First off......NO such thing as a black panther, it doesn't exist, anywhere! Maybe a Jag, or something else, but not a panther, the ARE NOT BLACK!
Now I have seen a picture of one on a game camera that was taken about 1/2 mile from my house (in the sticks). It was brown/grey looking, long tail, and looked to be about 5' from head to butt not including tail. WGF saw the pic, but said it was to fuzzy to really determine. Wasn't that fuzzy to me!
Also saw one jump the road in North Madison Co. last year. Wasn't black. Looked like a young cougar/panther, who are related by the way.
They are out there, but if it's black, it ain't a Panther!
Panthers in Mississippi?
No bull from me. I heard the account straight from her mouth. My wife's aunt has some property on the chunky river near Enterprise in Clarke Co. and walking down to the river one day about two years ago noticed something on a big rock at the river's edge. Something all black. She eased up closer and got within forty yards of it (she took me to the spot) and saw "it" look up at her. Still not believing what she was seeing, it stood upright from its crouched position (she thinks it was either drinking or just laying in the sun) and in a movement so smooth and effortless, lept twice and was gone. Up, about a fifteen foot embankment in two leaps, one from the edge of the river then the next up and over.
Like I said, I went to the spot about a month or so later and stood on the rock it was on while she described what it did and there ain't no way a dog or even a big thouroughbred housecat could've made that bank in two jumps.
I can say she isn't lying. She just wouldn't. I can't say I found any evidence at the scene of a big animal but what else could it have been? Plus it had rained in between the time she saw it and when she took me down there so...
I'm intrigued.
And I'd love to see one esp.. if I had a camera handy! 
Like I said, I went to the spot about a month or so later and stood on the rock it was on while she described what it did and there ain't no way a dog or even a big thouroughbred housecat could've made that bank in two jumps.
I can say she isn't lying. She just wouldn't. I can't say I found any evidence at the scene of a big animal but what else could it have been? Plus it had rained in between the time she saw it and when she took me down there so...
I'm intrigued.
And I'd love to see one esp.. if I had a camera handy! At times there is not a satisfactory substitute for well-aimed lead going down range at high velocity.
-Jim Rawles
We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us!
-Jim Rawles
We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us!
I don't know about Miss, but the AG&F had denied it for along time, they now acknoledge that there maybe due to people releasing them in to the wild from captivity. Black Bears are numerous here, theres even a season on them in the Ozarks. Young ones are usually spotted every year in Fayetteville when mom shoos them away.
I have seen some huge bobcat the past several years since trapping has all but disappeared. They really fade out to nearly sand tan also.
Theres been a bobcat taken each of the past three seasons on the deer lease in Mcnairy CO in Tenn.
I have seen some huge bobcat the past several years since trapping has all but disappeared. They really fade out to nearly sand tan also.
Theres been a bobcat taken each of the past three seasons on the deer lease in Mcnairy CO in Tenn.
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jdbuckshot
- Duck South Addict
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- Location: Forest Mississippi
bob cats
we see bob cats every where. i killed two this year and three last year!
"The rich ..... who are content to buy what they have not the desire to get by their own exertions, These are the real enemies of Game."
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Josey Wales
- Veteran
- Posts: 231
- Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 11:10 am
- Location: Ocean Springs
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qckmstr
i was drinkin one night and i think i got ahold to a panther or wild cat of some sort. she was white though... i think.. the lights were off so i might be wrong.. i just remember lips and prickley whiskers and the next morning i had some claw marks on my back and neck. i think after reading all these post i'm gonna report it. i never knew that cat spottin's were so rare!!
well if you read back to the front ole big water had the same siting also! i think hims and bill-ey were nite spoting over on the mighty pearl on nite and had a in-counter wif sum stuff like dat....but the weird thing was they wuz the only people in the boat out in the middel of all that water......hundreds of yards from shore
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tunica
- Duck South Addict
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- Location: Tunica or Olive Branch
dukbum wrote:well if you read back to the front ole big water had the same siting also! i think hims and bill-ey were nite spoting over on the mighty pearl on nite and had a in-counter wif sum stuff like dat....but the weird thing was they wuz the only people in the boat out in the middel of all that water......hundreds of yards from shore
Bum that was the loch rev's monster of the Boggy creek Monster not no dumb wet cat
Josey Wales wrote:We have got solid black panthers all over my place..just last year I observed one eating an ivory-billed woodpecker, I hear they like to eat Carolina parakeets as well..
