Too big to be a dog, too small to be Bigfoot

[Lionel]

Connie Scheitlin is still stunned by what she swears she saw walking through her back yard last week.''I know it was a black panther,'' Scheitlin said. ''It was just lurking.''Scheitlin's panther sighting is just one of many exotic wild animal reports that Williamson County wildlife experts have received over the years. Some reports turn out to be true, but most are dismissed as figments of the imagination or unlikely possibilities.Debby Leddy, assistant director of Williamson County Animal Control, said a person once reported seeing Bigfoot walking near Highway 100 in Fairview.''The woman swore she saw a huge, hairy creature that left big prints,'' Leddy said.There have also been several cougar sightings and even reports that an Asian lynx was pawing around the Williamson County Soccer Complex in Franklin. The panther sighting occurred last Thursday afternoon at Scheitlin's home in the Carronbridge subdivision in Cool Springs. Scheitlin was looking out the window while talking on the phone when she says she saw a giant black cat no more than 100 yards away.

Not believing her own eyes, she quickly grabbed a camcorder and used the zoom feature to take a closer look.''It had a beautiful, black, shiny coat,'' Scheitlin said. ''It was big and very muscular. I had a really good look at him and I know what I saw.''

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