Cougar

[Campground Cattle]

Dughter saw a rather large Bobcat across the road a few weeks ago and a rancher I met said a large black long tailed cat ran his herd through his fence.

Black Panther that you are looking at either a Leopard or possibly a Jaguar with Melanistic coloration.

The Rancher you met is full of pasture protien. Most of the people that see these cats you could run out of the woods at night with a house cat and they would have wet britches. I had one of those bad Asss panthers after my chickens the other night killed it with a 410 weighed a total of 15 pounds, was black as coal.

The cougar Felis concolor -- also known as the puma, catamount, panther, and mountain lion -- once roamed much of North America. Now the cougar is an endangered species. There are probably less then fifty of the Florida Panther subspecies (Felis concolor coryi) left in the wild. The western subspecies still holds it own. The Eastern Cougar Felis concolor cougar is generally considered extinct. The last recognized specimen was captured in Maine in 1938 and died a few years later.

People continue to report cougars in the Eastern United States. While these cats may be Eastern Cougars, they may also be evidence that the Western Cougar's range has increased. Some sightings prove to be cases of mistaken identity with bobcats, dogs, or other animals the real subjects. Some Western Cougars are kept (illegally) as pets and escape or are released by their owners back into the wild in the Eastern United States. Such escapees may account for many of the better sightings.

A small but persistent fraction of sightings in the Eastern United States are of black cats. While black panthers are encountered very rarely in Central and South America, none has ever been reliably reported from the United States or Canada. Cougar coats can turn dark brown as cold weather approaches. These cougars may appear black in dim light and wet conditions. Other reports of black cougars may reflect observations of jaguars. Black jaguars (Panthera onca) do exist. A few jaguars -- themselves highly endangered -- still appear in the United States in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and possibly California and Louisiana. These may all be Mexican immigrants rather than representatives of a native U. S. breeding population. The jaguar is larger and far more heavily built than the cougar and is consequently quite different in appearance. Many people are not familiar enough with either cat to know the difference. Black jaguars which have escaped from captivity could account for some reports of black cougars. Escaped black leopards (Panthera pardus) offer another candidate for black cougar reports.

Reports of smaller black cats may represent sightings of the blackish or brownish grey jaguarundi (Felis yagouaroundi), also known as the eyra. Jaguarundis can also sport a reddish coat. The jaguarundi looks a bit like a large weasel because it is long and slender with a wedge-shaped head. The jaguarundi reaches lengths of about 1.3 m, heights of 30 cm, and weights up to about 9 kg. The range of the Jaguarundis currently encompasses northern Arizona in the United States to northern Argentina.

 

[Beefy]

I've seen a black one here on our farm twice now. Dad has also seen it. Ever since i was real little i have heard stories about a black "panther" that roamed the swamp and never believed it until a few years ago when i saw it myself. Did some research. Black mountain lions or cougars do exist although rare. Then i found an old newspaper article (1920s? i think) that said that a circus was coming through town one day and had a wreck and the black panthers (leopards) had escaped and were never caught. kind of neat i thought.

 

[Campground Cattle]

Ya'll ought to tote a camera if you could get a picture that cat should be worth a lot of money.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I've seen a black one here on our farm twice now. Dad has also seen it. Ever since i was real little i have heard stories about a black "panther" that roamed the swamp and never believed it until a few years ago when i saw it myself. Did some research. Black mountain lions or cougars do exist although rare. Then i found an old newspaper article (1920s? i think) that said that a circus was coming through town one day and had a wreck and the black panthers (leopards) had escaped and were never caught. kind of neat i thought.

I bet National Geographic is on the way to film one of those black cats that no one can produce a picture of. You know I bet you could call around and get someone from out west to bring in some Mt. Lion dogs. I say it is a bunch of cow flop on the Black Panther, heck I have heard all those backwoods southern tales for years. Amazing seems like all the UFO's and Panthers land in the South.

