My son and I have seen a big spotted looking cat in Little Caney on two different occasions. Probably weighed around 75lbs so I know it wasn't a house cat. I actually tried to take pics but they didn't come out good enough to actually see the cat. It was right on the bank in high weeds with houses within a couple hundred yards.

I have saw one of these around west texas before and my cuz has to on our farm in southern hill county http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/feliyago.htm

And alligators wow

Well, OK then - not wrong - GEEZ, this CAT wasn't that far from several houses along this creek bank. I have NO doubt now what I saw thanks to you guys confirming that they exist in the area. After the call we heard & then seeing it - no doubt in my mind it is a LARGE BLACK CAT, aka Black Panther (it was as black as the inside of your hat). Will post on the hunting forum, just to see what those boys have to say about it.

There isn't actually a "proven" black panther around here. As in never been one found and documented. Now there has been mountain lions that are black in color due to being Melanistic. I did alot of research on these cats as I also have seen one of these about 10 years ago when I was rabbit hunting one night and about had to change pants. We got such a good look at it that my buddy and I with Guns in hand left and went home. Very spooky thing to see at night when your on foot.

I was down at Choke Canyon a few years ago fishing the three fingers area. I was out on a point fishing a T-rig worm real slow. While I was doing that I was watching the boat in the cove in front of me and trying to decide if I should follow them into the cove or jump over them to the next point. Out of the corner of my eye I see something big moving along the edge of the tree line. It was a Mountain Lion stalking some ducks on the edge of the water. Much to my surprise, that big cat bolts for the water and tried to pounce on a duck. He missed, but I'm pretty sure the guy in the back of that boat in the cove, crapped his pants, since that cat was only about 50 feet from him when it hit the water. Couldn't believe what I just saw. Had a good laugh with the guys in that boat afterward. Mountain lion just walked out of the water an back into the trees as if we weren't even there. Was shocked at how close it was willing to get to humans. I guess my point, other than to share a neat story, is that when they're hungry, they get very bold. Wouldn't surprise me at all that what you saw was a panther or cougar.

Yes. There was a party this weekend where several black panthers were spotted.

But in all seriousness. We had some bobcats come through our RV park during the drought. Seemed like coyotes and all sorts of critters were coming out of the woods when everything dried up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cypron-Range_Panthera_onca.svg

Wikipedia says they have been out of the US for some time except around Tucson AZ. Of course they said the same thing about black bears in Iowa and they shot one there a few years back near my hometown.

Jaguarundi are extinct in all but four counties in the deep S. TX. brush country. And even then, they are very rare if not already extinct. I've never seen one and I spend a lot of time down there. I've seen two Ocelots in Webb County where there are an abundance of whitebrush thickets. What ya'll may have seen is either a juvenile Puma/Mountain Lion/Panther (the spotted one) or a melanistic version of the same thing in the case of the "black" ones. There are pumas all over the state (in all of the areas mentioned in this thread) and their range is expanding.

Any way you look at it there is a big kitty cat around the lake.

I saw a 70 lb weenie dog the other day

Panthers make a high pitch screeching noise, like a woman screaming.

I still have a stain in my drawers from a darned peacock I snuck up on at Lake Livingston a few years back. Talkin about loud!!!