Louisiana Panthers

I was able to dig up some interesting stuff about these panthers. While many report seeing a "black panther," it's more likely a florida panther with a dark coat seen early morning or late evening, thus apperaing black. There is, however, the possibility that it's a jaguarundi--a species that is common in Mexico. It's important to note that adult Jaguarundi only weigh 6-20 lbs, while a Florida Panther can weigh well over 100 lbs. That right there might clear up some of these big "black panther" sightings. The pic above shows its home range (I guess it could at one time been isolated in Louisiana). I think it's awsome if there really is some wild cat lurking in our woods. I'm a sceptic, but I'd love to see one for myself. I'm no tracking expert or anything, but I was scouting for deer in Joyce WMA and came across some BIGGGG cat tracks. I say cat and not dog/coyote because they were sunk deep into the mud with so signs of claw marks (as all you know a cat's claws are retractable). And if any of you have ever been back in Joyce WMA, you know that IF there's panthers in this state, they'd definately be back there. Joyce is one of the most remote, inaccessable peices of land in the entire state--plenty of deer, hogs, & rabbit to keep many panthers full.

I saw an animal near Church Point that looked like this Jaguarundi about 5 years ago.

Could be Tibido. They don't get much bigger than a large house cat. The long, bushy tail gives them away though.

where are ya from? i used to hunt back in branch and saw alot of odd things..

I'm from Ponchatoula. I just keep hearing so many reports of people with pictures of these things from their trail cams, but no one posts them.

I saw a small cat black that may have gone around twenty lbs. in the Bogalusa area. I had another young hunter with me that saw it cross the road as well. This sighting was about two weeks after my 21 year old son had watched a cat of the same description for 10-15 minutes out of a deer stand. WL&F says there aren't any such cats around. I disagree.

http://www.acadiananow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050203/SPORTS/502030335/1006

http://www.thejump.net/multimedia/cougar/cougar.htm

http://www.easterncougarnet.org/southeast.html

Another potential source of mysterious big cats in Loozyana:

I've heard that drug lords, crack dealers, whatever... sometimes like to buy and keep big cats as pets. The possibility always exists that they got tired of feeding it and turned it loose.

Other than that my research on the issue agrees with what three-sixty-five posted.

There is an expanding population of jaguarundis in Florida. While most biologists maintain that these escaped from captivity, some argue that such a thriving population could only be from wild, pre-existing population. Interesting to note that Louisiana lies between the jaguarundi's native Mexican habitat and their new home in Florida. I have seen a large black cat in the 30 to 40-lb range in the swamp just north of Lake Catouache. I always wrote it off to being a large feral cat, as some feral cats living the wild have been reported up to 80 lbs, as was the case with a recent "black panther" killed in the Australian outback. Apparently this animal had a recessive gene for gigantism. I hope that some of the coryi subspecies still do exist here, as slim as the possibility seems. Also reported to no longer exist in Louisiana is the Southern Red Wolf, which I have seen on several occasions in Bayou Segnette State Park in the early 1990s. An interesting point regarding these disappearing predators is that laws exist on the books protecting them from being killed, yet the number one killer of these animals is habitat loss, and every year more and more wild areas get developed in the name of progress.

The main reason for the Florida Panther's "so called" extinction is because of the lack of their primary source of food. About 90 % of their diet was white-tailed deer and feral hog. Excessive market hunting in the late 1800s reduced the whitetail population to an all-time low of 500,000--nation wide. Some deer populations disappeared completely. The only reason that the panthers were able to survive in Florida was because of the release of feral hogs by the Spanish. The Spaniards also released hogs in Louisiana during the same time period. This could explain the a panther's ability to survive until the deer population had recovered. Now, in many areas the white-tail deer population has become a nusance. If there IS a sustainable population of panthers in Louisiana right now, I'd predict that this population will increase. And if they're not here now, they're coming. Where their's sufficient food, panthers will follow. The post if the panther picture on "TheJump.net" was taken in Oklahoma. This was the first recent documentation of a panther East of the Rocky Mountains besides in Florida. As for the Red Wolf, the president of my grandfather's hunting club in Mississippi shot one--I saw it myself. The only reason I speak of it now is because he's dead and can't go to jail. We also heard one howl twice across the road from my Grandfather's farm in Morton, MS. We heard it once while we were inside, so we went and sat on the front porch. Then it howled again--mabey 30 yards in the woods. And let me tell you, that howl sent shivers up my spine. The hair still stands up on the back of my neck when I think about it. There was absolutly no doubt in my mind it was a wolf. It was probably the creepiest freakin sound I've ever heard. Like I said I'm a sceptic, so I downloaded some coyote and wolf howls, and it was ABSOLUTELY a wolf--no doubt.

