About time for another "black panther" sighting thread

An acquaintance came by our table at breakfast and told about seeing a recent game camera picture of ...a black panther!
Of course, he didn't know the man personally... but he saw the picture.

This prompted another friend at the table to say he has seen two panthers in his lifetime...one of them black.

A third friend agreed there are black panthers and then proceeded to tell a story about how TPWD released 32 mountain lions from a private preserve along the Lampasas River some years ago...

A fourth friend said he had seen a mountain lion... but it was NOT black.

The fifth friend did not say anything. I said there has never been any proof of a black mountain lion but that the subject does generate some good discussions on the THF

Then due to our short attention spans we moved on to other topics.

I know a guy that has heard them. He swears they were black even though he didn't see them. I guess they just sound different than the tan ones. Lol

Must be true...

Black, tan, spotted, I don't care. I would be happy if I NEVER see one in my hunting area! lol

well, for me, I'd say that depends, if he's stalking me yes, I never want to see one but on the other hand if I'm in my blind hunting and get a chance to shoot one then I'd love to see one!

I'd just like to see one some day....don't care what color it is....

Som'body musta ran outta hall passes from the missus.....

Considering the simple fact that in all history, not one single black panther has ever been killed, or found dead by anybody, makes me think it's the same thing as bigfoot.

Lots of people seeing what they want to see, others just making it up for attention, but it really doesn't exist.

Well I was going to share a pic of the huge one I killed out the window of my geo that Brooke down halfway to south tx. It was 12 days before a bus of Dallas cowboy cheerleaders stoped and picked me up. But sounds like y'all don't believe in blk. Panther!

Well I'll be! Was that you? Small world ain't it!

A friend of mine swears he saw one last year near Childress.

But I did read something about panthers recently. J. Frank Dobie was a writer who captured a lot of stories from old Texas. In his book he says panthers are just mountain lions. So there is something semi-official documented from pioneer days.

In my research this is all I could find: A black panther is the melanistic color variant of any big cat species. Black panthers in Asia and Africa are leopards, and those in the Americas are black jaguars.
It is funny that if you look at the mascot for the Carolina Panthers The logo is black. Maybe helps to propitiate the belief.

I saw one, in a bar. We were drinking tequila.

Hey don't spoil our black panther party!

This is the proof we all have been waiting for!!!!!

Actually, there is a possibility in South Texas, West Texas, and the Hill Country to see a Jaguarundi, which some could easily confuse for a "black panther." They come in the same color as mountain lions, but also can be dark gray color too.

https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/mystery-cat-requires-more-conservation-and-research/

I am pretty sure I saw a Jaguarundi out SW from Ozona last year but it was almost dark when it came in to the feeder and I knew it wasn't a skunk or coon, very dark coloration with a freaky long tail and bigger than a house cat (plus there are no houses or barns within miles).

Bigfoot is a registered breeder. Look it up on the dark web.

What amazes me is the number of people that have seen black panthers in the wild, but never seen a mountain lion in the wild. I have a buddy who has seen black panthers on 2 occasions, but strangely never had an opportunity to shoot it (he was hunting) or get a photo of it. Funny how that works.

I have seen both a black cat (of some large sort) & a mountain lion (no doubt, seen it up close). But I spend alot of time out.

Laugh all you want but I saw one at my place. At first I thought it was a black angus calf. but it started running and you could its back flex like a cheeta and it was fast as hell. Three leaps and it was in the woods. scared the s*** out of me. I went to academy the same day and bought a 40 cal ruger. I havent seen it since but my uncle has. Ranch is about 15 miles south of hamilton on cr415

I saw a black panther chasing a chupacabra in Frio County.

My dad and I saw what we believed to be a black mountain lion north west part of Burnet county circa 1963-1964. We were on our way to the deer lease (on top of white bluff) early one morning and came around a corner at Spider Mountain to see a large very dark colored mountain lion eating on a road kill deer by the side of the road. Got a really good look at it. My dad talked to the local game warden who laughed at the story, said there were no such thing as a black mountain lion! A week or two later the game warden came by my dad's shop apologizing and said one of the ranchers out in that same area killed a large male very dark chocolate brown mountain lion after he found several of his goats killed and partially eaten.

Yep, where I was raised we had cougars. Seeing the dark brown coats in the right lighting will look black.

100% true story: overhead a guy in town yesterday saying he had seen a leopard on his place south of Brownwood. Said he had no doubt that's what it was. Anyone that has seen the video of a leopard killing a crocodile knows what bad Muther effers they are. I would think if we have leopards now, they have probably ran off all the native black panthers.

I've never seen a panther but I have seen a spider monkey. Freaked me out, Duval County 1972.

There are historical records of jaguars in South Texas. Some have been sighted in Arizona in recent years. The odds are way more likely it was a large bobcat, but a jaguar is a remote possibility.

Also would not exclude the possibility of an exotic pet being turned loose or escaping either unfortunately.

