[Horsesense]

http://www.corbinnewsjournal.com/index.php?fn=stories&front=Array&detail=1202395149

Is this a picture of a 'panther'?

This is close to home. :uhoh:

[Tommygunn]

That is such a poor picture it could be any housecat. Or panther. Or mountain lion. Or photoshop. It seems silhouhetted so I can't really be sure it is really black or that it appears that way due to lighting.
Where my mother lives there are occassional sightings of large cats. Not housecats; it's a little unerving, but they don't seem to like getting too close to people.

[Bob R]

Looks like an indistinct pictue of something.

Could be a sasquatch down on all fours. Pretty sure it isn't a yeti, they are white.


bob

[Double Naught Spy]

The problem with such pictures is that there is nothing of known scale by which to guage the size of the animal. So it could easily be a house cat and you would not know from the image because there isn't a scale to judge by.

[3pairs12]

I think it looks like panther. It seems to have longer tail than most house cats. It also looks like it is taken from quit a distance with a poor camera which suggests to me it could be a sizable cat.

[Geronimo45]

Well... a week/month ago, people were saying a lion or some such big cat was running around in West Virginia. I suppose he might've crossed the border.

[keyboard commando]

I have a daughter that lives in the area (Whitley county).Panthers are seen and heard there by many,but not a common occurance.:scrutiny:

[Spyvie]

I'm pretty sure that's the Loch Ness monster.

My mom, who is not a fool, and who grew up in Montana, and who hunted regularly during her childhood, swears she saw a lion (Puma, cougar, whatever) in her back yard in Englewood, Co. (suburban Denver) There have been confirmed reports of lions in the city before, but I still tease her about getting glasses, and she gets pretty mad and still swears it was a lion

[Gunnerpalace]

Might be,

Here in MI with panthers the 3 S's are followed (shoot shovel and shut up) we are going through a debacle with the DNR who says there are none here when there is evidence to the contrary.

It's also worth noting in Mississippi there are reports of one these so when a guy asked their DNR if he could shoot it the DNR said "You cant they are protected" which prompted him to say "If they are not in this state then why are they protected?".

[lee n. field]

Where my mother lives there are occassional sightings of large cats

Likewise here, in NW Illinois.

[TCB in TN]

Saw a couple of tan panthers here in Middle TN when I was a kid 14 years old, had a bunch of folks say I must have just seen a big bob cat and I didn't know the difference (that was even AFTER I had killed a couple of bob cats):rolleyes:, but since there were NO panthers here I was mistaken. Not to long after that a buddy of mine's uncle was having some bear problems (run his dog off his food bowl, getting into the garbage kinda stuff), and the TWRA folks just laughed because there were NO bears here. But then he took a picture of it eating out of the dogs bowl in his back yard and then they took him a little more seriously.

Outline of the pic does look like a big cat, with a heavy body and a very long tail, but as was mentioned above the lack of objects to use for size comparison negates any real study.

I was watching Monster Quest a few weeks back and they had a video from West Va that did have some good stuff in the frame for size comparison and concluded that the cat had a body in excess of 2 feet long, which is about double that of the average house cat, and a long thick tail, in the video the cat's features sure seemed to be those of a small panther rather than a house cat, so it would not seem to be as improbable occurance as it would first seem.

[Mr.Brown16]

Why is it every time this kinda stuff gets out its such a bad picture.
Forget photoshop its so bad you could do it in paint.

[TCB in TN]

I have begun to get more into photography over the last few years, and honestly unless you get into good equipment you will get far more poor pics, than you will good one. The first few digital camera's that I owned or used were NOT very good unless you were COMPLETELY still and the light was correct, those elements seem to be missing in most instances like this. Now with better equipment you have a wider margin of error, but again how often do you even HAVE a camera with you when something odd happens, much less it being witnessed by someone who is a skilled photographer with good quality equipment?

