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OK, TX, AK, & MO Black Panther Sightings


mortellementpanthera

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10 minutes ago, Kismit said:

Welcome to UM. And thank you for your contribution. I hope you enjoy your time here.

Thank you, Kismit! 

Will do :) 

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Howdy mortellementpanthera! Welcome to UM...

I use to live in Cleveland county (by Lake Thunderbird) but now live in Oklahoma County... I've never heard of a black panther (actually a species of leopard) actually being fond in the state, but I have heard of a small sprinkling of sightings back a few years ago, mostly in Grady county (by Chickasha) and a single report of one near Tulsa... But this was back in the early 2000's, and I've read that most Wildlife officials believe it may have been bob cat sightings or perhaps a mountain lion (cougar) with extra dark fur...

Good luck with your project, and it's always nice to have another "Okie" on board!

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Having lived my entire life in Missouri (St. Louis area and 4 years of college in the KC area) I have never personally seen a black panther. 

When I was growing up in the 70's and 80's my Grandparents had a cabin at the Lake of the Ozarks (outside of Camdenton, MO).  During this time, I heard many rumors of black panthers being spotted in the area. 

I know this doesn't fit your request, but it may add some information to rumors of their supposed range.

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My parents live in East Texas and have spotted a 'very large black cat' several times.  It prompted my mother to put up a sign (like deer crossing signs) that read: Panther Crossing.

I live in North Texas and in the neighboring town of Princeton, about two years ago, a friend of mine had a horse that was attacked by a mountain lion.  He knows it was a mountain lion because he saw it...and...his neighbor shot and killed it...and took a picture.  It was incredibly large.  Looked like what you might see in Africa.

I haven't seen a large cat but in Fannin County where I live...at the back of the property are woods...and one night while looking through my telescope at the back of the property....I heard a Panther Scream.  Scared me to death!  Sounded exactly like a woman screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs.  I ran like a little girl all the way to the house.

Btw....panthers have a roaming territory of approx 200 sq miles.   That is why you will see them only infrequently.

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 I've seen one at the San Antonio Zoo. They do exist but are rare. Never seen one  here, but  I think it was at Eisenhower Park in North San Antonio someone spotted a mountain lion. I've just seen oppossums, skunks, Great Horned Owls, Coyotes, raccoons and deer here in my town.

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7 hours ago, Taun said:

Howdy mortellementpanthera! Welcome to UM...

I use to live in Cleveland county (by Lake Thunderbird) but now live in Oklahoma County... I've never heard of a black panther (actually a species of leopard) actually being fond in the state, but I have heard of a small sprinkling of sightings back a few years ago, mostly in Grady county (by Chickasha) and a single report of one near Tulsa... But this was back in the early 2000's, and I've read that most Wildlife officials believe it may have been bob cat sightings or perhaps a mountain lion (cougar) with extra dark fur...

Good luck with your project, and it's always nice to have another "Okie" on board!

It’s very interesting that you used to live near Lake Thunderbird — this is exactly where I live currently. Around 5 miles south of the lake.

That is actually what sparked my interest in cryptozoology — how many people in the Noble/Lexington/Slaughterville areas have either reported seeing the black cat(s) themselves, or know someone who has. 

Thank you for your post and I’m glad to also find an Okie! :)

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6 hours ago, joc said:

My parents live in East Texas and have spotted a 'very large black cat' several times.  It prompted my mother to put up a sign (like deer crossing signs) that read: Panther Crossing.

I live in North Texas and in the neighboring town of Princeton, about two years ago, a friend of mine had a horse that was attacked by a mountain lion.  He knows it was a mountain lion because he saw it...and...his neighbor shot and killed it...and took a picture.  It was incredibly large.  Looked like what you might see in Africa.

I haven't seen a large cat but in Fannin County where I live...at the back of the property are woods...and one night while looking through my telescope at the back of the property....I heard a Panther Scream.  Scared me to death!  Sounded exactly like a woman screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs.  I ran like a little girl all the way to the house.

Btw....panthers have a roaming territory of approx 200 sq miles.   That is why you will see them only infrequently.

