#1938395 - 05/25/10 04:20 PM
Re: Why don't people believe that it happens??????
[Re: BSK]
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bowriter
Non-Typical
Registered: 08/31/02
Posts: 40303
Loc: Lebanon,TN USA
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We actually have an expert on this site. His name is Othmar Vohinger. He is an animal behavorist and worked most of life with big cats. He goes by Hunwriter. I would like to hear his opinion if that is a cat.
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#1939003 - 05/26/10 12:31 AM
Re: Why don't people believe that it happens??????
[Re: bowriter]
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huntwriter
4 Point
Registered: 10/10/05
Posts: 354
Loc: BC, Canada
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Are we talking about the black cat in the picture on this thread?
If so then I have my doubts that this is a black panther.
A black panther is exactly the same as a leopard, both are of the same species and the family of panthera pardus. The only difference is the colour, which is a freak of nature. A spotted leopard couple can have one or several black coloured in the litter and two black leopards can have spotted offspring in their litter. In fact if one is to look closely a black leopard is not really black but a very deep shade of brown and the black spots (rosettes)are clearly visible.
Leopards can live and survive almost anywhere in the world from the deserts of Africa to the tropics of India and to the perma frost of Siberia and even in the inhospitable Himalayas. There are about 15 subspecies of leopards each perfectly adapted to the environment they call home. So theoretically wild leopards could live and survive in North America too, so could lions and tigers.
Why then do I have my doubts? Although it is not a good quality picture I can see very clearly that the cat lacks all the typical proportions of a leopard. For a leopard the cat is to stout built and the tail is to short. The cat looks more like a jaguar but jaguars have shorter tails then the cat in the image. It also could be a overly fat leopard that escaped a zoo, circus or park. However, it surly would have been allover the news. The escaped leopard quickly would have lost weight and looked like a leopard again. In fact it would be questionable if he could survive for more than a month. Despite what some people may think, a leopard, like all predators have to learn to hunt from their parents because they are not born with that skill.
The cat is not a cougar either because there are no black cougars in existence anywhere no matter what anyone may have been told to the contrary.
What I outlined above is based on what I have seen in the image and on my professional knowledge about big cats.
Edited by huntwriter (05/26/10 12:34 AM)
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"Wouldn’t it be wise for us to be more tolerant of each other and pick our battles with the ones that really threaten our way of life?"
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#1939004 - 05/26/10 12:43 AM
Re: Why don't people believe that it happens??????
[Re: huntwriter]
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huntwriter
4 Point
Registered: 10/10/05
Posts: 354
Loc: BC, Canada
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I looked at the picture again and I think it may be a house cat.
Why? It appears that the cat was photographed on uphill angle. The photographer was at a lower elevation then the cat. This would make the cat appear much larger then it actually is. It also would make the cat appear larger in relation to the background. The physical appearance of the cat resembles that of a house cat much closer than that of any big cat with exception of the jaguar but they do not have such long tails.
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"Wouldn’t it be wise for us to be more tolerant of each other and pick our battles with the ones that really threaten our way of life?"
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#1939097 - 05/26/10 07:41 AM
Re: Why don't people believe that it happens??????
[Re: huntwriter]
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stik
TnDeer Old Timer
16 Point
Registered: 03/12/99
Posts: 18427
Loc: lenoir city,tn
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there ARE big cats in tennessee. we hear them most everytime we hunt in roane co.
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#1939138 - 05/26/10 08:27 AM
Re: Why don't people believe that it happens??????
[Re: stik]
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huntwriter
4 Point
Registered: 10/10/05
Posts: 354
Loc: BC, Canada
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there ARE big cats in tennessee. we hear them most everytime we hunt in roane co.
For most laymen it is hard to recognize the sound of a big cat, unless it the roar of a male lion. On the other hand leopards and cougars most often make sounds just like your ordinary house cat.
How do you know the sound you hear is from a big cat. What does it sound like?
