Black Panthers

[Loader 3009]

Here in central North Carolina, black panthers are seen on many occasions. Just this week one killed a pit bull and mauled two other dogs.  The sightings occur (at least the ones I am aware of) within a 50 mile radius of my home town.  Wildlife "experts" say there are no cougars in N.C. and have not been for a century.

[L-Roy]

In Arkansas, none live here anymore  :wink: except for those seen on quite a regular basis by those who frequent the great outdoors.  Both the black variety as well as the regular 'ole mountain lion!

The state has spent quite a lot of money to convince the citizens than no such creature exists, I guess, to prevent mass hysteria, and decreasing use of the outdoors and its tourism/recreation dollar being lost!   :lol:

[Venator]

Loader, down here in East Texas, the black panther is a big controversy.  First, it is said to scream like a terrified woman.  Second, some who have seen them in full sunlight claim that they are actually dark brown with black spots. Academics claim that we only have cougars here, which roar but don't 'scream', and are very rarely black.  So, they claim that the black panther is a myth.  

Since locals have clearly seen them, it's possible that the black panther is a Central American leopard, which is a much more aggressive animal than the cougar.

[Dezertyote]

How'd that leopard get to Central America? Jaguar and (panther, puma,mtn lion and such are all the same cat) are native to So. america, Central america and North America. The black panther is not a breed of cat, it's a rare freak of nature called melanism which is a gene abnormality that produces dark hair and skin color. This occurs in all speices of cats including bobcats, jaguars and (pumas, panthers, mtn. lions, catamounts) depending on the region. Do a search of the cats and it'll give you info on how it occurs.

[Venator]

Desertyote, that black-phase melanism is the process that experts use to explain the black panther in East Texas (i.e. a 'black' cougar).  No doubt, some black panthers are dark-phase cougars.  What I'm suggesting is another theory that black leopards, now found only in Central and South America, still exist in the Southern US, the northern limit of their pre-historic range.  Leopards, and their cousins the jaguars, are different breeds than cougars, and the exciting part is that they are mean mamma-jammas!  Somehow, that's a lot more exciting to me than if they are just plain ole dark cougars.  Whether it's true or not, I have no idea!  I've spent my whole life in the woods and haven't even heard one scream.  You are a lucky man to have seen one!

[Venator]

Oops, maybe I had it backwards. The black panther could be a black jaguar.  Anyway, both the leopard and jaguar have meaner reputations than the cougar, and make for better campfire stories!  From the web:
----------------------------------

The Jaguar is the largest cat in the Western Hemisphere and the third largest cat in the world (after the Lion and the Tiger.) It is often confused with the leopard but the Jaguar is a stockier animal. It is usually larger with a broad head and shorter legs and tail. The color is generally a tawny yellow with dark spots on the head and neck and dark rings on the body. Inside these rings there is usually a dark spot. This is the primary difference between the spots on a Jaguar and the spots on a leopard. There are also black Jaguars. These are usually found in dense forests and are often called Black Panthers. The body length is between 4 and 6 feet and its tail is about 30 inches.

[Dezertyote]

The people that report seeing a black panther are most likely seeing a cougar that has a melanistic gene, or possibly a jaguar but very unlikely. Arizona has a very small remnant population of jaguar. The Az. game and fish along with a few private individuals have been conducting a jaguar study. The cat has been filmed by a man in Douglas Az. This fella is a world known lion hunter (houndman) and has put jags at bay in Az. The last reported jaguar taken in Az. was in 1957 along the colarado river,and about 20 or 30 this past century. That is thats been legally reported...  Im not aware that the leopard is native to Central America. Is this a new find?

[Venator]

No, after checking my facts, I am wrong.  There are no leopards in America.  Must come from reading too much Capstick, and getting my continents confused!

[Dezertyote]

Hey Venator I was hoping that you was on to a new cat out there. I was not sure and you know they keep finding diff. spieces all the time. If your like me theres a place for more big cats. Wish we had the lion and tigers here...

[Tom W.]

