Cats In The Shadows: Mystery Cats Of NC

[Devilwin]

Recently, I posted about the effort to release pumas back into NC, and the fact that the big cats may be already extending their range back into our state. This was buoyed by a game trail cam picture of a female puma in Tennessee. For years, people have reported sightings of big cats, many of these mystery cats were black.
There is no native cat in our state that is black (although a blackish colored bobcat was photographed in a western state), and pumas, if they still exist here, are never black. Melanism, or the tendency to produce black coats, seems to be limited to spotted cats, such as the jaguar and the leopard. Neither of these cats are found in our state, except in captivity. Yet people still report sightings of "black panthers". Pumas have always been called panthers, along with a host of other names (mountain lion, cougar, etc) yet this animal, if it does exist here, does so in very small numbers. So what are these folks seeing? First, I think many of these black felines seen are nothing more than large feral house cats, where depth perception makes the animal look larger than it is. Also, a glimpse of a large black dog in car headlights may make folks think they've seen a panther.
Granted, there is always the chance that exotic pets may be released or escaped, but these animals would soon be brought to book as they would have no clue as how to hunt, and would most likely turn up around human habitation, searching for easy food sources.
In the winter of 1953 to 1954, a large black cat like animal killed and mangled several dogs and some livestock near the town of Bladenboro. Dubbed the "Beast of Bladenboro", the animal was seen by several people. When a local hunter killed a large male bobcat, everyone thought the killer was done for. Problem is, the cat was much smaller than the real killer, only around 40 pounds, and it was not likely even a large bobcat would attack three large dogs at once. Then, goats and calves began to turn up dead, killed in the same manner as the dogs.
Eventually the killing spree halted, and no big cat was produced.
Again, what are people seeing? Is there a small population of black jaguars running loose in our eastern swamps? The jaguar would be the most logical candidate, as jaguars do enter the US from time to time, and once roamed over this country before the last ice age.
But, if there are jaguars here, where are the spotted ones? Black jaguars make up only around 15% of the population, and most of these are found in the Amazon River basin, not in Mexico. The puma can be eliminated because of its coloration, unless there are black specimens science does not know about, which is hardly factual. Another culprit may be the jaguarundi, a small otter like cat that comes in dark gray and reddish colored specimens. But this feline of Central and South America and Mexico is between a house cat and bobcat in size. It does appear in the US from time to time.
Large black felines have been sighted in many states, mainly in the south, but also in a few northern states such as Illinois and Michigan. They have also been a part of Native American tribes legends for centuries.
I include a list of some sightings here, from North Carolina. Also, a puma killed a mountain biker in Washington state this weekend..

Date: 4/23/78 Asheville
Man and Wife saw a large black cat sitting on a rock off the Blue Ridge Parkway. It turned and disappeared into the forest. Estimated to be over six feet long including the long tail.

6/12/87 Man in Shallotte, NC, saw a huge black cat crossing a logging road in the Green Swamp. Animal growled at him and ran swiftly away. Estimated to be as big as his lab dog, but much heavier.

9/14/90 Waxhaw
Three hikers saw a large black cat dragging a deer it had killed across a meadow. They watched the animal for around 10 minutes before it went out of sight. Animal was around seven feet long including the long tail, and very stockily built.

8/17/97 Pinnacle
Farmer making his rounds on his dairy farm saw a large black cat walking in one of his pastures. He went to retrieve his rifle, but the cat had vanished when he returned. The animal left tracks nearly as big as his hand.

2/13/03 Henderson
Lady saw large black cat stalking her hogs. She screamed at it, and the animal took a few steps in her direction, then turned and made off through the forest. Cat was nearly seven feet long and thick bodied.
These are just a few of hundreds of reports.

[left_hook_lacey]

Recently, I posted about the effort to release pumas back into NC, and the fact that the big cats may be already extending their range back into our state. This was buoyed by a game trail cam picture of a female puma in Tennessee. For years, people have reported sightings of big cats, many of these mystery cats were black.
There is no native cat in our state that is black (although a blackish colored bobcat was photographed in a western state), and pumas, if they still exist here, are never black. Melanism, or the tendency to produce black coats, seems to be limited to spotted cats, such as the jaguar and the leopard. Neither of these cats are found in our state, except in captivity. Yet people still report sightings of "black panthers". Pumas have always been called panthers, along with a host of other names (mountain lion, cougar, etc) yet this animal, if it does exist here, does so in very small numbers. So what are these folks seeing? First, I think many of these black felines seen are nothing more than large feral house cats, where depth perception makes the animal look larger than it is. Also, a glimpse of a large black dog in car headlights may make folks think they've seen a panther.
Granted, there is always the chance that exotic pets may be released or escaped, but these animals would soon be brought to book as they would have no clue as how to hunt, and would most likely turn up around human habitation, searching for easy food sources.
In the winter of 1953 to 1954, a large black cat like animal killed and mangled several dogs and some livestock near the town of Bladenboro. Dubbed the "Beast of Bladenboro", the animal was seen by several people. When a local hunter killed a large male bobcat, everyone thought the killer was done for. Problem is, the cat was much smaller than the real killer, only around 40 pounds, and it was not likely even a large bobcat would attack three large dogs at once. Then, goats and calves began to turn up dead, killed in the same manner as the dogs.
Eventually the killing spree halted, and no big cat was produced.
Again, what are people seeing? Is there a small population of black jaguars running loose in our eastern swamps? The jaguar would be the most logical candidate, as jaguars do enter the US from time to time, and once roamed over this country before the last ice age.
But, if there are jaguars here, where are the spotted ones? Black jaguars make up only around 15% of the population, and most of these are found in the Amazon River basin, not in Mexico. The puma can be eliminated because of its coloration, unless there are black specimens science does not know about, which is hardly factual. Another culprit may be the jaguarundi, a small otter like cat that comes in dark gray and reddish colored specimens. But this feline of Central and South America and Mexico is between a house cat and bobcat in size. It does appear in the US from time to time.
Large black felines have been sighted in many states, mainly in the south, but also in a few northern states such as Illinois and Michigan. They have also been a part of Native American tribes legends for centuries.
I include a list of some sightings here, from North Carolina. Also, a puma killed a mountain biker in Washington state this weekend..