About 45 years ago my Father ran over and killed a large black cat on his ranch in Folsom, La. It was a dark charcoal grey, almost black and weighed about 30-40lbs. It arms and paws were as big as mine. I was 11 years old. It's 2 upper canines were about 1-1 1/2 inches long. It also had a big rounded face with small round pinned back ears and a long fat tail. It was not a house cat. Till this day we are not sure what kind of cat it was. Over the years I've come to believe it was probably a type of wild feral cat but still not certain of that. It did not look like a cougar, bobcat or domestic cat. It looked more like some kind of wild, perhaps hybrid cat. It still has me baffled today what it really was.

About 45 years ago my Father ran over and killed a large black cat on his ranch in Folsom, La. It was a dark charcoal grey, almost black and weighed about 30-40lbs. It arms and paws were as big as mine. I was 11 years old. It's 2 upper canines were about 1-1 1/2 inches long. It also had a big rounded face with small round pinned back ears and a long fat tail. It was not a house cat. Till this day we are not sure what kind of cat it was. Over the years I've come to believe it was probably a type of wild feral cat but still not certain of that. It did not look like a cougar, bobcat or domestic cat. It looked more like some kind of wild, perhaps hybrid cat. It still has me baffled today what it really was.

In addition to the strange cat my Father accidentally killed in Folsom 45 years ago, there was another strange looking cat I saw on Hy. 1078 in Folsom about 10 years ago. As I was driving on the Hy. a large cat ran across the road. It looked like a small cougar with the thick tail held up and curled as it ran. It's stride was as a cougar's stride. It was a light grayish in color with dark spot on the hind quarters as most young Cougars have. It darted across the road into the woods. I'm not totally sure what kind of cat it really was but believe it could have been a small, young cougar. I know of several people who have seen them in the same area and have heard many credible stories of people seeing large black or brown cats in the state for many years now.

H

They definetly have both Red wolves, Grey wolves and Coywolves ( hybrids between wolves and coyotes). They have been in the FOLSOM area as long as I can remember and we still hear them howling occasionally. Their howl is a wolf howl not a coyote's which we also hear a lot of. They are out their. I believe the WL&F does not want the public to know they or the cats exist because of fear of people seeking them out to kill them. They do exist however and I know this from hearing and seeing them.

Me and a buddy of mine(since deceased)were in Pearl River WMA many years ago,probably about 8 years ago and we were squirrel hunting and if memory serves me correctly,we were near either Po Boy Road or Oil Well Road and were in his Toyota Highlander shooting the breeze and saw a huge black cat with a tail at least the length of this very big cat and it looked to be chasing a small animal in a ditch and when it detected us,took off!Wished we had taken at least one photo of this very dark,charcoal-black cat,most likely a panther with dark coat.I hunt on a St.Tammany deer lease and we have been told by well-informed sources that there was a least one panther lurking on our leased property.I have a picture of a very big bob cat and it is clearly a large bob cat as it has a short 'bobbed' tail.What me and my buddy saw in Pearl River WMA was 100% not a bobcat as the tail was approximately the same length as the body,not a bobcat!From what I have been told,a panther makes the sound of a woman crying and we heard that on our St.Tammany deer lease(Little Creek Hunting Club).The cat we saw in Pearl River WMA was seen in broad daylight and made zero sound,except for the rusting of the tall grass when it ran!!

Mandevillian

I have seen three of these. It was the dogs barking at night that alerted my dad that something was out there. He shot a very large, about 25 pound, black cat one time out of a tree behind the chicken coop. We did not know what it was at the time. It was not a regular cat. A few years ago, I saw an article in the newspaper about there being these in La https://app.louisianasportsman.com/lpca/index.php... Altogether, I have seen three of these over the years. I saw the other two on side of Hwy 51 on the way to Ponchatoula. I lived in Hammond and worked on the Miss River for several years and I used to take the old 51, rather than the interstate. I saw one on side of the road and I went hunting with my 22 in the marsh on side of the road and I heard something running through the weeds. I figured it was a rabbit, so I fired a bunch of shots at it. Next thing you know, one of these cats was screaming and jumping all around and flopping. I went ahead and put him out of his misery. If I had known it was not a rabbit, I would not have shot it. If ran through the weeds very much faster than a coon or a possum or anything else would run. So, that is two of them that I have actually held in my hands. There are, or at least were some of these in La. When a lot of people see them from a distance, they will say that they saw a Black Panther, but, it is really one of these. https://app.louisianasportsman.com/lpca/index.php...
Louisiana Panthers • Deer Hunting in Louisiana - Louisiana Sportsman Reports, LA
APP.LOUISIANASPORTSMAN.COM
Louisiana Panthers • Deer Hunting in Louisiana - Louisiana Sportsman Reports, LA