One spotted in Hernando. Those familiar with Delta know they go back and forth from Arkansas. The game and fish commission don't count any in MS. I hope it's is not killed before it can be relocated or something
OT Mississippi Panther
- Thread starter amcdan2000
- Start date
Grey cougar. It appears darker because it is in the shade. Tail is definitely a cougar. Unusual to see them that close to cars in the broad daylight. That means it has lost most of its fear of humans and could be deadly if it comes up on a small child.
It was a cat. Game warden checked it out. The angle made it look way bigger than what it actually was. It makes zero sense there would be a "panther" anywhere near that area.
Last edited:
This is what I think too. No way in hell does a panther wonder up into a fast food line.....look straight at the cars.....and continue hunting. Something about the depth of the cat looks weird. Optical illusion of sorts.
But what gives it away the most, to me, is the final seconds of the video, the cat pounces..........very house cat like..........onto something small.
I don't know, I'm just not buying it.
But what gives it away the most, to me, is the final seconds of the video, the cat pounces..........very house cat like..........onto something small.
I don't know, I'm just not buying it.
That lot next to Wendy's isn't that big. It's the camera angle making it look huge. Also there's 5 or 6 cats that hang out in the parking lot there. My kids have given them food before
Last edited:
I had a cougar or panther or whatever you want to call it walk directly under my deer stand about 15 years ago right next to the levee. Thought it was a bobcat at first until it got closer and I saw the long tail. It looked up and saw me and high tailed it. I climbed down and left before dark. All I had was my bow.
Looks like a lot of kids have been feeding those cats. Its tail/body language said plain old cat to me as well.
The last native MS panthers were likely killed off in the 1960's. Those are long gone. However, the western cougar or mountain lion is moving eastward, and has been documented in Arkansas and Illinois. There's a chance they've crossed the river here. Otherwise, it's a lose pet, and there could be dozens of those roaming around the states.
Those are all the same species, actually...Felix concolor. We know there are populations in AR, LA, TN, FL, and the Carolinas. While there’s officially none in MS, I can’t sit here and say there’s not when they’re known to be that close.
The way it was explained to me by a guy at the MSDWFP, a black “panther” is actually an inaccurate description. There are no black panthers. If it’s a large cat and it’s black then it is a Jaguar with a color mutation that causes the Jaguar coat pattern to be under a layer of dark fur. So when the game warden tells you “there’s no such thing as a black panther in Mississippi” he is factually being correct.
Last edited:
View attachment 8208
This is where the video was taken. It's right in the middle of town. I do think there are big cats scattered throughout Mississippi (like I've said before, I saw one under my deerstand) but I think this is a misidentification.
This is where the video was taken. It's right in the middle of town. I do think there are big cats scattered throughout Mississippi (like I've said before, I saw one under my deerstand) but I think this is a misidentification.
Hold up. From the article with the video:
”...like Texas where lions still live," the Mississippi State University Extension Service says.
Whaaaaaaa?
”...like Texas where lions still live," the Mississippi State University Extension Service says.
Whaaaaaaa?
That is correct. The nearest naturally occurring black cats are in South America and are jaguars. The only native large cat in the Unites Sates is the mountain lion which goes by many different names depending on location and its natural color is the tawny brown.
But my degree at MSU was in wildlife biology and I can tell you if you mentioned you thought there were large cats in MS of any species or color they ridiculed you unmercifully. And you will never get a MDWFP employee or any wildlife biologist in MS to even come close to admitting there are large cats in MS. That is an immediate blackball in field. Several years ago a good friend of mine was working as a private wildlife biologist for a firm in the Delta and had a woman call him saying she saw a large cat in her property and it left tracks and please come look at it. Being ingrained as I was from our classes he was certain she was mistaken but went anyway and took his field guide with him. He looked me dead in the eye and said the tracks she found matched a mountain lion perfectly for shape, size, and stride length. Then he added if you ever tell anyone I said that I will call you a liar to your face.
Call me an idiot if you like, but my eyes don't lie. I saw one about 30 years ago while hunting a food plot in Eucutta, MS. I heard it all afternoon and just assumed it was a house cat or bobcat. At dusk it came across the food plot. It appeared to be 40lbs-50lbs with a tale as long as it's body.
My Dad didn't believe me until 2 weeks later, when he saw the same thing. I don't know what it was. I do know it wasn't a bobcat and it wasn't a house cat.
My Dad didn't believe me until 2 weeks later, when he saw the same thing. I don't know what it was. I do know it wasn't a bobcat and it wasn't a house cat.
Cougar/Mountain Lion/Panther/Long Tail...all the same thing just depends where you see it. Not to get all Bigfooty, but I swear I've seen one in MS. They definitely exist in the South. They got plenty of them in Florida and Texas. It's not beyond imagination to think a handful have made their way to MS.
I don't care what any state official says - 17 years ago, my brother and I watched a cougar for about 3 minutes lounge in waist high grass. It was sprawled out and the grass was bent over where it was - you could see it's tail flick up,down,back & forth as it lay there. It finally saw us and jumped up and ran into a pine thicket.
This was near Schrock Methodist church out from Goodman - and only a few hundred yards from old hwy 14. Scared us something awful.
Between myself, my brother, my dad, and grandad, we have killed dozens of bobcats while hunting and trapping - some nearing 50 lbs. this cat was about twice as big as the biggest bobcat I have ever seen and it's tail was as long as its body. I don't care what state officials "say", I can tell you what I KNOW to be true. Cougars are in MS.
