Anyone ever seen black cats on the Brazos River bottoms? I know what the biologists say, but man I saw one last weekend. I've been really busy this week and hadn't got around to posting this on TexAgs, but my father-in-law owns about 500 acres on the Brazos in Brazoria County and both he and I saw this cat. We are between Oyster Creek and the river and this is all bottom land that has never been touched. It was stuck in some kind of legal battle for a bunch of years and hunted by a group of guys out of Houston for a while, but there has never been any logging or brush clearing done on this place so it is really thick. The other day we went out to put up a camera and we saw a black cat (I'm talking jet black), this thing was about the size of Doberman pincher and it had a tail just long enough to hit the ground. Also the neighbor had a bay dog get all tore up and had to put it down. My father-in-law also said that he has heard funny noises that sounded like screaming out there before. BTW if this was a bobcat it was the biggest bobcat I have ever seen alive or dead and I don’t thing bobs will go black like that. And, it wasn’t a jaguarondi it didn’t look anything like the jaguarondi pictures I’ve seen.

Not a clue man. I know I've seen lion tracks in the Navasota bottom before but never the animal itself. So hwo the hell am I to say it ain't possible.

Well...anything is possible. Keep the cameras out and keep us posted as to what you find during the Spring and Summer!

My brother-in-law has a trap built to catch cats. Its like a hog trap but you can put a rooster in a separate cage within the trap and there's sheet metal around where the rooster sits so the cat must go inside to see what it is. So we're going to try and trap it. One other person said that they see this cat all the time, but they didn't seem to have all their marbles so I’m not going to trust that.

Here's a pic of my compadre's wife's aunt's secretary's niece who works outside Overton in East Texas with the black panther her ex-husband shot while they were coon hunting:

Have a place close to Somerville, I have seen large cat tracks for several years now.

Mountian Lion/Cougar?

I have also heard of a large black cat being spotted nearby. I thought this to be false but I also never thought I would see an alligator at our place - until I witnessed it last year.

I've seen alligators and beavers on Peach Creek between Gonzales & Cuero. (Just off the Guadelupe River) Nobody had seen either of those around there in a long time. BUT- they are real.

The elusive Texas Black Panther doesn't exist. No disrespect to people who have seen something they thought was a black cat; but I'll believe it when I see it.

I've heard so many stories about these things but no video, no pictures, and no kills.

Melanistic Bobcat & Jaguar
http://www.panther.state.fl.us/handbook/natural/blackpanther.html

No Black Cougar/Mountain Lion has ever been photographed, shot, or bred and are believed to be a myth.
Some interesting reading on them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther#Melanistic_cougars

One fact I'm sure you'll find interesting

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Historically, black panthers in the American Southeast feature prominently in Choctaw folklore where, along with the owl, they are often thought to symbolize Death.

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My father lives on some land outside Palestine and has heard a very loud cry many times at night. One evening near dusk, he was out by his garage and heard this shrieking cry close by and saw a huge cat near the tree line. It was getting dark, so he didn't get a good look, but said that it was about the size of a lab. I know that E. Tex has some wildcats of various species, but this one seemed really large to be native to the area. There have been quite a few sightings of large cats in those parts.

Just recently, Louisiana reported findings from a state biologist on a rather centrally located WMA or NWR (cannot remember which one). He reported seeing a large cat with a long tail. They analyzed some fecal matter for DNA and discovered.....drum roll please....that La. has an honest to god cougar population!!!! Something many hunters and farmers in the area had been telling them for ages! They actually had trail cam photos this year of a cat near Lake Ophelia NWR. Big cats are elusive and everywhere. Concur with the previous statements on "black cougars"...no such thing has ever been documented....ever....well atleast for now there hasn't been one reported shot, pictured, or killed.

i saw one a couple years ago north of huntsville (trinity river area). at the time i didn't even think it was that big of a deal, but apparently there aren't many of 'em and the few that do live there are pretty skittish. mine was larger than a house cat, jet black, with a LONG tail. there's a ton of BS on the internet talking about the jaguar's undies but nothing looks like what i saw.

i started a thread asking texags about it a couple months ago...someone with a star might be able to find it-

[This message has been edited by Towns03 (edited 1/17/2008 9:28p).]

According to the folks at TPWD, black panthers (i.e. cougars/mountain lions) don't exist in Texas. The only exception being the odd melanistic phase of a big or small cat.

Besides, as mentioned above, someone, somewhere would certainly have captured the image of one on camera.

I know at one time jaguars lived in Texas, and since the are black(melanistic) versions of jaguars it seems possible that one of these could have come up from Mexico.

I once said the same thing, and then I saw something. Now maybe it was a black bob, but this thing didn't have a bob tail. I've seen black jaguars in the zoo and this wasn't a jaguar it wasn't even close to big enough to be a jaguar, but it didn't look like a bob cat either.

I'll let you know once I trap it or get a game cam picture of it. One thing is for sure people out at Planter's Point the near by neighborhood lose dogs all the time out there.

I don't know much about genetics, but it may have been a melanastic cougar. Apparently, black fur in cougars/pumas is extremely rare (recessive). Black fur in jaguars is more common (dominant). Both black jaguars and cougars are apparently known as black panthers.

Wikipedia says that jaguars are not native to this area. They were once, but they have been extirpated.

I think its one of these things:

1. It was a melanastic bobcat;
2. Melanastic cougar/puma
3. A melanastic jaguar that escaped from a private collection.
4. A big house cat.
5. chupacabra

I think deep down we all want to believe in these things because it provides us with a mystery in a world where science has taken away most of the mystery.

Monsterquest on History Channel or discovery had a program on this the other day.

I've seen a cat off of Hwy 30 by the Navasota River. It wasn't black, though. I'm going to guess anywhere from 40-60 lbs...Seen a lot of tracks out there, too.

They do exist around here, but they aren't black.

Years ago I was turkey hunting in Rock Springs. I was sitting on the ground looking back twards a creek. When i turned and looked behind me I saw a big jet black cat. It had a long tail. It's eyes were almost glowing red, maybe because of the sun, but they stood out. It was probaby about the size of a coyote. It was about 30 yards from me so I got a pretty good look at it. The cat continued on its way and was not distracted by me. I know it saw me move, and it looked at me for a while as it walked. There was pretty thick cover, so once it got out of the clearing, it dissappeared. I never figured out what it was, but my father who was hunting not far away saw something black, but cold not make it out.

I love this subject. You always hear about so many "sightings" but still not one picture or kill. Not saying they're not out there, just really unlikely.

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Contrary to popular belief, there are no black panthers in North America; no one has ever captured or killed a black Mountain Lion.

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http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/mlion/

I was once just like you two (big and Jimmy) but like I said, then I saw one. And, my FIL was there as well and saw the same thing.