There is nothing like hearing a mountain lion scream... something you will never forget. The sound is bone chilling and sends every hair on your body straight up on the air. 

I heard one scream around a week or so ago, near Lake Thunderbird in Oklahoma, around a mile or less from my home. Very unnerving. It sounded like a woman was being murdered, almost. The most bloodcurdling scream I have ever heard. 

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It's typically just an unusually large black cat. 

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30 minutes ago, ChaosRose said:

It's typically just an unusually large black cat. 

I do realize that there are many cases where a large, black domesticated cat could appear as a “Black Panther” for a variety of reasons (example: distance, lighting, the period of time someone witnessed the animal, etc.). There is not a debate there. 

However, I’m not sure how that has anything to do with this topic, other than trying to disprove and dismiss others’ experiences. I am not here to do that. I am looking for sightings that I classify as legitimate (to me). 

I don’t believe many people have a reason to lie about seeing a VERY large, black feline. They are not gaining anything from it at all; not money, not fame... but usually only ridicule and judgment. That is the opposite of what I want to portray here. 

 

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I never really considered myself to be 'part of the food chain' until i heard that scream.  And after seeing the picture of the lion...i always carry a pistol with me out in the woods.

At one point I decided i would bait and shoot the 'panther' at my folks home.  It only showed itself every once in a while, for a few days and then it would be gone.  But they have an ornamental pond with a waterfall a mere 20 feet from the backdoor on the back patio. Apparently it would drink out of that pond.  But I wanted to make sure it was legal...so i called the Game Warden in Van Zandt County. He told me he had heard stories of such but never knew anyone who actually could produce even a picture of one...but he gave me his blessing...told me if i did shoot it..he wanted to see it.  i never did though. Logistics...mostly.

 

Also, there was a 5 year old girl attacked by  a panther in Van Zandt County several years ago.   I saw a video once but cannot find it now...Here is the story though.

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/A-Girls-Incredible-Reconstruction-After-Panther-Bite-116353379.html

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2 hours ago, joc said:

I never really considered myself to be 'part of the food chain' until i heard that scream.  And after seeing the picture of the lion...i always carry a pistol with me out in the woods.

At one point I decided i would bait and shoot the 'panther' at my folks home.  It only showed itself every once in a while, for a few days and then it would be gone.  But they have an ornamental pond with a waterfall a mere 20 feet from the backdoor on the back patio. Apparently it would drink out of that pond.  But I wanted to make sure it was legal...so i called the Game Warden in Van Zandt County. He told me he had heard stories of such but never knew anyone who actually could produce even a picture of one...but he gave me his blessing...told me if i did shoot it..he wanted to see it.  i never did though. Logistics...mostly.

 

Also, there was a 5 year old girl attacked by  a panther in Van Zandt County several years ago.   I saw a video once but cannot find it now...Here is the story though.

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/A-Girls-Incredible-Reconstruction-After-Panther-Bite-116353379.html

Oh my goodness gracious... that’s awful. Poor little girl. It’s incredible that she survived. 

I don’t blame you — we are more than just simply defenseless against cougars/mountain lions/panthers/whichever term you prefer to use for these gargantuan, intelligent, and cunning felines.. We are like a simple snack to them. 

They are beautiful creatures and are so elusive — which is not a bad thing. For humans or the cats. 

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

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14 hours ago, mortellementpanthera said:

I do realize that there are many cases where a large, black domesticated cat could appear as a “Black Panther” for a variety of reasons (example: distance, lighting, the period of time someone witnessed the animal, etc.). There is not a debate there. 

However, I’m not sure how that has anything to do with this topic, other than trying to disprove and dismiss others’ experiences. I am not here to do that. I am looking for sightings that I classify as legitimate (to me). 

I don’t believe many people have a reason to lie about seeing a VERY large, black feline. They are not gaining anything from it at all; not money, not fame... but usually only ridicule and judgment. That is the opposite of what I want to portray here. 

 

So, you're not sure what this might have to do with this topic? 

 

On 12/21/2017 at 6:15 AM, mortellementpanthera said:

there is a possibility that there could be an undiscovered species of an extremely elusive creature.