 

[Dave]

I thought that Roswell, NM had the lead on UFO's? I will have to give the black panthers to the south. I never have heard of anyone claim to see one of those up here. But we have Bigfoot in the northwest! Although I recently saw a show where they were claiming bigfoot sightings in Oklahoma. That bigfoot must like to travel.
Dave

 

[dun]

I've heard reports of them being around here but the reports were considered unreliable by the powers that be. Last year a guy set up a trail camara and almost did something unpleasent in his drawers when we got a picture of a mountain lion stalking a deer. All I have is printed paper copuy of the picture and it's so grainy it doesn;t copy well, but it sure is unmistakably a mountain lion. But a regular color one. curse the luck

 

[arrowhunter]

Not so fast to make fun of 'ol Bigfoot now. He's been spotted up north here a few times.

 

[C & C Land & Catt]

The wildlife dept. thought it would be a good idea to try and repopulate the cougar pop to control the deer pop round here. They also helped unpop about 10 calves. Now we have evened up they score by declaring open season on cougars. Coyotes are bad enough but if you can I would kill every one of the suckers. Also told the wildlife dept that if they want the deer controled to give us more tags.

 

[Caustic Burno]

In many instances it is a case of mistaken identity. Other cats, fishers or dogs are the animals probably seen. Once in a great while a real cougar is sighted. Based on our experiences, it is safe to assume that these animals have been intentionally or unintentionally released by people. Contrary to some peoples beliefs, they are not part of a native, self sustaining population. Cougars are not ghosts. They leave tracks which would be regularly seen in any area frequented by them. If there were enough cougars for a population, there would be many sets of tracks readily available for people to see throughout the year.

Management and Research Needs
The remaining population of cougars in Florida is federally protected as an Endangered species. It is unlikely that any eastern state will reintroduce cougars; the required habitat is simply not available. Western cougars appear secure; the relatively vast amount of wilderness available to them will assure their continued survival.

 

[CowCop]

The cougar Felis concolor -- also known as the puma, catamount, panther, and mountain lion -- once roamed much of North America.
Now the cougar is an endangered species.
The Eastern Cougar Felis concolor cougar is generally considered extinct. The last recognized specimen was captured in Maine in 1938 and died a few years later.

Ironically, these photos were taken on a porch in York Maine last week ... guess there's a mom and two youngsters around. Tuesday they were spotted in Eliot Maine.

 

[Campground Cattle]

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/nature/wild ... tain_lion/

 

[Mahoney Pursley Ranch]

Never said it was a black panther or black couger. Just said it was a large black long tailed cat. Could have been a large black long tailed feral cat for all I know! :cboy:

 

[Beefy]

In many instances it is a case of mistaken identity. Other cats, fishers or dogs are the animals probably seen. Once in a great while a real cougar is sighted. Based on our experiences, it is safe to assume that these animals have been intentionally or unintentionally released by people. Contrary to some peoples beliefs, they are not part of a native, self sustaining population. Cougars are not ghosts. They leave tracks which would be regularly seen in any area frequented by them. If there were enough cougars for a population, there would be many sets of tracks readily available for people to see throughout the year.

Management and Research Needs
The remaining population of cougars in Florida is federally protected as an Endangered species. It is unlikely that any eastern state will reintroduce cougars; the required habitat is simply not available. Western cougars appear secure; the relatively vast amount of wilderness available to them will assure their continued survival.

Well, I dont care if you believe they exist or not. I'm not going to try to convince you b/c you and your aliases and allies clearly know it all already. And the more you and your aliases agree on a public forum i guess the righter you become? Anyway, i have a few comments nonetheless.
Regarding the cat that i have seen, it was a big black cat about the size of an adult Lab with an extremely long tail. it was in broad daylight (which threw me off since they are nocturnal) and running across a field we farm into a branch that runs into the creek. Its pretty hard to mistake a cat running for another animal b/c of the way they run but i see how it could happen at night. The other time i saw it it ran across the road in front of me, at night. My dad also saw it right before dark while he was harrowing. it stopped and looked at him and then immediately ran into the woods. We've also heard it a couple of times at night. sounded like a woman scream. granted that could have been a woman out lost in the swamp or something. About the prints- we have seen the paw prints on the haylage rolls that sit in the field and get dusty. However, you wouldnt expect to see prints that often since they usually inhabit secluded areas like swamps, river basins, and national forests that most people dont frequent very often. plus they are generally soliatary creatures except when mating and when the female is raising babies (which is not often since the population if you can call it that is so small here.) since their range is 5- 25 square miles per animal you therefor wouldnt expect to see that many tracks. As far as being reintroduced, florida DNR brought some texas cats to add some vigor to the florida population which is suffering from inbreeding. they released some cats (offspring) near the florida/georgia line, all of which were later caught because of encounters with people. some of these were caught in georgia. if i had proof such as photos i wouldnt share them with anyone other than family b/c of the publicity it might cause. why would i want to bring in hunters with dogs to catch a creature i find fascinating that isnt causing anyone any harm? so they could put it in a cage for people to see and make me lots of money? no thanks. so you may be asking why did i write such a long freakin post if my purpose isnt to prove anything to you? b/c this forum is about sharing our experiences and helping when we can, thats all.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I have no doubt about the mountain lions or bears, hell they are turning black bears loose over here. There was a lot here at the turn of the century as well as the cats. It is the black part I am calling you on never been a recorded kill in the USA, seems like with all that have been seen someone would get one. They seem to have a mystical powers to never be hit by a car shot or have a picture taken. For all the sightings in the South this is truely amazing animal.