Last year we invested in a very nice mid level amature camera (sunk about $1500 in body and lense) and so now the quality of the pics I take has increased, but then again I do not always have it with me, and even if I did I might not have either the time or remember to get it out and use it.

[GRB]

:what:I'm pretty sure that's the Loch Ness monster.:what:

[Vityaz]

Here in WV both my parents have seen mountain lions on seperate occasions. I've occasionally found tracks too.

Seems every couple years or so someone will report seeing an African lion around. I think this past deer season someone said they were hunting out of a blind and a big male came up to it.

[Sav .250]

A Black "Panther" to boot. You would think more people would have seen this BLACK panther, as where is he/she going to hide?
If it`s seen again, doubters will become believers. Course, it just might be a
pussy cat seen through the lens of a old box-camera. Time will tell.

[Myles]

I grew up and lived many years in rural Florida, and know what a panther looks like.

Contrary to what the game and wildlife officials here in NC say, I've seen one here, right in my back yard. After living here a few years, one of the local old-timers told me yes, that stretch on that side of the mountain has lions.

I know which authority I will believe.

Personally, I have no doubt that the cougar population has migrated more widely than is advertised. Big cats have big brains, and you are likely to see one only by accident or happenstance.

[Cmdr. Gravez0r]

I have a friend who does professional hunting/game control all through North and South Carolina, he says once in a while he hears about 'em too. I guess there's still stretches of wilderness around big enough for 'em.

[neal7250]

We also have them here in upstate SC. I saw a picture of one of the cubs, that was estimated at around 90 lbs

[redneck2]

Maybe 10-15 years ago, one of the locals here said he saw a bobcat. Everybody pretty much laughed it off until one was caught in a leg trap.

20 years ago there were no coyotes. Now they're common.

As noted above, there have been sightings of cougars in southern Michigan maybe 40 miles from me.

[Ske1etor]

We have heard them in the Jena, Louisiana area and seen a few cat tracks that were possibly too large to be bobcats but no sightings or picture proof of them...

[che_70b]

Kentucky abnormalities is a major hobby of mine :) I actuall have a website ( www.myspace.com/kentuckyforteansociety ) that I use to post and collect stories about things in Ky.*

I have gotten more resonses from people about black panthers that anything else. I actually have an uncle that had one walk across the road in front of him in the middle of the afternoon. The Dept. of Fish and Wildlife even discussed them on their question and answear show that Tim Farmer does from time to time. They said that they had no proof of their existance at this time (no bodies or pics from their trail cams in any of the wildlife maintainance areas) but that they got frequent reports of other people seeing them. They also said that they would be considered an exoctic in the state of Ky and that it would be legal to shoot one since exotics are not protected. They would be happy to have a body to examine.

* I make no claims to the authenticity of the reports I recieve unless I can authenticate them myself, I just collect the stories.

[1911NM]

Chupacabra :scrutiny:

[1911 guy]

Or so says U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

There are also no bears in Ohio. Until a woman in Brimfield hit one with a Chevy Corsica.

I don't know what's in the picture (link didn't work for me) but my family originally comes from Quincy, Ky. and there are too many stories of big snakes and black cats to call it all hokum.

I have seen a rattlesnake that stretched from bumper to bumper of a 1978 Cadillac. Its skin is habging over my uncle Allens' couch in his living room in Garrison, Ky. There are weird things out there that game depts. don't admit to.

[Art Eatman]

"Black panthers" are cougars with a high melanin content. Actually, they're a very dark brown. We've had a few daylight sightings in my general area...

My wife knows what cougars look like, on account of the hide that's draped across the back of the Terlingua couch. Near her house in south Georgia (we have two "micro-empires"), she's had two occasions to see a very dark variety of cougar.

