or a Panther in Port Charlotte?
When Carol-Ann Thorn awoke to find the gutter torn off her home and thrown across the walkway beside her house, she didn't know what to think.
Some of her neighbors in Kings Gate had seen the culprit and his previous damage, describing the vandal as nearly 5 feet tall, weighing 150 pounds.
Thorn and her neighbors think it could be a black panther prowling the area, but officials said the animal with an apparent appetite for destruction is likely something more common, like a cougar.
Regardless, management at Kings Gate said Monday they're taking the situation seriously.
"We don't know if we've got a panther on the property," said Beverly Malouin, with marketing and sales at Kings Gate. "Some of the residents have pieces of their gutter where something chased a squirrel or something into the gutter and bit into it."
Management contacted an animal trapper Monday to assess the situation at the property on Kings Highway in Port Charlotte. Malouin said she expects a trap to be set up with rabbit meat soon, hopefully to find out exactly what kind of animal the culprit is.
Thorn said she contacted management last Wednesday after she found the gutter, which cost her $75 to replace. She said the neighborhood then put her name on a list of residents who have had similar problems.
"It's just a little bit frightening," Thorn said. "I'm not the only one if they're putting me on a list."
She said the gutters are attacked after a small animal runs into one for refuge.
"I talked to a couple of neighbors and they said they have seen tiny bunnies going up the gutters to get away from whatever they were getting away from," she said.
Though he said he wouldn't rule out anything, Lt. Brian Jones with Charlotte County Animal Control said the likelihood of a black panther causing damage in a neighborhood is slim. Black panthers are not native to Florida. More often, he said, people mistakenly think what they see is a Florida panther, which is also rare.
"Usually, 99.9 percent of the time when we get a call for a Florida panther, it is a bobcat," Jones said.
He said he's been working for the animal field for about 14 years, and he only saw a Florida panther once a decade ago near Tuckers Grade "for about 5 seconds."
Even if Thorn's pest is a cougar, Jones said it's uncommon for such animals to cause damage to homes or property.
"I've never heard of bobcats doing damage to property, but, then again, they're animals," he said.
If the culprit really is a black panther, Jones said it would likely be someone's pet. He said it's surprising how many local people have permits for interesting pets, including a Punta Gorda resident who keeps a llama in his backyard.
"People have strange pets," he said. "You'd be surprised what lives amongst us. Maybe it's a black panther that somebody had and it got loose. It's not likely, but it's theoretically possible."
Charlotte Sun Herald: 6th February 2007

Panther Chases Forester - South Carolina
By Sammy Fretwell
A federal forester says he was chased into the Chattooga River by a 7-foot-long panther with "jet black" fur.
Terrance Fletcher, a technician with the U.S. Forest Service, dove into the frigid water and crawled up the bank in South Carolina to escape.
"The animal started running ... so I decided to run and get away and jump in the river to get across to the other side," Fletcher said this week. "It was a life-changing event for me."
The incident occurred the second week in January along the mountain river separating Georgia and South Carolina.
Black panthers are not native to the southeastern United States, meaning Fletcher might have seen a river otter or a bobcat, state wildlife officials in Georgia and South Carolina said.
Still, Fletcher and Forest Service District Ranger Dave Jensen said they think he saw some sort of large cat on the Georgia side of the river.
"It was a little too big to be a bobcat," Fletcher said. "My first impression was a panther."
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources found no evidence of large cat tracks in the area where Fletcher said he saw the animal, but the Georgia DNR's Kevin Lowrey said it's possible a black panther was lurking in the woods.
If so, it was probably an exotic pet that escaped, he said. His agency regularly receives reports of people seeing cougars, large tawny cats that were once native to Georgia and South Carolina. Officials say the creatures are likely escaped pet cougars or other animals, rather than wild cougars.
"We don't have a native black cat in the United States," Lowrey said. "That just tells me it was something released."
Lowrey, a wildlife biologist with the Georgia agency, said people hiking or fishing along the Chattooga River should not be overly concerned. The river is the only federally designated wild and scenic river in South Carolina, and it is popular with recreational enthusiasts.
Lowrey said folks should always be aware of their surroundings when in the forest.
Fletcher, a 24-year-old Alabama native, said he and another Forest Service technician were surveying trails on the Georgia side of the river south of the Burrells Ford bridge when they separated.
While taking a break near the river bank, Fletcher heard rustling in the woods and looked in that direction. Staring back at him was what appeared to be a black panther, crouched on the forest floor like a house cat stalking a bird, he said.
When he stood up, the cat started running, prompting him to take the icy dip in the Chattooga. Soaked to the skin and freezing, he met up with his partner and walked through the woods to their Forest Service truck.
"We just got on out of there," Fletcher said, adding he remains a bit spooked by the incident. "I don't know how long (the feeling) will last."
The State, South Carolina: 27th January 2007

Mystery Black Felid Photo: Identified - Florida
An update on the mystery black felid photograph reveals some new information, which, in context, makes much sense. The picture was taken December 2005, according to the photographer’s letter shared with me last night by a felid researcher. The photo was taken by a retired biology professor from a Georgia university, Dr. Edward Yeargers.
Dr. Yeargers had seen the cat, which he identified as a black bobcat, “several times” in his yard. The location of his yard - Palm City, Florida. Palm City is located in Martin County, Florida.
The professor wrote, in part: " I was a biology professor at Georgia Tech for 30 years - I’m a close observer. This one was about 18? tall when it sat on its haunches (much taller than a domestic cat), had pointed ears and a short tail. When it walked, its hind quarters were higher than its front. I have also seen bobcats with conventional coloring in my yard, so I know the habitat supports them. Unfortunately, the whole area is about to be cleared and developed."
Considering that Martin County, Florida, is the major location for melanistic bobcats in this country, the pieces of the puzzle are beginning to fit together.
This is clearly a melanistic bobcat.
Cryptomundo: January 2007