Edit: I just wanted to add something for consideration about cat sounds.
House cats in heat or fighting with each other can make truly frightening hissing and snarling sounds that would put any leopard or cougar to shame.
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"Wouldn’t it be wise for us to be more tolerant of each other and pick our battles with the ones that really threaten our way of life?"
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#1939322 - 05/26/10 11:29 AM
Re: Why don't people believe that it happens??????
[Re: huntwriter]
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Bigg'un4214
8 Point
Registered: 05/10/04
Posts: 2394
Loc: east tn
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Stik probably hunts near Tiger Haven. They have numerous big cats. One is African lion that was being kept behind a 6' board fence less that 1/4 mile from a school.
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Tennessee roots over 200 years deep and growing.....
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#1939330 - 05/26/10 11:40 AM
Re: Why don't people believe that it happens??????
[Re: Bigg'un4214]
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Bigg'un4214
8 Point
Registered: 05/10/04
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Loc: east tn
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When I was a kid we hunted a "big" black cat for several years. It was a feral cat that weighed about 30 lbs. Whipped most of the dogs we had several times. It would go in a hole instead of treeing even. The old man we hunted with called them bluff cats. I answered a call about a cougar being killed a few years ago and found the biggest housecat I have ever seen. It was not colored like any cat I ever saw as well. I have investigated 100's of calls over the years and have yet to see a track, a picture, or any other evidence of cougars. I have saw dog tracks, pictures of dogs, housecats, bobcat tracks, and coyotes. So it is easy to be skeptical when reports come in. One farmer is still looking for the panther that killed his calves 5-6 years ago. Killings stopped when his neighbor got rid of his wolf/dog crosses.
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Tennessee roots over 200 years deep and growing.....
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#1939727 - 05/26/10 05:53 PM
Re: Why don't people believe that it happens??????
[Re: Bigg'un4214]
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bowriter
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Registered: 08/31/02
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Loc: Lebanon,TN USA
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I have spent almost 60 years in the wild. Much of it in the mountains. I have seen exactly two big cats. One in WY one in Alberta. I have seen numerous tracks in NE and IA and yes, I do know how to tell the the difference.
I have no doubt we have some free-ranging mountain lions that have followed the river systems into TN. Florida panthers? No, and Black Panthers? Not unless a circus train wrecked as happened in IL some years ago.
But who cares?
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Constipation has ruined many a good day. Not as many as stupidity, though.
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#1939994 - 05/26/10 08:34 PM
Re: Why don't people believe that it happens??????
[Re: bowriter]
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huntwriter
4 Point
Registered: 10/10/05
Posts: 354
Loc: BC, Canada
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I have no doubt we have some free-ranging mountain lions that have followed the river systems into TN. Florida panthers? No, and Black Panthers? Not unless a circus train wrecked as happened in IL some years ago.
But who cares?
Absolutely agree with that statement. Cougars (mountain lions)are almost everywhere in North America, but they are rarely seen by people.
I have never seen a cougar in my hunting area yet I know that they are there. Several times when I went hunting g in the winter and later in the day walk back to my truck I find cougar tracks right next to mine, following me for several hundred yards, sometimes up to a mile. Cougars are extremely cautious yet very curious animals. All cougars see hunters but not many hunters see cougars.
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"Wouldn’t it be wise for us to be more tolerant of each other and pick our battles with the ones that really threaten our way of life?"
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#1940047 - 05/26/10 09:06 PM
Re: Why don't people believe that it happens??????
[Re: huntwriter]
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browtines
8 Point
Registered: 09/22/07
Posts: 1088
Loc: kodak, tennessee
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my two cents...... Henegar Cemetary in Chuck Swann....The stains in my shorts is proof enough for me. I still get goose bumps and the willies when I think about that squawl-scream with that big gruff sound at the end.... Ask plinker22, I think his shorts got a little moist that morning also......Didnt see it. Didnt have to....I just believe it was a Mt. Lion.....
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