[B.D. Turner]

I know for a fact that we have big cats in North Carolina. In 2003 I was a small town police chief. Another officer and I rode out of town to check on a crack house in Duplin County. On the way out he was playing with the cars alley lights as we saw deer almost every night in the fields around town. We were driving along checking out the fields when a big black cat was seen about 40 yards across a cow pasture. When the light hit the cat it stopped and looked at us over his right shoulder. The other officer yelled "oh crap what's that!!?" I hit the brakes and we got a good look at a cat that was well over four feet long walking across the field. I backed up and tried to keep him in the light but he turned and ran away from us. Both of us are avid hunters and have seen everything that lives in the woods around here and neither have ever seen anything like the big cat we saw that night.

[wheelgunslinger]

As long as I've been deer hunting and backpacking/hiking in western NC, I've been seeing tracks. Twice I've seen them. Once, standing stock still until I made it and it disappeared over a ridge quietly, and once I saw that big puffy tail disappearing behind a tree.

Recently, I heard one yowling at the end of the drive at night.

In Boone, people have been hearing them for years in the backcountry.

I've been documenting their history and upsurge of sightings for quite some time. I have a special interest in them. They're pretty incredible animals.

[conwict]

In Boone, people have been hearing them for years in the backcountry.

I lived 45-60 min away from Boone and once left the house in the middle of the night without telling anyone. I hiked onto a ridge with two dogs; my parents live in a rather remote area, about 20 minutes away from even a gas station.

I had a great time just staring at the stars on top of the mountain, and you could see for 50-70 miles all the lights on the other side of the ridge. I hiked down the mountain and just as I should have been getting back on the road toward home I noticed I could still see lights. I had taken the wrong trail, and was headed down the other side of the mountain.

About that time I heard a strange noise, like a deer in pain. It stopped rather suddenly and then I heard a hellacious, scary deep-throated mewling. The mewling continued as I picked up a large stick and humped it back to the ridge, where there was (at the time) an old apple orchard co-op building where 30-60 years before, people would make cider and process the apples.

I holed up in there with a brick, glass bottle, and the big stick until one of my dogs got in the building with me, then waited and waited...the noise got very close then stopped. I waited some more and, trembling, made my way home. Total hike was probably about seven miles.

I really learned a lesson that night. My parents realized I had left, but my mom heard the house creak and thought I was home. This was about 90 min before I really got home! I could have gotten mauled and no one would have known until the morning, and even then wouldn't have known where to look.

I definitely think big (and this thing sounded VERY big...I have heard bob cats and plenty of other animals, this wasn't something small) cats exist and should be watched for.

[conwict]

I should also add that the dog, while obviously spooked, was very protective. This dog wouldn't have behaved that way over, say, a bobcat. I maintain that I was probably being stalked...I think the thing got within 80 yards of me.

[bigdee]

Looks a lot like he just crawled from a coal mine. Might be going on a wildcat strike.I have heard tales from people in east Tennessee about panters but they never offered pictures, nice post.

[bigdee]

All joking aside some people i know keep puma's as pets. It's not impossable that the subject of the picture could have been or is some big cat lovers pet or former pet.A ninty pound cat makes a "GREAT" guard dog.

[351 WINCHESTER]

I've told my kids and their friends that there are things in the woods that will kill and eat you. I've lived in Fl for over 50 years and have seen at least 3 cougars (one was very dark brown).

[savetheclaypigeons]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/04/uk_wear_ing_your_heart_on_your_sleeve/img/4.jpg



:confused::confused:

[wheelgunslinger]

conwict, you probably had that cat right on your six.

When I spend time in the rockies, I used to enjoy going out to watch the stars and such. still do. But, most of the time, I can backtrack where I or someone else walked and see Cougar tracks where it was following.

Cougars are deadly silent here in the east with all the ground cover to mask their footfalls, and tracks are pretty hard to see too. The only tracks I've ever seen were at watering holes. This makes them hard to spot and harder to photograph. Though, if you suspect one is around, you can employ game cameras to photograph the subject.

[Redfactor]

I'm surprised nobody else has proposed this explanation yet:

It could very well be an escaped exotic pet.

