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OK, TX, AK, & MO Black Panther Sightings


mortellementpanthera

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4 minutes ago, mortellementpanthera said:

They are outstanding creatures — they have always been my favorite. When I met my current fiancé, I moved farther into the country of southern Oklahoma — and have heard nothing but first hand accounts of these unidentifiable, beautiful creatures. 

We see and deal with a lot of wild life. I’m the type of girl who wishes she could live in the woods; also the type of girl who just bought a pretty nice quality trail camera, just to get a glimpse into the cougars’ lives (and other animals in the area), without actually disturbing or harming them.

I used to live a lot farther north in Oklahoma — I had heard maybe one or two stories of someone encountering a mountain lion. And then I heard about the black “panthers”, and the theories for why there are out there, living amongst us. There were at least two black jaguars in the Little River Zoo off of 120th and Highway 9, on the outskirts of Norman, Oklahoma. Tornados are VERY common in the area, and there have been theories of them escaping their enclosures, teenagers sneaking in and setting animals loose, etc., which to me, sounds VERY likely. Especially because this zoo is only 3 or so miles from my house, and within a 10-20 mile radius of a big chunk of black cat sightings. It was forced to close a few years back due to finances, but last year local police received reports of a lot of traffic still going in and out of the zoo.. they checked up on it, and a man was holding a woman captive in the abandoned zoo against her will...  so black cats escaping DEFINITELY would not be the scariest, or most odd, thing to happen. Oklahoma is also one of the most unregulated states when it comes to owning exotic animals, which I think could also be held somewhat accountable for the sightings. 

I am just so intrigued by them and would love to find out the true nature behind them. I am very particular with what I believe and am a type of person who requires very hard evidence to prove something like this to be true, but I am also very open minded to any and all possibilities, unless ruled out. 

Be careful what you wish for...it just might find you! 

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6 minutes ago, mortellementpanthera said:

They are outstanding creatures — they have always been my favorite. When I met my current fiancé, I moved farther into the country of southern Oklahoma — and have heard nothing but first hand accounts of these unidentifiable, beautiful creatures. 

We see and deal with a lot of wild life. I’m the type of girl who wishes she could live in the woods; also the type of girl who just bought a pretty nice quality trail camera, just to get a glimpse into the cougars’ lives (and other animals in the area), without actually disturbing or harming them.

I used to live a lot farther north in Oklahoma — I had heard maybe one or two stories of someone encountering a mountain lion. And then I heard about the black “panthers”, and the theories for why there are out there, living amongst us. There were at least two black jaguars in the Little River Zoo off of 120th and Highway 9, on the outskirts of Norman, Oklahoma. Tornados are VERY common in the area, and there have been theories of them escaping their enclosures, teenagers sneaking in and setting animals loose, etc., which to me, sounds VERY likely. Especially because this zoo is only 3 or so miles from my house, and within a 10-20 mile radius of a big chunk of black cat sightings. It was forced to close a few years back due to finances, but last year local police received reports of a lot of traffic still going in and out of the zoo.. they checked up on it, and a man was holding a woman captive in the abandoned zoo against her will...  so black cats escaping DEFINITELY would not be the scariest, or most odd, thing to happen. Oklahoma is also one of the most unregulated states when it comes to owning exotic animals, which I think could also be held somewhat accountable for the sightings. 

I am just so intrigued by them and would love to find out the true nature behind them. I am very particular with what I believe and am a type of person who requires very hard evidence to prove something like this to be true, but I am also very open minded to any and all possibilities, unless ruled out. 

In which case I wish you luck, I doubt that there really are feral Pantherines livimg wild in Okkahoma or really anywhere else, at least not for long, but neither the U.S nor cats are my area. So I'll watch and see how it goes. 

Edited by oldrover
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1 minute ago, joc said:

Be careful what you wish for...it just might find you! 