I am positive I saw a jaguar dead on the side of the road on 37 between Corpus and San Antonio about 6 or 7 years ago. I can kick myself now that I didn't stop and pick it up.It was an extremely large cat with the Jaguar pattern with a very long tail. I was on my way to the air port and had a tight schedule. On my way home I tried to relocate it but it was gone. Some one picked it up!!!!!

Jaguar, not a leopard. There is one for sure in Arizona that has had it's picture taken multiple times. Texas is a long ways from there, but if one made it up to Arizona, then it's possible that more have come North as well. It's so rare, that when it happens, it's pretty big news, which is why I have my doubts about them being in Texas. I just don't trust personal observations. People tend to see what they want to see, and remember it differently then what really happened. Ten people see an accident, and you will have ten different versions of what happened.

My place is in southern Brown County and I can assure you, if I see a leopard there will be proof. Either a dead cat, or a receipt for the purchase of new BVDs.

Y'all need pics???

i saw an albino bobcat the other day right after a black panther crossed the lane.

Black Panthers only make up like 6% of the total population of Jaguars. I believe the highest density of the black color is only 13% or so.

So if people in Texas were seeing Jaguars, far more reports of your much more common coloration would be reported. But that is not what we see. There are far more reports of black panthers than anything else.

I have no doubt many people "believe" they saw a black panther and aren't lying, but they are mistaken.

You either saw a mountain lion that appeared dark, a dog, a coyote, a bobcat, possibly a jaguarondi, etc.

Most people that hunt believe they have way to much experience to confuse a dog with a mountain lion. However, the far majority of cases where mountain lion sightings are reported and real identifications are determined, it turns out to be a dog.


Just a few weeks ago my son and I were headed home from our lease in Fisher County. I saw an animal with a long tail run across the road about 50 yards in front of us right at sunset. The head appeared blunt and it had a long tail. I got really excited and told my son, I think we just saw our first mountain lion. I continued down the road and looked off to the side, and a big coyote was just standing there 30-40 yards off the roadway.

I guess when he crossed the road he was looking at us and I just didn't see his snout in the half second it took him to cross over.

It is okay to admit when you are mistaken. If you've seen a black mountain lion, or a black jaguar, sorry, you are mistaken.

I got a picture of a juvenile black panther on my game cam. What more proof is needed?

[video:youtube]https://fishgame.com/2017/05/feral-monkeys-texas-photo-video/[/video]

[video:youtube]https://fishgame.com/2017/05/feral-monkeys-texas-photo-video/[/video]

If Texas has monkeys then I believe it is naive to believe no exotic cats have ever escaped. Whether owned by research facility or drug kingpin or some rich person. Randy Travis was drunk and naked outside of Tioga so maybe he let a cat go.

House cat

Doubt all you want, but I know what I saw! Owens area about two years ago. And I don't believe in ghosts or Bigfoot.

I have done the research. I searched in all the Cajun cookbooks and there are no recipes for Black Panthers,chupacabra Or Sasquatch so they do NOT exist.

We have a picture of my father with him holding up a Jaguar pelt. Dad died in 64’ and in the years since the pelt was disgaurded. My uncle said he killed it during a wolf hunt around their home place along the Middle Concho during the 40’s. Someday I will look for the picture, no guarantee I will find it. My dad tanned the pelt himself and it didn’t hold-up to time.

With all the trail cams in Texas, why not just one pic? maybe because there's no such thing

I've yet to hunt any area of Texas where someone didn't mention seeing a mountain lion.

I have hunted jaguar in Chetumal, Mexico in the dense rain forest, working with the Mexican Government in an attempt to collar a couple so that their travel habit could be documented. When we were there, a Vet from the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City who specialized in felines accompanied us. I asked him if he had ever seen a black jaguar and he said that he had not though a small segment of the population was known to be black.
Warner Glenn a great houndsman who lives in SE AZ has treed and photographed jaguars on his ranch and I have reports of jaguars being seen and/or treed in SW New Mexico. I have not seen or heard of a positive jaguar sighting in Texas in well over 50 years. I am not saying that it is not possible but the existence of one, especially black is very unlikely. If one shows up, the first sighting will be in the Big Bend Region or west as it will come up from Mexico.
Adios,
Gary

“Sorry I had a fight in the middle of your black panther party!”

I've seen a mountain lion one time. Laying in a wheat field about a mile south of the Colorado river off 377, close to the "deerstand" overlook at the rest area before coming into Brady. Stopped and watched it roll around in the wheat like a kitten. Saw my truck and skeedaddled across the field. He was right next to the hwy. Probably 50 yards from me. Awesome sight.... Jaguarundis have been spotted around here in the Chalk mountain area. Lions too.

Yes, the juveniles are easy to find...



This one was spotted after it flushed a cotton tail out into the open. The rabbit didn't stop until he was over the hill. I went looking for what scared it so. Meow.

There is so much I didn't know about the elusive Texas Black Panther until I started reading this forum. I also had the privilege of attending a TPWD draw hunt one time where I overheard a gentlemen form East Texas inform another hunter that not only are there black panthers in Texas, but they travel in packs.

In packs like in Africa? Owww Im scary are you?

Saw a mountain lion at my feeder