Exotic cat pets are quite popular and easy to obtain in the U.S. assuming you have the thousands of dollars they cost. I wouldn't be surprised if the owner just refuses to go to the authorities because the pets are against local laws. The fines / penalties that are sure to be slapped on the owner if caught could prevent him/her from alerting authorities of the situation.

If you realize just how many exotic big cats are kept as private pets in the U.S., then you'd be a fool to rule it out without some thought.

Check this out: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0816_020816_EXPLcats.html

[B.D. Turner]

There are all kinds of big cat stories around the Wilmington NC area. In 1953-1954 there was a beast killing livestock in Bladen County NC that could crush the skulls of a calf. People from all over the country came to track this unknown animal but it was never found.

[elrod]

They exist in the remote river swamps of central Alabama. I saw one over 40 years ago. Had a witness with me, never said much to anyone out of my circle of friends, what with the naysayers and all..........:uhoh::eek::uhoh:

[RNB65]

Wampus cat.

:D

[AL9426]

Shes probobbly right, I go to Irvine, Kentucky every summer and I've seen one twice. The first time we saw one running across my grandfathers tobacco field and the second time was when we were fishing on Station Camp Creek and we saw it running away from the banks toward the woods.

[Art Eatman]

Ain't no always, but generally: A cougar's kill style is to attack from behind, knock the prey off balance and try for the throat. The teeth can penetrate the jugular and aorta; the grip can crush the windpipe.

Human beings, having short necks, commonly have wounds to the face and/or head.

[coorsdrifter]

People have been 'seeing' panthers in Ky for decades.

[Redfactor]

I'm looking for some clarification please - when y'all say 'panthers' you're referring to cougars/mountain lions/pumas, right? I think it's a regional thing.

... silly easterners ... it's the pop vs. soda debate all over again :P

[che_70b]

Probably so Redfactor. Keep in mind that here in the south east we are not suppose to have either cougar or panthers. When people see big black cats the first thing they think of is Panthers. I do find it interesting that in areas where there are not suppose to be big cats like this there are far more sightings of black cats than more common color variants.

[Double Naught Spy]

When people see big black cats the first thing they think of is Panthers. I do find it interesting that in areas where there are not suppose to be big cats like this there are far more sightings of black cats than more common color variants.

Yes, imagine that, the one cat they tend to see most is the rarest variety. I wonder why.

Of course, they see a lot of Bigfoot as well.

[Art Eatman]

All those names refer to the same animal. Yeah, it's pretty much a regional thing and is thus pretty much unimportant. Panther seems to be moe of an eastern usage. Cougar seems more common in the Rockies and the Northwest. Puma seems to be more of a literary usage. Generally, in Texas, it's mountain lion, and locally in my area it's jus lion.

No big deal...

The biologists say that the Florida panther is a sub-species, but even so it can interbreed with panthers from other parts of the country. Since the numbers are low in Florida and there is concern for inbreeding and continued viability of the species, some cross-breeding programs have been instituted there. (To be snarky, Florida panthers must not be real smart. Many have been killed by cars.)

[SlipperyShooter]

My vote is for "poor picture of a distant black house cat."

Posture looks like a small domestic not a wild predator...........

[Vern Humphrey]

All my life I've heard people claim there are "panthers" or mountian lions in the Ozarks, and didn't really believe it. A few years back, one was killed inside the city limits in North Little Rock> The Arkansas Fish and Game explanation is, "It's someone's pet that escaped."

Now, if they admitted it was a wild mountain lion, the Endangered Species Act would require then to take all sorts of expensive and undesirable actions -- so they maintain that position, whether it is right or wrong.

Then about a month or so ago, as I was heading out at dusk to pick up a load of hay, and animal darted across the county road, full in the beams of my headlights. It was about the size of a deer, with about the same gray coloration -- but it was a cat with a looooong tail.

You tell me what it was.