Oh, I know, trust me! My father-in-law just encountered a mountain lion near the ending of this year’s hunting season—about fifteen yards out, down in a dried up river bed. It is on a friend’s property, where my fiancé and his father go to dump the carcass of their deer. 

He approched the ridge of the bed and heard an odd cracking noise; this was right after the sun set and it was the latest “super moon”. He peered around and then he saw it — a huge mountain lion.. just gnawing away on the rib cage of a previously dumped deer carcass. It noticed him at about the same time he noticed it.. he or she let out a growl and hiss, and my father-in-law booked it to the truck. He told us he will never, ever go to the property again without a firearm. He is 66-years-old and told us he may not be the world’s fastest runner, but that night, he could have beat anyone in the entire world at the 50-yard dash.

We went over to this area today and set up the cam; there are large cat prints all over the area, along with claw marks from the lion sliding after trying to grip the edge of the ridge after last night’s sleet and bit of snow. The dried bed leads to a pond, and is located in a heavily wooded area that is not very populated, whatsoever. There were around five different beaten paths, it seems like a highway for wildlife. Four of us were exploring around the area; on top of the ridge we found a plethora of deer bones (mostly small pieces, the cat seemed to have eaten pretty much everything except a small portion), especially hooves/legs. There were actually three legs stashed under a piece of metal, and I stumbled upon (what appeared to be) a freshly cleaned deer leg.. I kicked it, and the knee joint bent. I also stumbled upon the cat’s scat, and so much deer hair, you would have thought there should have been dead deer laying everywhere. Insane.  

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10 minutes ago, oldrover said:

In which case I wish you luck, I doubt that there really are feral Pantherines livimg wild in Okkahoma or really anywhere else, at least not for long, but neither the U.S nor cats are my area. So I'll watch and see how it goes. 

I, of course, will keep you updated! I have not heard of many reports other than the ones in my immediate area, which would make sense if there were only one or two cats out here, especially since we have an abundance of heavily wooded areas for them to hide. We are about 5-10 miles south of Lake Thunderbird, so if you were to look it up on google earth, it could give you an idea of how rural it actually is. It just has been the same cat(s) each time. 

Time will tell! Or it wont - and they will stay a mystery, which probably wouldn’t be a horrible thing... considering how blood thirsty humans can be. Especially here in OK.

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On 12/22/2017 at 5:47 AM, Hammerclaw said:

Never even seen a picture of a black cougar, only a jaguar and they're rare. 

^ In fact, I don't believe there are any confirmed sightings of black cougars, which is what we'd consider a black panther/black mountain lion in Southeastern US.

Also, OP: >.> AK is Alaska, AR is Arkansas. That aside, mountain lions are actually fairly common in more rural areas of Arkansas. Perry County, for instance, has several living there (despite the Arkansas Game and Fish Commissions constant denial). The first time I heard one scream, I nearly peed myself.

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3 hours ago, The Ghastly Grimoire said:

^ In fact, I don't believe there are any confirmed sightings of black cougars, which is what we'd consider a black panther/black mountain lion in Southeastern US.

Also, OP: >.> AK is Alaska, AR is Arkansas. That aside, mountain lions are actually fairly common in more rural areas of Arkansas. Perry County, for instance, has several living there (despite the Arkansas Game and Fish Commissions constant denial). The first time I heard one scream, I nearly peed myself.

THANK YOU! I knew AK looked terribly wrong. Had a brain fart, lol. 

You’re also absolutely right — there is not a documented case of a melanistic cougar/mountain lion. If it is possible, then it is EXTREMELY rare.

I’m also with you on the peeing.. definitely almost peed my pants when that big cat screamed her/his blood curdling scream at around 3 am, less than 2 miles from my house. Sent chills right up my spine. 

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9 hours ago, mortellementpanthera said:

THANK YOU! I knew AK looked terribly wrong. Had a brain fart, lol. 

You’re also absolutely right — there is not a documented case of a melanistic cougar/mountain lion. If it is possible, then it is EXTREMELY rare.