It's got everything to do with it. Unless you can be sure that the reports don't just amount to misidentification then it's a non starter. I'm not saying they do, I have no idea, I'm just making an observation. I would point out though that pretty much everywhere in the English speaking world people are reporting large black cats, so either people are sharing their environment with many very large cryptic cats, or we're just lousy at identification. So far all but one of the photos/films I've seen from elsewhere are domestic cats. ChaosRose made a very important observation. 

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I have seen large black cats....i have seen large cats period...and things do look larger than they are in the distance.  just a month or so ago, we were driving across the tundra...back highways as it were from Huntsville to Corpus....not much out there really...lots of open farm land. So, I stopped...because I saw what I initially thought was a panther...way out there across an open field.  It was running and it was running our direction so I waited.  It took a while because this was plowed land with all the furrows...but eventually, the animal came close enough to positively ID it as a black lab.

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9 hours ago, oldrover said:

So, you're not sure what this might have to do with this topic? 

 

It's got everything to do with it. Unless you can be sure that the reports don't just amount to misidentification then it's a non starter. I'm not saying they do, I have no idea, I'm just making an observation. I would point out though that pretty much everywhere in the English speaking world people are reporting large black cats, so either people are sharing their environment with many very large cryptic cats, or we're just lousy at identification. So far all but one of the photos/films I've seen from elsewhere are domestic cats. ChaosRose made a very important observation. 

I am not looking for theories on what people have seen; I am looking for people with first hand experiences. 

I agree, the observation was very important. I have made the observation myself, along with many other theories about this phenomenon. 

In my original post, I make it very clear than I am looking for experiences and not theories.

I realize there have not been any photographs or physical evidence of large, unidentifed cats that prove they are not explainable. However, as we all know, many species can remain elusive and undiscovered for a long period of time. 

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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.

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19 hours ago, mortellementpanthera said:

I am not looking for theories on what people have seen; I am looking for people with first hand experiences. 

I agree, the observation was very important. I have made the observation myself, along with many other theories about this phenomenon. 

In my original post, I make it very clear than I am looking for experiences and not theories.

I realize there have not been any photographs or physical evidence of large, unidentifed cats that prove they are not explainable. However, as we all know, many species can remain elusive and undiscovered for a long period of time. 

Fair point. 

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20 hours ago, 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.

Very, very true. Big cats are not pets — they are beautiful, majestic, and mysterious animals, but they are predators who belong in the wild. 

I believe that somewhere between 4-6% of jaguars are born melanistic. Also, it would only make sense if two black jaguars mated, both having the melanistic gene, that their offspring, too, would be melanistic. 

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Just now, mortellementpanthera said:

Very, very true. Big cats are not pets — they are beautiful, majestic, and mysterious animals, but they are predators who belong in the wild. 

I believe that somewhere between 4-6% of jaguars are born melanistic. Also, it would only make sense if two black jaguars mated, both having the melanistic gene, that their offspring, too, would be melanistic. 

Why are you so interested in Panthers? and Big Cats?

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10 minutes ago, mortellementpanthera said:

Very, very true. Big cats are not pets — they are beautiful, majestic, and mysterious animals, but they are predators who belong in the wild. 

I believe that somewhere between 4-6% of jaguars are born melanistic. Also, it would only make sense if two black jaguars mated, both having the melanistic gene, that their offspring, too, would be melanistic. 

It's also worth asking if the bkack morph was more popular as a pet, if so it might explain the over prevelance of big black cat sightings. If these aninals were the descendants of escaped ir released exotic pets.  I don't think that's the case personally, but it's a point. 

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5 minutes ago, joc said:

Why are you so interested in Panthers? and Big Cats?

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. 

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5 minutes ago, oldrover said:

It's also worth asking if the bkack morph was more popular as a pet, if so it might explain the over prevelance of big black cat sightings. If these aninals were the descendants of escaped ir released exotic pets.  I don't think that's the case personally, but it's a point. 

I definitely agree, if you see the response I just posted, I think it is very possible, in my particular area, anyway.

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