[coelacanth]

MY whole family is from Kentucky. Have been for generations. Farmers mostly with a few ner-do-wells, adventurers and crackpots thrown in for good measure. My great, great, great grandfather was married in the settlement of Yellowbanks (now known as Owensboro) on the Ohio river in 1804. His family settled about ten miles south of there on a major tributary of the Ohio which came to be known as Panther Creek. The surrounding wetlands came to be known as the Panther Creek bottoms. My great grandparents were still losing livestock to the cats in the late 1800's. The numbers decreased over time as the country became more populated but there were still occasional incidents of predation in my grandparents time and it was common to see the tracks and hear the occasional coughing snarl of the panther on a trip across the bottoms to visit neighbors or relatives. In the 1930's the CCC and the WPA undertook an ambitious drainage project through that part of the country which dried up a fair portion of the bottoms and yielded a lot of good farmland. This about finished off the local cats except for a rare sighting. However many of them remained were wary as hell and I never saw more than a blur of motion at the edge of my vision but the track confirmed what it was as surely as my track confirmed my existence. The only incidents regarding humans took place on two occasions I can remember clearly. A neighbor had a pretty good pack of 'coon dogs and they loved to run 'coons in the bottoms after dark so he and a couple of hunting buddies waited for the dogs to tree their quarry when it became clear that something was very bad wrong. They said the hounds' braying became a frantic howling mixed with yelps of pain and by the time they got to where the dogs were they could smell the blood.
Two dogs were down and dying and four more had wounds that took weeks to heal. Apparently they had treed the 'coon in the same tree the panther was in and he dropped down in the middle of that pack of dogs like a furry tornado. Another incident very similar to that occured two years later in 1962. I left that country in 1978 and moved to Arizona and have hunted, fished, hiked and gold panned all over this magnificent state. I had to wait until I was here to see my first mountain lion or "panther" as they are known in Kentucky. The same movement I had barely glimpsed in the thick woods of Panther Creek bottoms was clearly displayed in the open country here. The tracks were the same in damp ground. Are there still panthers in the wild parts of Kentucky? I wouldn't bet against it.

[paintballdude902]

myles im a ways away from u my brother in law shot one 2 years ago but fish and game said it must have been an escaped pet

[Vern Humphrey]

My position is I'd shoot it and then have it stuffed. If Fish and Game made any noise, I'd point out it must be someone's escaped pet -- which is their official position -- and I'm holding the critter for the owners to claim. If they can positively identify it and after they pay me for the damage it did to my livestock.

Until then, it stays in my living room.:p

[Vern Humphrey]

My position is I'd shoot it and then have it stuffed. If Fish and Game made any noise, I'd point out it must be someone's escaped pet -- which is their official position -- and I'm holding the critter for the owners to claim. If they can positively identify it and after they pay me for the damage it did to my livestock.

Until then, it stays in my living room.:p

[stiab]

In 1953-1954 there was a beast killing livestock in Bladen County NC
Ah, yes! The Bladenboro Beast, I remember it well.

[che_70b]

Vern, the Dept of fish and wildlife in Ky says they would be a legal shoot as an "exotic"

[Vern Humphrey]

I think that's the way it would go here, too. But it's never been tested in court. As I see it, the worst they could do would be to try to confiscate the pelt, which I could stop by claiming it as seized property in trust for an unpaid debt.

[lacoochee]

I live in Florida and we still do have panthers, however they are not supposed to be in my area (Pasco County) but I keep seeing large cat tracks (twice the size of my retrievers paws) in the Green Swamp and along the Withlacoochee headwaters area. A young panther was killed a couple of years ago on I-4 and it was headed north at the time.

I have also lately noticed claw marks 4 and 5 feet up rotten trees and smashed logs, black bears? Needless to say I now carry a .357 loaded with FMJ when I am hiking and camping there and the dog now stays home.

Honestly, I don't know how I feel about it, it's not like we don't have enough predators with a million plus alligators living everywhere there is a little water. At least you could hike through the woods for the most part without worrying about them as long as you stayed away from their holes.