Date: 4/23/78 Asheville
Man and Wife saw a large black cat sitting on a rock off the Blue Ridge Parkway. It turned and disappeared into the forest. Estimated to be over six feet long including the long tail.

6/12/87 Man in Shallotte, NC, saw a huge black cat crossing a logging road in the Green Swamp. Animal growled at him and ran swiftly away. Estimated to be as big as his lab dog, but much heavier.

9/14/90 Waxhaw
Three hikers saw a large black cat dragging a deer it had killed across a meadow. They watched the animal for around 10 minutes before it went out of sight. Animal was around seven feet long including the long tail, and very stockily built.

8/17/97 Pinnacle
Farmer making his rounds on his dairy farm saw a large black cat walking in one of his pastures. He went to retrieve his rifle, but the cat had vanished when he returned. The animal left tracks nearly as big as his hand.

2/13/03 Henderson
Lady saw large black cat stalking her hogs. She screamed at it, and the animal took a few steps in her direction, then turned and made off through the forest. Cat was nearly seven feet long and thick bodied.
These are just a few of hundreds of reports.

I grew up in the coastal plains in a very rural area. I heard stories of encounters with "larger than a dog" black cats all through my childhood. One night, I had been playing basketball with a friend of mine at his house, which was in the middle of about 1,000 acre farm. It started getting dark and his mom invited us boys in for dinner. Once inside, the mom became worried because the boys dad and uncle hadn't returned from fishing in a pond in the woods some distance away from the house.

When they did get home, they were white as ghosts, and looked obviously rattled and out of breath. They said something kept stalking them on the way out of the woods, but they couldn't see anything, only hear it occasionally. Finally, they heard a loud growl/hiss/purr, whatever you wanted to call it. When they looked back, there was a huge black cat, bigger than a large dog, that darted up a tree and paced back and forth on a limb looking down at them. They both ran as fast as they could out of the woods to their truck. They grabbed their rifles and went back with hunting dogs, but never found it or saw it again, at least not that I ever heard about.

The uncle said that their granddad, who farmed the land before them, used to tell them stories about large dark colored "swamp cats" that were like pumas or jaguars being spotted in that area a lot during his childhood.

[Devilwin]

Typical of the reports that come in. To me, how are these black cats not being killed or a dead one found after all these years is amazing. If there are big black cats here, they must certainly be melanistic pumas. Which the so called experts say is impossible, no black pumas have ever been killed or captured, but it's obvious these folks are seeing something out there.

[Jeffrey]

To me, how are these black cats not being killed or a dead one found after all these years is amazing.

Cats are much more capable of living "in the shadows" than most people believe.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I know lots of folks in WNC who will swear to you they have seen a mountain lion.

Of course, I also know folks who will tell you their Sasquatch stories.

[wavedukefan70s]

I and we have seen them in Charleston sc.in mt.pleasant .I saw one off of wando park blvd. by the marsh .before there was a apartment complex.it was all woods with a dirt rd. that led to a abandoned house .we started at each other a while then it left.
my wife saw one by Charleston airforce base her family/inlaws saw it also. coyotes and armadillos used to not be here either.im sure some kind of black cat is here in the Carolinas.

[bundabergdevil]

I know lots of folks in WNC who will swear to you they have seen a mountain lion.

Of course, I also know folks who will tell you their Sasquatch stories.

In some parts, it’s less Sasquatch and more goat man. Least where I’m from:

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/tarrant-county/tracking-goatman-the-story-behind-the-lake-worth-monster/287-526680734

Seriously, there are probably a few options on the cats:

Very small population of an extremely elusive species that’s on brink of localized extinction. Even in relatively high density areas spotting certain wildlife is rare.

The travelers that came from somewhere else. As others have mentioned, coyotes have migrated east successfully. But they’ve also tracked roaming solo predators and they can really cover ground at times. Could be a one off..,

In the original post, released “pets” were also mentioned. That’s probably a bigger issue than we’d like to think. It’s a reptile problem in Florida certainly.

These 2 lynx fighting about sex seems like a good ad here:

https://www.livescience.com/62639-lynx-video-canada-yelling.html

[Devilwin]

I have fished rivers, lakes, seashores. Camped in wilderness areas. And, as common as black bears are, have only observed them twice while in the outdoors. Seen coyotes on several occasions, and numerous foxes. Bobcats three times. Never seen anything resembling a big cat like a puma, jaguar, or leopard. But...
Once several of us were hiking the Green Swamp near the little village of Supply, looking for signs of the very rare ivory billed woodpecker. This bird was rediscovered
in an Arkansas swamp after thought to be extinct for 60 years. Reports had come from the Green Swamp, so we were checking for signs.
As we made our way back to the car, we found some large tracks that were nearly as big as my hand. They were cat tracks, I believe, because they were more rounded than elongate like a canine, plus there were no claw indentations which would have ruled out cat if they were present, like a dog or fox. The thing was, this mystery beast seemed to turn toward where the vehicle was parked, walked around it, then followed our trail for about 200 yards before turning off into the forest..

[Devilwin]

Here are two photos of supposed big cats. Top cat to me is an ordinary feral house cat. Number two is a bobcat, I believe. What do you all think?
http://cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/newcat-pix09/