I live in west-central and Texas and am out in the pasture quite a bit. I have seen a black cougar/panther/whatever you want to call it twice in the last two years. I have found big cat tracks 3-4 inches tall several times this year where I have my animals. The tracks were within about a hundred yards of where I saw one last year. The other sighting was on another guy's place where I was working about 8 miles south of the tracks and the other sighting. I was curious if any of you guys have ever seen a black panther in west-central Texas. This is interesting to me because the tpwd and many of the guys that I was a field biologist (mammalogist) with will tell you that there are no black panthers out here. There are regular cougars, but they will hoorah you up and down that there are no black ones. All of the ranchers out here have game cameras but no one has ever got a picture of a black one. Of course, nobody that I have talked to has gotten a picture of a regular one, either. And actually, none of the cowboys, biologists, or hunters I know have ever seen a black one. So, I know that I am not that much more of a field guy than anyone else, or out in the pasture that much more than everybody else, but I can't figure out why I appear to be one of the few that has seen this thing. Now I have two statements to fend off potential questions. Yes, I know how to cut sign and, yes, I know the difference in cougar/bobcat/big dog tracks. Yes, I also know what cougars look like. Also, if you type in the google search terms 'black cougars' or 'black panthers' you get a whole variety of results that don't have anything to do with animals. Thanks.
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