 

[KANSAS]

All this talk about mythical black cats reminds me of listening to George Noory on Coast to Coast.....

Keep it up guys!

P.S. Had the Jersey Devil in one of my traps earlier this year..... too bad the 1 1/2 montgomery couldnt hole the 6 foot chicken monster.

In all actuality though... I do believe in large black long tail cats... too many have been sighted by what I believe to be reliable sources, however I do feel that in many instances depending on light, and shadows many times they may just be seeing a mountain lion. Just look at a herd of deer at dusk and dawn they sure are pretty dark.

 

[Beefy]

lol. well i havent seen any black angus photos at night that turned out real well either.

 

[Jake]

Both my cousin and my aunt have seen a black mountain lion within a few miles from their house. It crossed the road in front of my aunt and the cousin saw it while on the bus one day.... cant tell them they don't exist...

 

[Alan]

We have Cougars in our area, I have personally heard a scream a couple of years ago and my neighbor started losing goats to cats last year. He quite losing goats to the cat when all his goats where gone. But I hear of sightings 3 or 4 times a year with a couple of mile radius. I'm more worried about losing calves to Coyotes then cats... don't know why though, there are plenty of deer, elk, rabbits and coyotes in the area. Only Calf I lost so far was to the neighbors two dogs (3 yrs ago), who are now gone (the dogs).

A few years back Oregon made it illegal to hunt cats with dogs, since then they are getting out of hand, a few attacks on people, pulling dogs and cats out of back yards in suburbia, showing up on school yard play grounds.

I'm curious to why some of you others think cougars are a problem in your area? Are they protected? Can you hunt them with dogs? etc.

Alan

 

[Dave]

They outlawed hound hunting here in Washington about 10 years ago. It has been a real boom to the cougar and bear populations. For 10 year before the hound ban hunting was by limited permits and they were pretty limited. There has been no hound hunting for cougars in the SW corner of the state for over 20 years. Deer hunters are actually getting cougars with some regularity now and that use to be pretty rare.
Up in the northeast corner of the state the cougars have gotten out of control. I know of two incidents up there that show how many cougars there are in the area. One where a cougar chased a deer through the Walmart parking lot in Colville during the middle of the day. I bet that made the little old ladies and kids scatter. In another case a woman was sitting in her living room reading a book one evening and a cougar jumped through a plate glass window and grabbed her dog off the living room rug.
I know of another case where two cougars chased a deer across a mans yard and down the beach near Olympia. Those cats had to pass through town to gat to the area where the man lives.
Every time someone complains about the cougars to the Game Dept. they say the problems are because people are moving out into the areas where the cougars live.
Dave

 

[Alan]

Dave, we are in the same area, I'm the NW corner of Oregon and sounds like I'm hearing the same type of cougars sightings you are. Cougars on the beach and eating grannies foo foo dog. Problems solved if they let hunters use dogs again. Right now they are the top of the food chain in our area. A lot of the problem is the young cats getting pushed out of the mature cats territory and old cats getting pushed out of stronger cats territory. Fi Fi and Kitty are easy morsels, that won't change until fish and wildlife fixes it. I don't buy the people intruding therory as much as they sell it. It may happen some what, but I think the government just wants to keep it's TIGHT land use laws going.

Alan