I’m also with you on the peeing.. definitely almost peed my pants when that big cat screamed her/his blood curdling scream at around 3 am, less than 2 miles from my house. Sent chills right up my spine. 

Yeah, my brother and I were cruising slowly down a dirt logging road that my mom specifically forbade us from driving down when we heard it. We told on ourselves, it scared us so badly.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've heard many reports of Black Panther sightings in Oklahoma.    It of course is a black leopard, but sometimes in bright light you may see some of the markings of a regular leopard on it, although faint.  Primarily a night hunter. 

There is another black cat that's been seen in Oklahoma, a little smaller and primarily a day hunter called a Jaguarundi.  I either saw it or a Black Panther from a distance one day on my place where I raised goats.

Two nights I believe a big cat got in my pen and attacked some kid goats, and one kid was gone entirely.  One of the older young goats had a large strip of hair, hide and flesh all the way to the bone taken from the upper rump down to the hock of one hind leg and she had to be put down.  I don't think a coyote could have done that, it was probably a cat and a pretty big one.

Upon walking outside the pen I saw what I believe were big cat tracks, bigger than a big dog's track.

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Raised in southern Oklahoma, just because the "census" or the wildlife agency says they aren't out there, does not make it fact.

There are Bears and Cougars and Black Panthers (be it pigmented cougar or leopard) in Oklahoma,Arkansas,Missouri,Texas,Louisiana,Kansas,Tennessee and numerous surrounding states.

I have personally saw 7 cougars in my lifetime in southern Oklahoma, 2 of which were black.

I will not get any more specific on the location because I do not want them disturbed from living their lives.

If you kill one in Oklahoma or Arkansas nowadays, without proof that you or your livestock,pets were attacked or being stalked then you will face criminal charges.

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On ‎12‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 6:35 PM, mortellementpanthera said:

I'm the type of girl who wishes she could live in the woods

I lived in the woods for many years until I became medically unable to,   Believe me I loved it and if I ever can will go back.  It's absolutely wonderful.

Edited by Brandy333
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  • 4 months later...

Hi i live in shawnee off of 102s of i-40 near twin lakes. I am a person that is very interested in all animals. About 9 months ago i saw a feline cat that had a span of about 8 to 9 ft in length counting the tail. About 3 1/2 to 4ft tall i know this it ran behind my neighbors house about 25 to 30 ft from me. My neighbors told me it was a dog and i know better than that cause for 1 very few dogs have short snouts and those dogs that have that size of a snout can reach that size i have very great sight and i am 6ft 2inches tall also that wasn't the only time I seen it about a week after that sighting me and my friends was in the backyard of my house there was only 3 of us including myself that feline ran between my house and my neighbors house from the front of my house which faces north to the south. It was so fast we barely see it. Also we hear shrieks of like screaming of a baby dieing or a baby being choked or something. I know most of the animals sounds in Oklahoma cause I have lived in Oklahoma all my life. When you hear the screaming shriek roaring type sound it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. These shrieks usually comes around between the times of 11pm to around 5am these sightings and shrieks happened about 8 months ago. I don't fear this or any animals i am half native american. I am curious and respect animals. Don't kill or hurt these animals if you don't know what you are doing outside especially at night be with someone else because these animals won't attack you if you are not alone and in complete darkness also show no fear those animals can since fear it is their 6th sense and that is how they draw their prey into there attack area. And to that little girl that mountain lion i am sorry you was attacked by the lion. But happy that you survived. That lion probably attacked that little girl because she either was in its killing zone or by its place it lives also the parents have to remember when you move out in the country that animals are not going to move we are the invaders! These animals have been here for thousands of years before we invaded. That's like if animals move on your land would you like to be forced out of your place cause they came to your land? No u wouldn't so before u judge or hurt these beautiful animals put yourself in their places. But remember i am not saying don't protect u or your family just remember they are just trying to survive. God bless and enjoy everything in life but be cautious.