BULLSPIT, i thought all they liked to eat were spotted owls and CA condors???
but, i did see 12 of em last year on my place, one even had pink pockidots.....dang, "forgot" the camera tho.....shucks, maybe next year...
funny thing about all these "sightings" we have here, you got "pics" of the loch ness monster, "pics" and "castings" of bigfoot, and "video" of UFO's but and thus far (ON THIS THREAD ALONE) we've had wut? 107 "sightings" or something and not ONE of you suckers got ANY pics of any black panther....
just saying
, gatorHRCH Eight Gauge - Gauge (see you on the bridge buddy)
HRCH Eight Gauge's Mountain Man - Trapper
HRCH Eight Gauge's Mountain Man - Trapper
Panthers and Such
I live in Enterprise close to the Chunky River. My Great Grandaddy use to tell me there were Panthers in the woods behind his house. Come to find out it was a still.
My good friend says he saw one while deer huntin and it scared the bageezus out of him. He has yet to ever go back in that swamp. My cousin says he saw one jump across the road on Hwy. 11 between Enterprise and Pachuta. I'll be a believer when I see one and then who'll believe me?
Can you kill one in self defense if attacked? I know I would but what would the MDWFP do to ya?[/i]
My good friend says he saw one while deer huntin and it scared the bageezus out of him. He has yet to ever go back in that swamp. My cousin says he saw one jump across the road on Hwy. 11 between Enterprise and Pachuta. I'll be a believer when I see one and then who'll believe me?
Can you kill one in self defense if attacked? I know I would but what would the MDWFP do to ya?[/i]
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Bullreds & Greenheads
- Veteran
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- Location: Near Ole Ross's Rez
I posted this several years ago, but here it is again.
I am by no means an expert, but I have been interested in this subject since my brother saw one in the Big Black River Swamp near Vaiden, MS back in the 1980's. I wrote a couple of research papers on the subject when I was at State, so I'll relate a little of what I remember.
First off, cougars (aka panthers, painters, mountain lions, pumas, catamounts, to name a few) were at one time (maybe still are?) native to the state. Native-Americans and the early settlers definitely rubbed elbows with them. Their main prey would have been deer, but there were fewer deer in the state then than there are now, so there was never a huge number of them.
What deer were here were basically wiped out in the 19th Century and early 20th century by unregulated subsitence hunting. The reduction in prey animals had a similar effect on cougar numbers. Also cougars were seen as a threat to livestock and people, and so were killed at every opportunity.
If I remember correctly, the "last" cougar in Mississippi was "officially" killed in either the 1910's or 1920's. I don't remember where in MS or how they arrived at their conclusion that this was the "last" one.
However, panther reports kept coming in. Here are a few:
1. A cougar was seen by two witnesses (game wardens or security guards, not sure which) on Stennis Space Center property in South MS.
2. In the mid-to-late 1990's, there were several reports of a cougar being sited in the Vicksburg Military Park. Park officials even printed up flyers warning people and asking for sighting reports.
3. A bowhunter reported a sighting in the Big Black River Swamp somewhere around the Hinds-Warren County line. A game warden was called to the scene and plaster casts were made of the tracks. Big article in the Clarion-Ledger. I think this was in the fall of 1983.
Besides plaster casts of footprints, hair & scat have been collected at some scenes. Undeniable proof, right? Nope. The argument then shifts to whether the evidence points to a "loose pet" or a wild cougar. The point is critical to geeting researchers interested. A "loose pet" is not significant to researchers. A wild cougar would be, because it potentially represents a breeding population. The only way to prove that a cougar is "wild" is to capture a live one or to examine the carcass of one.
