Is it possible - ------

That someone owns a Black Panther up in Long branch creek on Lake Fork? Was in the McDonalds (so not drinking or anything, LOL) but just around surise but still pretty dark, my pard & I heard a rather weird pissed off cat call, you know, like you've heard angry cats before, but this one was real gutteral, and just a bit different, while fishing in Long Branch Creek.
Later, about 8:00AM, while fishing along and just enjoying a very beautiful East TX morning, movement catches my eye, and sure enough up in the woods, about 75 yards away, I see a HUGE Black cat just strolling along up in a cleared area towards the back of the creek. Now I've been doing this quite a few years, and have seen a good bit of wildlife, but this was a little different, as big as a dog, with a long tail sweeping the ground - this was NO housecat - at 75 yards away, was pretty clear it was alot BIGGER than any housecat.

Huh? Surely there isn't a Panther, Puma, Mountain Lion loose around this area.

Anyone with any knowledge of somebody owning one of these things there?

It's very possible there is a jaguar running loose with humans encroaching on its hunting range. IMO it probably came across the river from Mexico and has found a fertile food source. It might be getting its protein from ferrel hogs.

The ferrel hog thing plays into this pretty well I think, I was watching one of the DFW TV news broadcast a while back and they did a story about a study that TP&W had done on these big kitties and from that study they had determined that big kitties were in every county in Texas for the most part. I've actually seen one; mountain lion, here in Delta County while coming home from work in a place where I would have never thought to see something like that, a fairly populated area too......We have tons of ferrel hogs so a big kitty would have a never ending supply of food.......there have been several spotted up in Lamar County too just north of me....

There isn't a jaguar running around lake fork. And if there was it wouldn't be black.

I saw a huge black panther early one morning crossing the street on my way to Lake Texoma.

It was close to the dam in a low area creek, that is used for the spillway overflow.

Very large cat.

my daughter saw a panther/mountain lion/puma/big cat at Lake Tawokani & there have been other sightings there

colleyville had one years back. was hanging around the nature center running the creek bottoms.

I work in the oilfield about 75 mi south of Dallas and drive out in wild places a lot, anyway, I see them all the time .... sometimes 2-3 times a year.

They are not jaguars!

I call them mountain lions or Cougars, but the same cat is called a Panther or Puma

It could be a BassCat....just sayin'

Big cats and gators....you'd think this would help relieve just a little bit of pressure there on The Fork...

I've seen the yellow colored cat, and I have heard of people seeing the black ones.

They have a large territory...so I hear.

I saw one on caney creek a few years back, big cats have always been in the area, there populations are way down from years ago however.

In the 1800's they were pretty much wiped out as people hunted them to darn near extinction in Texas

not surprised. i hunt in anderson county and have seen two mountian lions there. i have also seen one in cooke county. my friend lives by lake texoma and has seen one a few times there it almost killed both his dogs one night. i have herd of black ones in east texas but i have never personally seen a black one.

BIGFOOT!

Lol post this on the hunting forum, you will definitely get answers!!

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!!!

Had a guy at the deer lease a few years back come in to camp claiming to have shot a big black mountain lion. He said felt as though it was hit good but did not want to search for it alone. 8 of us in camp grab pistols and flash lights and go back with him to get his trophy mountain lion. We get to his stand he leads us to where the lion was and when we get there a five pound black ferel cat with a bullet hole right in the chest was the only thing we found. The guy said the lion must have been carring the cat in its mouth because no way he mistaken that cat for a lion. The guy got so pi$$ed off at all the laughing he packed up and left never to return.

Neighbor saw one on the back of my place (tan though) and I don't live far from the lake. I also have a friend who has video of a male and then a mom with cubs that he took during bow season a few years back- this was on the Sabine, again not that far from the lake. We have also taken bobcats while duckhunting on fork so a big cat would be no surprise ..

Not sure about black panthers but there was a mountain lion in Sacse a few years back. Someone caught her on video with two cubs with her. I'll see if I can find the video.

yes

Chupacabra

Back in 99 I was going to work one morning and one ran out in front of me about 75yards in front of me. It was in a creek bottom where it crossed. That location now is very close to where the new Lake Naconiche is located. About 2 days later one of my co-workers who lived real close to where I had seen it cross said he was walking along a pipe line and he looked across the pipeline when he saw the cat. He said he has never been as scared in his life.

A lot of people say they don't exist but I have seen them numerous times. I am not familiar with east Texas but I have hunted varmits all over west Texas and have seen many black cats and have killed some mountain lions. I have never had a shot a black one but would love to kill one

Its been about 10 years but we had a Jaguarundi on our deer lease in Concho County about 5 miles from lake O.H Ivie. And we also had mountain lions, Didnt see them very often but it was a sight to see.