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There have been many sightings in and around Northeast Texas.  The locals near where my family land is located claim to have witnessed them on multiple occasions.  I've personally never seen one.  They swear by their sightings, and these are church going, salt of the earth types.  I'd be surprised if they were lying outright.   Could be mistaken identity though.  I've seen some huge Bobcats, but they weren't black.  Are there any genetic mutations which could cause Bobcat to be all black?  

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4 minutes ago, Faustus said:

There have been many sightings in and around Northeast Texas.  The locals near where my family land is located claim to have witnessed them on multiple occasions.  I've personally never seen one.  They swear by their sightings, and these are church going, salt of the earth types.  I'd be surprised if they were lying outright.   Could be mistaken identity though.  I've seen some huge Bobcats, but they weren't black.  Are there any genetic mutations which could cause Bobcat to be all black?  

No I don't think so faustus i have seen bobcats and they are not that big and bobcats don't have a call like that to draw in their prey like that i have heard black panther calls before and they make that kind of call to make their prey sound like a animal is hurt so they investigate.

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I've never seen a black panther other than those marching at our local square in protest.  My pet theory would be that those in Texas and Oklahoma, Arkansas would be jaguars or mountain lions with a mutation from in breeding that causes them to appear mostly black, especially from distance.  Click for Info  They could be migrating North from Mexico, and even South and West Texas into more tropical, and deciduous forest climates better suited to ease of predation.  I've talked to I'd say 7 or 8 country type folks that aren't normaly prone to misidentification of local animals.  These are farmers/ranchers/rural homesteader types who are out in wooded areas often at dusk and dark.  Migration could be missed for the most part, due to their nocturnal and reclusive nature.  One major identification characteristic should be a very elongated tail that curves upward at the end.

Edited by Faustus
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We live in Kay County, Oklahoma over the Arkansas River area, by Kaw Lake. We started hearing what sounded like a woman screaming about a month ago.  It was awful. We thought someone was in trouble. Two Saturdays ago when the thunderstorm hit, our male chow bolted.  He never came back. Our neighbor found his remains drug up behind their yard, caught in a bob wire fence and eaten.  It had to have been a large animal to get Kodak. He was strong and weighed about 80 pounds. We were told panthers make the screaming noise. Are there panthers in Oklahoma? 

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2 hours ago, Vic9 said:

We live in Kay County, Oklahoma over the Arkansas River area, by Kaw Lake. We started hearing what sounded like a woman screaming about a month ago.  It was awful. We thought someone was in trouble. Two Saturdays ago when the thunderstorm hit, our male chow bolted.  He never came back. Our neighbor found his remains drug up behind their yard, caught in a bob wire fence and eaten.  It had to have been a large animal to get Kodak. He was strong and weighed about 80 pounds. We were told panthers make the screaming noise. Are there panthers in Oklahoma? 

I'm really sorry about your dog Vic. It's a terrible thing to happen. Unlikely to be anything unusual that killed him though. Sounds more likely he got caught up in the fence and died, then was eaten. Sorry again,that's not a nice thing to say. 

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  • 1 month later...

I have no idea if this type of account is what you are looking for but about 35 years ago my father ran a trucking company near Wewoka Oklahoma. This trucking company had to have brick on job sites very early in the morning so he would typically start his day before sunup. During the summer I would ride to work with him. Near Wewoka, we spotted a large black feline on numerous occasions, and my dad was positive it was a black panther. Of course, it was hard to see a black feline in the dark, but we saw it in bright moonlight and one time when it was just off the road by our car. I don't know if it was the same animal that we saw numerous times or different ones. I can't say with certainty what it was but I know my dad was sure it was a black panther. Remarking on the sightings at the local cafe and gas station no one seemed surprised and we heard several, "oh yeah we've seen black panthers many times."  