This was near Schrock Methodist church out from Goodman - and only a few hundred yards from old hwy 14. Scared us something awful.
Between myself, my brother, my dad, and grandad, we have killed dozens of bobcats while hunting and trapping - some nearing 50 lbs. this cat was about twice as big as the biggest bobcat I have ever seen and it's tail was as long as its body. I don't care what state officials "say", I can tell you what I KNOW to be true. Cougars are in MS.
This is the correct answer, right here. And they're not completely black, either.
View attachment 8210
They are amongst us
My yard man's dad lives in Marshall county and got this game pic just last night. Seems the big cat is on the move....
View attachment 8211
Now this one was taken last year close to the LA/MS border.
View attachment 8212
And don't let them tell us there aint no goat suckers in MS cause this fella kilt one.
View attachment 8213
View attachment 8214
My yard man's dad lives in Marshall county and got this game pic just last night. Seems the big cat is on the move....
View attachment 8211
Now this one was taken last year close to the LA/MS border.
View attachment 8212
And don't let them tell us there aint no goat suckers in MS cause this fella kilt one.
View attachment 8213
View attachment 8214
The thing is, I am not sure why they are so adamant against even admitting the possibility of one being here. I'm not sure if they think it will scare people from going into the woods or what. They admit we have bears here and people still go in the woods so I really don't know. Problem is you can't ask one and expect to get a straight answer. That subject is just completely taboo.
0
00dog
Guest
And what about this...
Looked here for what a black panther actually is http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...imals-cats-leopards-science-jaguars-genetics/ and that was pretty informative.
And that site led me to http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0050386
The latter site noted that there is anecdotal evidence of black coloring in the "puma concolor" common to North America.
The same site also noted that another cat, the Jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi), occurs in two main colors, one of which is black; has, or had, a range that includes North America (southern Texas to Argentina - but has been reported from Arizona). Now I realize that doesn't exactly put the puma in MS., but I found it interesting that one of the sounds made by the animal is a scream. I remember my dad telling me about a "black panther" - that made a sound like a scream - that had been seen in the rural area of north Mississippi where he was raised...a long time ago.
Looked here for what a black panther actually is http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...imals-cats-leopards-science-jaguars-genetics/ and that was pretty informative.
And that site led me to http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0050386
The latter site noted that there is anecdotal evidence of black coloring in the "puma concolor" common to North America.
The same site also noted that another cat, the Jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi), occurs in two main colors, one of which is black; has, or had, a range that includes North America (southern Texas to Argentina - but has been reported from Arizona). Now I realize that doesn't exactly put the puma in MS., but I found it interesting that one of the sounds made by the animal is a scream. I remember my dad telling me about a "black panther" - that made a sound like a scream - that had been seen in the rural area of north Mississippi where he was raised...a long time ago.
A couple guys and myself have a standing $10,000 award for a genetically verifiable black panther. Been offering for over 20 years. And yes for the record I have seen a Florida panther in the woods here in Mississippi. They do come through on occasion. Most of the time it will be a male looking for love. They won't stay until there is a female population in the state.
A poster posted on here either last year, or the very beginning of this year, a cougar caught on his game camera in the delta. It was undeniably a cougar.
<a href="http://s1087.photobucket.com/user/MaroonNation/media/F07CB739-8006-47B2-A553-94B8265BBD8B_zpsswuxnzjj.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j480/MaroonNation/F07CB739-8006-47B2-A553-94B8265BBD8B_zpsswuxnzjj.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo F07CB739-8006-47B2-A553-94B8265BBD8B_zpsswuxnzjj.jpg"></a>
Come on man.....
Come on man.....
This reads like a post from Imissplatinumplus. We need pics of a Cougar bent over and flicking her tail in the tall grass.....
Why is it so implausible that there are big cats in MS? It’s been (finally) verified that cougars are in west TN and moving east. If they’ve made it this far, they can certainly be in MS as well. But I didn’t sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night either.
Short answer, Cougars do not have a black melanistic phase. It is totally plausible though unlikely that someone could see a brown cougar. Genetically impossible though for someone to see a black cougar/mountain lion/etc. Large black cats have to be either leopards or jaguars. Also possible, in the form of escaped pets, but even less likely.
So why is it so hard to believe? Because every red neck I know has seen one. And everyone I know has five trail cams out, but no one has produced a reliable trail cam image or other proof. And no, a picture of a black cat on a trail cam alone isn’t proof of one in MS any more than a picture of an elephant on a trail cam alone is picture of elephants in MS. You know what i mean.
Big cats are elusive, but not ghosts. If they were here, it wouldn’t be that hard to verify. One trail cam picture in a verifiable location. Not ANOTHER video of a house cat from somebody with bad depth perception.
Latest
-
01
On3 Football
Kamario Taylor finalizing $7.5 million deal to return to Mississippi State for 2027 season
-
02
Maroon and White Basketball
Mississippi State 79-57 Troy: Bulldogs build big early lead in home win over Trojans
-
03
On3 NIL
Kamario Taylor's $7.5M deal sets new bar in college football
-
04
Softball America
2027 Mississippi State Preview
-
05
Maroon and White Football
Kamario Taylor speaks on return to Mississippi State for 2027