[41magsnub]

This reminds me of a hilarious incident at a Microsoft training at a Bed and Breakfast outside of Denver several years ago. We had been warned about possible Mountain Lions in the area and to not go hiking alone.

I'm sitting on the deck studying and two attendees from some big city or another come running as fast as they can out of the woods having just walked into the screaming about a Mountain Lion. Not 30 seconds later the B&B owners cat saunters out from behind them and up to the house.

[Carl N. Brown]

Tales of panthers in the hills of East Tennessee were common
in the late 1950s, early sixties. I do suspect there were more
tales than panthers though.

[punchdrunk]

We don't have the big cats here. The aliens eat em up quick as they get imported from Kentucky.

[Art Eatman]

No, Carl; "More tales than tails."

[westcoastr]

its the Loc Ness

[Urbana John]

I'll lived in central Ohio all my life, and believe for a FACT that there are cougars in Logan and Hardin Counties.
40 plus yrs ago,me and 2 buddies got "stuck" in an old sugar camp across from where St. Rt. 347 and St. Rt. 33 "intersected". After we agreed to get help at first light, we started hearing "very strange nosies" cat like for sure close for sure!!!
Well we slept in the truck,,doors locked and windows up. Next morning we get help from the closest farmer with a tractor,,,,,tell him our situation and he asks us---------IF WE HEARD THE BIG CAT LAST NIGHT!!!!
He says he hears them all the time and keeps his young livestock "locked" in the barn at night.

5 or 6 yrs ago, while camping at Salisbury Lake just west of Kenton, daughter and SIL were "cat fishing" late at night and came running back to camp, swearing that they saw "glowing eyes" and heard low "cat growling" noises. The next morning others campers asked if we heard the "large cat"!!!

With all "their" territory being bought up and houses everywhere----"wild critters" gotta move somewhere!!!

Hell the BEST places to go hunting are all the Metro Parks around Columbus!!
More squirrels, rabbits, and deer than you can shake a stick at, and most will "eat out of your hand"!!

Raccoons at Delaware State Park are AWESOME about 6pm during the summer!!

UJ

[icebones]

i live in southern/central Ky, but a cougar sighting dosent bother me that much, cougar, black panther, mountain lion, or bobcat, they all fall to the .45

anyway that picture kinda reminds me of the bigfoot footage:D

[22-rimfire]

For years, they said there were no Black Bears in Eastern KY. Now there are plenty. The picture is not great, but it would not surprise me in the least that a mountain lion/cougar/panther migrated into the remote Eastern KY region. There are sightings in the Blue Ridge area, and Eastern KY is not that far away and pretty rugged and rural, especially some parts.

[koja48]

Sorry, Art, but I must disagree . . . a coug would rather bite thru the BACK OF THE NECK, into the spine (hence their preference for attacking mule deer from above). I'll agree they are widespread, come in a variety of color phases, and are extremely stealthy & sneaky. Judging from the pic, I can honestly say that the subject in the photo was feline & black.

[jimbeam]

There are a few hybrids, crosses between housecats and jungle cats, that look like small black cougars. They are called chelsies, and can weigh around 35 lbs., I beleive. They have very fussy digestive tracts and if not fed properly make quite a mess, resulting in their release. Supposed to be a few in Illinois and Florida. People buy them to have a realistic looking wild cat, not just as large.

[Well-Armed Lamb]

(To be snarky, Florida panthers must not be real smart. Many have been killed by cars.)

I've had the opportunity to read several post-mortem reports on Florida panthers that were found dead. A surprising number appeared to have been killed fighting with other Florida panthers. Ornery suckers -- no sense of solidarity.

[strutnrut1984]

hard to tell with the picture quality. i live in cougar country and judging by the posture id say good chance it is a panther

[Dksimon]

It looks like it has a fairly heavy body but you cant make any real determinations due to the poor quality of the picture.