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A bit of the history of cats:

Spoiler

Initially, wild cats served as primitive Atlantis when Atlantis was still connected to the newborn America, then, as a result of the prevalence of black magic, they turned into jaguars, tigers and wild lions when the continent of Atlantis broke away from the American continent.("From Sphinx to Christ" by Edouard Shure)
 Cats in ancient Egypt were considered sacred animals protecting from evil and unhappiness.


The Egyptian goddess Bastet is the queen of black cats and she was portrayed as a woman with a cat's head and was a goddess of joy, fun and love, female beauty, fertility and a home.

http://perstni.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/cs619422.vk_.me_1.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Bastet.svg/1200px-Bastet.svg.png

Bast has two incarnations - a woman with a cat's head (good nature) and a lion (aggressive). It is believed that, being in the second form, Bast turns into Sekhmet - a lioness, who once almost destroyed all of humanity. She managed to pacify only with the help of cunning - on the ground was spilled beer, tinted with mineral dyes in red. Lioness took this liquid for blood, got drunk and fell asleep.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0015/5464/5044/products/sehkmet-enthroned-US-WU76715A4-G_480x480.jpg?v=1522810190

http://selene.kiev.ua/published/publicdata/SELENE/attachments/SC/products_pictures/basta-isida_enl.jpg

 

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On 12/22/2017 at 10:26 PM, joc said:

I had a friend in Tyler who had a pet Jaguar Cub.  Cutest, clumsiest, little thing I've ever seen. Totally nothing like a kitten.... slow, clumsy, just awesome....I wanted one!

A lot of people do.  And a lot of people then find themselves in the position of....what was I thinking?  And they dump them in the middle of nowhere.  So, there is a population of cats out there...and they find each other and mate.  I don't know what the chances of jaguars being born black is.  I'll check it out.

Leave exotic animals in their natural environment.....Thats part of the problem with the python dilemma in Florida....Burmese pythons are great when they are small but they get much bigger...People go out and buy these exotic animals with out an ounce of prior research then realize its going to get bigger than expected....The only one that suffers in this instance is the animal itself... 

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The American Cougar, Mountain Lion, Panther,  whatever name you choose to call it, was once present in about every mainland state. The original lines of these animals are still present in many, many states and areas that supposedly do not have any such large feline. Just because a state animal agency says their state doesn't have a sustainable population of something, does not make it the Gospel Truth. I have personally saw Cougars in 2 states that swear up and down that they do not exist in their states at all. Man encroaches in and takes and destroys their habitat. They will fight to survive and move when they feel enough pressure and enough of a threat to do so.

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I live in southeastern OK near the Arkansas line. I know without a doubt that we have mountain lions in this area. There have been more sitings than I can begin to relate and they go back for a 100 years or more. Black panther sitings are not as common but there have still been several reported throughout my life. The reason I found this blog is recently there has been several sitings of a black panther being talked about near my house and I wanted to research to see if there was anything on the web to back these claims and also to find out how aggressive these cats are because I have young children that play outside a lot. I read a post where a woman had goats attacked and I had one as well. It was eaten in the pen and only the head and feet were left. We immediately thought cat but with no proof or other evidence we shrugged it off as a coyote.  This picture was captured on a friends game camera about a mile from my parents house and less than 10 miles from mine. The sitings occurred way before this picture so I don’t believe this picture is what caused people to start seeing the sitings.  I know that the image is VERY questionable. It’s head almost looks like a calves to me although there were no cattle being ran in that particular are there were some in adjoining pastures so it very well could just be a blurry pic of a calf. Just thought I’d post it to see what y’all thought. 

63722BA6-E57D-4E76-AF17-B33CDE6A1920.jpeg

Edited by Okiemom
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very strange photo. I don't know what to make of it. But I agree with you, and know for a FACT that there are Cougars all along the Oklahoma Arkansas border. They typically are not aggressive towards people, but if they have already gotten a goat of yours, I would be keeping a closer eye on the kids as they play.

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Thanks Pawman. We are keeping a close eye on the kiddos. Also we have posted a few game cameras around our house. I’ll post any new pics that I get. 

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