Something That Does Not Exist..Big Cat..

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Gator 45/70, Mar 17, 2012.


  1. Gator 45/70

    Gator 45/70 Monkey+++

  2. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    Excuse my ignorance, but a black panther is just a black color variation of a jaguar or leopard correct? It is not cougar/mtn lion/puma/fla panther correct also?
     
  3. Gator 45/70

    Gator 45/70 Monkey+++

    I am no expert...However i have seen the non-existing cat on a river sand bar drinking water..in the middle of the day..and they don't come any ''Blacker'' than what i saw...
    Other's claim to have seen them...However in the eye's of the L.D.W.F. they DO not exist...
     
  4. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    LDWF doesn't know about a lot of species that exist in the State, because Crats rarely "Get off the Butts", and go out in the field. Now the Enforcement Branch might just believe you, if you brought in a Hide.... after they arrest you, for taking it.... ..... YMMV....
     
    Gator 45/70 likes this.
  5. tulianr

    tulianr Don Quixote de la Monkey

    From Wiki

    A black panther is typically a melanistic color variant of any of several species of larger cat. In Latin America, wild 'black panthers' may be black jaguars (Panthera onca); in Asia and Africa, black leopards (Panthera pardus); in Asia, possibly the very rare black tigers (Panthera tigris); and in North America they may be black jaguars or possibly black cougars (Puma concolor – although this has not been proven to have a black variant), or smaller cats.

    Melanism in the jaguar (Panthera onca) is conferred by a dominant allele, and in the leopard (Panthera pardus) by a recessive allele. Close examination of the color of these black cats will show that the typical markings are still present, but are hidden by the excess black pigment melanin, giving an effect similar to that of printed silk. This is called "ghost striping". Melanistic and non-melanistic animals can be littermates.

    Cougar

    There are no authenticated cases of truly melanistic cougars (pumas). Melanistic cougars have never been photographed or shot in the wild and none has ever been bred. There is wide consensus among breeders and biologists that the animal does not exist.

    Black cougars have been reported in Kentucky and in the Carolinas. There have also been reports of glossy black cougars from Kansas, Texas and eastern Nebraska.These have come to be known as the "North American black panther". Sightings are currently attributed to errors in species identification by non-experts, and by the memetic exaggeration of size.

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

    Reports of black panthers in the United States

    "Black panther" sightings have come from Georgia and Horry County, South Carolina as recently as 2006. Sightings have also been recorded in parts of Texas and Southern Oklahoma, and scattered throughout the eastern U.S. There have been numerous reported black panther sightings in the New Orleans area since late 2010. Recent photographs are still under examination by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries.

    In Florida, a few melanistic bobcats have been captured; these have apparently been mistaken for Florida panthers (a subspecies of cougar). Ulmer (1941) presents photographs and descriptions of two animals captured in Martin County in 1939 and 1940.

    Another possible explanation for black panther sightings is the jaguarundi, a small cat very similar genetically to the cougar, whose coat has a dark grey phase. While their acknowledged natural range ends in southern Texas, a small breeding population was introduced to Florida in the 1940s. It has been suggested that very small populations of jaguarundi, which rarely venture out of deep forests, are responsible for many or most of the supposed black cougar sightings. While they are significantly smaller than cougars, differently colored, and much lower to the ground, memory bias could explain many of the sightings in the southeastern U.S.

    Another possibility would be the black jaguar, which ranged into North America in historical memory<sup> </sup>and is a similar size to the cougar. The spotted jaguar has had several (photographically) confirmed, and many unconfirmed, sightings in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and southwest Texas, but not beyond that region.
     
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  6. Gator 45/70

    Gator 45/70 Monkey+++

    We have alway's had them here in part's of the state...
    I suspect that these are a subspecies...
    All the old people that have seen these over the year's can't be wrong...
     
  7. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    So far I have not read or heard of a black variation of our Florida Panther. But, such a color mutation CAN occur ina ny animal.
    For instance, I currently have a blonde Gray Squirrel visiting my yard - it's a recessive gene that occurs periodically in the local population. I once had two such animals. They don't last long though.
     
  8. Gator 45/70

    Gator 45/70 Monkey+++

    Yeah...But just to be safe...The fine is 100K on something that does not exist...lol


     
  9. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    This was where I was going and has the highest possibility of being what was seen just because of the historical range included these areas. Louisanna is just a short step over from Texas, and they were certainly there in years past.
     
  10. Tikka

    Tikka Monkey+++

    "Melanism is an undue development of dark-colored pigment in the skin or its appendages and is the opposite of albinism. It is also the medical term for black jaundice. The word 'melanism' is deduced from the Greek: μελανός, meaning black pigment.
    -from Melanism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    It is the opposite of an albino and at the link are pictures of melanistic guinea pigs and squirrels

    A deer: http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/oddsnends2/blackwhitetail.jpg

    Tulianr thanks for the post..
     
  11. techsar

    techsar Monkey+++

    Heck, just add some Zatarains, throw in some spuds 'n carrots, couple shots of Tabasco if ya like...then offer it to the LADW agent....num, num...oops, you guilty too officer. You wanna beer to wash it down? LOL
     
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