A word of warning. Any cougar walking around in Mississippi is considered an endangered species. Don't shoot 'em! You will looking at an incredible fine and jail time if you do.
The most likely way a body will turn up is by roadkill. Even in western states where they are common, bodies are rarely found in the wild. I don't know their protocols, but I understand that biologists can determine through forensics whether the animal is "wild" or not.
For more info, check out this site: http://www.easterncougarnet.org
The most controversial aspect about panthers is the continued reporting of "black panthers." No cougars or subspecies of cougars is known to have a black color phase. "Black panthers" are true mysteries. Some of the more common explanations are that people are seeing large black dogs and mistaking them for black panthers, or that they are seeing real panthers under poor light conditions. Wierder theories hold that "black panthers" are phantoms or some other kind of paranormal experience.
If that's your bag, go to Google and type in "cryptozoology" or "black panthers" and see what you get.
Oops. On second thought, you might not want to type in Black Panthers on Google.
Anyway, my fingers hurt and I've probably bored enough of you already. I like the subject and would definitely like to read any sighting reports that any of you might have had.
I am by no means an expert, but I have been interested in this subject since my brother saw one in the Big Black River Swamp near Vaiden, MS back in the 1980's. I wrote a couple of research papers on the subject when I was at State, so I'll relate a little of what I remember.
First off, cougars (aka panthers, painters, mountain lions, pumas, catamounts, to name a few) were at one time (maybe still are?) native to the state. Native-Americans and the early settlers definitely rubbed elbows with them. Their main prey would have been deer, but there were fewer deer in the state then than there are now, so there was never a huge number of them.
What deer were here were basically wiped out in the 19th Century and early 20th century by unregulated subsitence hunting. The reduction in prey animals had a similar effect on cougar numbers. Also cougars were seen as a threat to livestock and people, and so were killed at every opportunity.
If I remember correctly, the "last" cougar in Mississippi was "officially" killed in either the 1910's or 1920's. I don't remember where in MS or how they arrived at their conclusion that this was the "last" one.
However, panther reports kept coming in. Here are a few:
1. A cougar was seen by two witnesses (game wardens or security guards, not sure which) on Stennis Space Center property in South MS.
2. In the mid-to-late 1990's, there were several reports of a cougar being sited in the Vicksburg Military Park. Park officials even printed up flyers warning people and asking for sighting reports.
3. A bowhunter reported a sighting in the Big Black River Swamp somewhere around the Hinds-Warren County line. A game warden was called to the scene and plaster casts were made of the tracks. Big article in the Clarion-Ledger. I think this was in the fall of 1983.
Besides plaster casts of footprints, hair & scat have been collected at some scenes. Undeniable proof, right? Nope. The argument then shifts to whether the evidence points to a "loose pet" or a wild cougar. The point is critical to geeting researchers interested. A "loose pet" is not significant to researchers. A wild cougar would be, because it potentially represents a breeding population. The only way to prove that a cougar is "wild" is to capture a live one or to examine the carcass of one.
A word of warning. Any cougar walking around in Mississippi is considered an endangered species. Don't shoot 'em! You will looking at an incredible fine and jail time if you do.
The most likely way a body will turn up is by roadkill. Even in western states where they are common, bodies are rarely found in the wild. I don't know their protocols, but I understand that biologists can determine through forensics whether the animal is "wild" or not.
For more info, check out this site: http://www.easterncougarnet.org
The most controversial aspect about panthers is the continued reporting of "black panthers." No cougars or subspecies of cougars is known to have a black color phase. "Black panthers" are true mysteries. Some of the more common explanations are that people are seeing large black dogs and mistaking them for black panthers, or that they are seeing real panthers under poor light conditions. Wierder theories hold that "black panthers" are phantoms or some other kind of paranormal experience.
If that's your bag, go to Google and type in "cryptozoology" or "black panthers" and see what you get.
Oops. On second thought, you might not want to type in Black Panthers on Google.
Anyway, my fingers hurt and I've probably bored enough of you already. I like the subject and would definitely like to read any sighting reports that any of you might have had.
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