Maybe they're offspring from the escapees fromthe old Tarzan movies.
 :lol:

[Venator]

Desertyote, I'd be tickled with just a few black jaguars left in East Texas.  Not too darned likely, but they sure would be fun to hunt!  At least there are rumors of a few black bears slowly coming back to our area.

[southernshooter]

We have lots of jaguars in S.C. Black ones, mountain lion colored ones too. Some are E types, V12's and the new ones are 390 h.p. supercharged. 0-60 in 5.3.
Seriously, I read that jaguars are the only cats that remain too wild to be domesticated in any way even if raised from birth by humans. Too dangerous and unpredictable to make good circus performers

[willis5]

too wild? That translates to "huntable" in my book!
Cheers,
willis5

[Javelina]

Just a little clarification on Jaguars in Arizona as reported recently by thr Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, our main newspaper.

Far from being a remnant population, the jaguar is slowly increasing its range in Arizona.  The Arizona Game and Fish Department is well aware of this fact (although they downplay this issue significantly) and has captured jaguars on film at secret camera locations on known jaguar trails just south of the Tucson metro area near the Santa Rita mountains as well as several other locations.  The Game and Fish Department will not make public the location of any of these camera locations or habitat/trail areas due to the perceived threat of damage to the jaguar habitat and population.

Traditionally, the Chiricahua mountains in southeast Arizona have long been known to have some jaguar activity, and it is thought to be quite probable that there is some movement by the jaguars northward throughout the southeast portion of the state up toward the Pinaleno (Mt. Graham) mountains continuing to the Mogollon Rim country.

Those who take the time to explore the remote island mountain areas of southern and southeastern Arizona on a regular basis may have more of a chance of seeing jaguar, although it is still quite unlikely since they are nocturnal hunters and are extremely stealthy, much more so than the well-known and more frequently-seen mountain lions who inhabit both mountainous and desert areas in Arizona.  Arizona forbids any hunting or molestation of jaguars.

It is interesting to note that though Arizona has MANY diverse types of strange and unusual animals, most generally go unseen since they are nocturnal in nature.  I'm sure there would be a lot of jaws dropping and eyes bulging if metropolitan Tucson residents found out that they actually live in the general vicinity of wildlife such as the coati mundi, ring-tail cats (not cats at all), Mexican grey wolves, gila monsters, mountain lions and jaguars.  I guess they’re probably better off not knowing.    

Javelina.

[Dezertyote]

Javelina,
 Yes your right there is a growing population of jags in arizona, same as the mtn. lion pop. has grown considerably. The lack of trappers with fur prices being down and the restrictions, populations of cats has grown. Remnant is the term I'd use, as they are not found numerously through out the state, but becoming more common. I ran traplines in the 80s and there where times that I'd come across a track in a wash that would raise the hair a little. The one I most remember was in the Crown King area, I had 3-4 set going down a deep canyon wash. I could see a cat track that was by far the biggest I'd ever seen (I'd say 6in. or more across which could be a mtn. lion). There happened to be an unfortunate javelina caught in one of my sets. The cat had no problem catching that meal, all that was left was the head of the javelina which was buried under some dead grass and ground cover. I understand that a javelina is a one sitting meal for a large cat, it was the size of the print that made me think just how big that boy was.

The type of border crossers we encourage

[propredator]

some 20 years ago or more i was waiting on a deer drive,shotgun hunting only here in Iowa.Had a fresh snow on the ground and we new there were deer there.
 Anyway i was waiting when about 35 to 40 yards a way a long lanky black cat came walken by,it wasnt in no hurry.
 At first i thought it was a huge tom cat,but as he walked by i realized it werent.
 Id say he was about 1an ahalf foot tall or so at the back and its body was about 3 feet long.
 Its tail looked to be as long as its body with a upward curl on the end.
My brother had seen him 2 years earlyer an i thought he was pullen my leg.I became a beliver that day.
 If i had to do over i would have put a slug in em,no darn deer came my way anyway!
 A number of people have seen these cats over the years an all describe them as looken like the one i saw.
 The DNR say that they are fishers coming down from north of us.This wasnot some over grown mink i saw.
 Black panther are the only words to discribe it. :shock:

 Have never seen it or heard it since.