In the early 90's I did a lot of hunting and fishing in the bottoms southeast of Fork, we saw a lot of "Pumas" back then, so I would guess there are some around fork

I have seen a cougar( also none as a puma,mountian lion,panther) close to Celina. It looked black but the grass was wet .

Love the black panther sighting stories. Every Year guys say they see them, but not one has ever been killed or trapped. One would think that after 1000's of big cats have been killed and 1000's upon 1000's have been seen that at least one black one would get killed. Can you say BIG FOOT.

Wish you were there. Your tune would be different I'm sure.

+1

Big foot is real. I have seen it. Other guys on here have too but they wont say...Aint that right fellas?

Its the Chupacabra

I saw a black panther when I went to vote. Tried to get me to vote democrat but it did not work.

Yes those big cats are supposed to be gone. In 1998 I had one messing around my place in California. Big ole cougar. I saw him 3 times and my wife once. They're supposed to be gone out there too. Tell that to the joggers who were attacked out there in the 90's. They were protected out there then and were not scared. I've never seen one out here, but have no doubt there here. Theres a ton of deer and hogs right here in the metroplex, and you know the big cats are here too.

We have seen one at our lease a couple of times in Breckenridge

The railroad runs through my family's property . I grew up hearing the screams and have seen a large dark-colored cat (better than 40 pounds) on the tracks .

There are some mountain lions around but they do not posses any gene for a black melanistic phase like jaguars do. It was most likely wet. I used to know a woman who raised them. We used to take our deer and hog carcasses to her to feed them. They will appear very dark when they are wet. Pretty cool animals.

I have seen a cougar on Granbury East of Hwy 51 bridge. It was about 100 yards from houses. I watched a bobcat on Ray Roberts across the lake from state park for about 15 minutes. It made the pictures posted by Cameron look like scrawny house cats.

a few years ago i read about two adult cougars on 1604 around the Seaworld area in San Antonio................ in the city limits there were cougars.! an in Seguin TX there is a lady having problems loosing her calfs an finding them half eaten in the trees an she has them on game cameras walking around and dragging a calf in a picture as well so i would not be surprised that a black panther or black cougars are out there. been seeing more an more albino an really dark almost black white tail deer lately too so you never know

I see alot of cougars. Mostly at the Kroger in Flower Mound, also at the pilates place over there...Full of Cougars!

Seriously mountain lions are very shy, require very large home ranges and 1% of them will come in black. The odds of seeing one are slim. A black one?? Like winning the lotto.

Not saying you all have not seen one. Its possible, also possible folks mistake large house cats for black cougars.

May have been an Ocelot.

LOL

Probably Jaguarundi, I saw one around lampasas mid 2000's

Chupucabra or Coatimundi. 8 year old post! You guys have too much time on your hands.

You mean Uncle Harry?

You very well could have seen a mt lion. But you did not see a black panther.

They did that in 2012

YEP. No such thing exists.

Melanistic jaguars are known to be seen just north of the Mexico border from time to time. But they are actually spotted and so dark they look black. Not likely that one has been seen in Texas because they are so rare. There are numerous mountain lion sightings all over the state recently.

Here’s what TPW says....

https://youtu.be/USYeXLJuh-I

We have some clear footage of a cougar/mountain lion/puma.....on surveillance cameras that frequented the football stadium at Glen Rose High School several years ago late at night. They are absolutely here. Few, elusive and nocturnal but they are here. In the Big Bend area they have gone from rare to problematic. Black Panther? Naw. Lots of theories available though: https://texashillcountry.com/jaguarundis-mystery-black-panther/

Years ago I had one cross the road in front of me Just prior to the bridge on Hwy 19 at Lake Fork Creek. I am certain it was a mountain line and saw it clear as day. This was back in the Mid 80's.

I took this pic in July in the Ft Worth Sanctuary on Lake Worth ...The Sanctuary had been closed to the public for several months because of Covid and I jumped on shore for break in the shade . There was a ton of wildlife evidence on the hiking trail including several of these tracks....you tell me.. I have no doubt.

Well I’ll tell my story now too. Saw one years ago back home in Brazoria county hog hunting one night. No doubt cougar. Was only about 30 yards away and had a very long tail.

I saw another one about a month ago crossing 155 between Tyler and Frankston. I about fell over. Saw him inside 100 yards from the truck and he crossed the entire width of the right of way. That must be 150 yards. I pulled over to watch him. Pretty amazing animals.

I saw one on cr 1813 around 2010 which is not real far from there as thecat runs.
And saw another crossing fm 514 about 3 years ago.

I have put down many coyotes with mange. Some were purple, and the only hair on their body was up by their nose. From a distance might look similar..

Here is a stock photo from google. This one still has some hair, but when they loose it all they look like very strange..



Prosise

A coyote will, at times, produce a very loud "screaming" sound

Large dog

No black panther, no.