[Regolith]

I don't know. Looks like a house cat to me. Very short face and the posture just doesn't look right. Hard to say though since it's such a bad picture. And as others have said, black is a fairly rare coloring for mountain lions/pumas/panthers.

Never seen one in the wild, but I've come across their tracks and scat while hunting. Even in Nevada, where they have almost a year round season on them, it's rare to see them out and about.

[DWARREN123]

Unless they are doing something bad leave them alone. They be independents and are not Democrats or Repubicans!:D

They are part of our world, take care and enjoy them. The stories about them are entertaining.

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

http://www.outdooroddities.com/2008/03/14/game-cam-captures-dramatic-moment-of-big-cat-stalking-a-deer/

[Double Naught Spy]

Wow, so many identifications, many with some good reasoning and confidence levels, and yet they don't all jive. I am not sure how anyone can make a decent determination of whether the blurry black cat-like object that has no scale for relative size can actually be determined to be on type of cat or another. I also like the comments about posture and how the cat carries itself being used to make the ID. It is a still photo. You don't know if the cat was stationary at the time of the image or moving. If moving, then the cat is caught in mid stride and can be within a who range of motion that may make it resemble something it isn't for that frame.

Heck, from what I can see, it is a one-eared cat. Does that mean anything? Sure. It means it is a crappy photo at an angle that makes it look like one ear is missing.

Not a clear image of a 'cat' in unknown motion context with no scale = NO positive ID

[poker88]

http://http://www.kmbc.com/news/16369255/detail.html


Panther Shot, Killed After Attacking Home

[Carl N. Brown]

Pulling that newspaper into a graphics program and
tweaking it a bit, I find:
- the mythological Chimera
- the legendary Chupacabra
- the dread spawn of the infamous Rorshach Test.
http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=79046&stc=1&d=1211938696
What do you see in that picture?

[Art Eatman]

Attack from above? Back of neck. Attack from in front? Hmmm. From above or from behind, I'd guess, is probably more common, although most human encounters in BBNP seem to be face-to-face. The one attack-for-food of which I know in BBNP left serious head and facial wounds on the six-year-old child.

I only know of two lion/deer encounters which were recent enough to figure out what happened. A hunter killed a buck which had claw-mark wounds just in front of the hips, where the lion had attacked from behind but landed too far back and the buck escaped. (The deer's nose had been driven into the ground hard enough to break the lower jawbone; the deer thus was on his way to starvation.) The back of the neck would have been the logical target.

The other case was a friend finding the remains of a dead buck down in Long Draw; the scene had blood "scattered all over the canyon walls". While the buck was mostly eaten, it was clear that the throat had been pretty well chewed--and the back of the neck probably wouldn't bleed as the scene described.

"What do you see in that picture?"

Well, reminds me of a Rohrshach inkblot.

[Double Naught Spy]

Yep, it is obvious from the enhanced version of the images that it is an extremely short-legged one-eared feline with a beard like a jake turkey. This identification is further verified by the obvious posture, gait, and expression on its face. The smell is also a good give-away too.

[Ridgerunner665]

I'm sure they are there....they are here too.

I haven't actually laid eyes on one in nearly 20 years...but I see their tracks often.

[Ridgerunner665]

Tales of panthers in the hills of East Tennessee were common
in the late 1950s, early sixties. I do suspect there were more
tales than panthers though.

You should get out more often... I live in Surgoinsville.

I killed a panther on Bays Mountain in 1988...I was riding my mule on the backside of the mountain (not in the park...but almost) it was about to pounce on me from the top of an old abandoned shed thats back there.
I still ride there often...and I still see their tracks. Plenty of bears back in those hills too.

I shot that panther, cougar, mountain lion (whichever you want to call it) with a Marlin 30-30.

EDIT TO ADD: If it hadn't been for my mule (Tobe)...that cat would have had me, because I would have never seen him. The mule knew he was there...and those big radar antenna ears pointed me in the right direction.