Very cool pic for sure

Is there any way from looking at an outline to tell if it is a cougar or jaguar?

Great movie.

It would take a discerning eye, relatively close distances, good light conditions and the assumption that both species were 'representative' (I.E. mature, in good health).

But generally speaking, a Jaguar is stockier in build, has a noticeably more powerful looking head and neck.



I would never attempt to make a positive I.D. based on outline alone, but when you consider other things like the historical range of each animal and population (Cougars all over Arizona, Jaguars very Rarely documented) it adds to the likelihood (one way or the other).

There is a site I follow devoted to Texas Black Panther sightings and the people on that site who believe they have seen a black panther over look two things. First, Mountain lions do not even carry the gene for melanism or being black and there has never been a black one killed in the US or anywhere else. Secondly, black jaguars are only about 6% of the population of jaguars so where are all the spotted ones we would be seeing in Texas if people keep seeing black ones, especially in East Texas! There are black leopards in Asia and perhaps Africa but those are not native to our hemisphere. I've heard it all...circus train wrecks, drug smugglers escaped pets, canned hunt escapees, government releasing them to control hogs HAHA, etc. Where are the clear pictures or game camera pictures or road kill. Believers on that site constantly try to pass off pictures that are easily backtracked on the internet and were taken in India or somewhere like that.

Generally bushier tail on a jag, slim on a cougar.
Jaguars typically don’t have much dip in the back even as they age.

I don’t have much experience with either, but it’s what I have noticed.

I am amazed by the people that I have met that claim to have seen black panthers. One guy, a friend of mine, has literally seen more black panthers than he has seen mountain lions (2:1). Apparently having seen one a second time just confirmed for him that his first sighting was valid. A couple of people I have met have never seen a mountain lion, but have seen black panthers (all singular sightings).

And yeah, they all have rationalizations for why they have seen something unknown to science or the vast hunting community that has never killed one.

Bobcat. Legs are too skinny to be a lion or jaguar. The bush makes it look like it has a long tail, but there isn't a tail visible in the picture. It's a great shot that makes you think, but there is no such thing as a Black Panther. There are jaguars that are almost black, but you can still see the pattern of their spots.

I agree with this. The limb from the tree looks like a long tail.

Mtn lion, it could be a jag, as all the Az pics I googled aren’t plump like the southern Mexico Jags.

Cool pic nonetheless

no mater what.. It was a neat picture. I've seen two mountain lions here in Texas and they were long gone by the time I got my camera out

What amazes me is the level of ignorance, shallow thinking or outright intellectual dishonesty.

You can find literally hundreds of people in every State (California to Florida and everything in between) with claims of having seen a Black Panther.

Now I know full well that some folks have actually seen 'something' black (house-cat, hog, whatever) and simply choose to assign its identification as a Black Panther....because that's what they want to believe (despite NO empirical evidence ever having been produced). So I'll be generous and say that 50% of those just made a 'mistake'.

The others seem to genuinely believe in the existence of the animal and will argue to the bitter end they are right.

So.....lets apply just a teeny, tiny bit of logic to the notion:

1. For THOUSANDS of people to have 'absolutely' seen one of these elusive devils, there MUST be quite a few Black Panthers around right?

2. For quite a few Black Panthers to be around there must quite a few breeding pairs around....correct? After all these claims have been made for at least a century.

3. OR....there are only a few Black Panther around but Damn....do they get around. Travelers on a scale like we've never seen. But SO secretive that no one has ever gotten one on a game camera, killed one or found one dead.

Is it really too much to ask folks to live in a world of reality!

NO black panthers, NO bigfoots.

Here's an interesting read on the subject:

http://texascryptidhunter.blogspot.com/2014/04/americas-black-panthers-new-theory.html

Mountain lion for sure and this one is not a black Mountain Lion.

Why would anyone think that there could not be a melanistic mountain lion/cougar in the United States like there are deer, coyote's and other animals?

It has been scientifically proven that mountain lions do not have the gene that produces melanism. Although many other animals do, the mountain lion does not. There is a lot of info on the internet about that fact.

Oh come on Ringtail don't start citing scientific facts versus urban legends

I don't think that the Mountain Lion Genome has been completely Sequenced, so we can't completely rule out the possibility of melanism in Mountain Lions. BUT from we do know....the likelihood of such is astronomically against it.

And even IF there were a substantiated sighting or better....a carcass to study, it would not, could not account for the thousands of reported sightings made or claimed each year. People just WANT to believe in such nonsense. Not sure what thrill that gives them or why.....but way too many people living in a dream world IMO.

And isn't that amazing that there are so many purported sightings without there being any actual proof of any kind, ever?

Chupacabra.

Ha ha! you might be right!

Hey I have seen both in Young County and I don’t drink or do drugs!

Clay Newcomb’s daddy swears they exist. Says he used to hear them at night all the time.

Every single type animal in North America has been found dead by somebody, somewhere, except the mythical black panther. Seems to me that if one was ever actually found, it might be worth quite a bit of money. Cabela's would be the first place I'd try to sell it, but I'm sure there are other collectors that would pay six figures for something like that.

The most common sightings that I've heard of are from somebodies daddy, who said he saw one. Daddy saw it out in the back pasture and he hunted all his like and knows what he's talking about. LMAO

We had a very large black feral cat around for about a year, but not near big enough for anyone with any sense to identify as a panther. It walked like an angry pit bull who thought no one could jack with him. I'm sure a yote eventually put it in touch with reality.

Game Wardens call them black lab sightings.