Here in my general area of Kentucky I have heard stories about black panther sightings many times in my life. Some stories where when I was young and some as I became an adult. Then one day I actually saw a black panther for myself. I was on my ATV and as I turned a curve, it was standing the roadway. It had a very long tail and it bolted off to my left and up a small dry rocky water stream. Of course I didn't get a picture or anything but I know what I saw.
We recently got a report sent in of another black panther sighting and I wanted to share it.
Here is the report.
This report comes from Fred. I have omitted his last name but we have that and his other info on file. Here is Fred's report.
-Start Report-
"Sometime around Summer of 1980, my brother, father and myself saw a
large black panther inside of our barn near Oats Hill and Aden, KY. As
we drove into the farm we stopped to observe it moving around and then
that is when we saw a very long thick tail.
The
road (where we parked) is actually looking down into a small valley.
From here the road is about 150 feet from the barn. I remember as we
drove toward the farm you have to go over a hump in the road before you
drive downhill.
As we
came over the hump we saw the barn and stopped immediately because we
saw something moving in our barn ... our two barns and farm were empty.
Nothing in them. Farm has no crops. It was a tobacco farm we had not
grown anything on it for a few years ... Anyway, I will never forget it.
It was huge. Had to have been over six feet long. Solid black in color.
We
watched it for about five minutes. The barn had no doors and holes in
the roof. We could see everything as the Panther looked around the barn.
It didn't notice us until it exited the barn. It stopped to smell the
air. It looked up at us for a moment before casually walking into the
woods.
After about 30
minutes we went down to the barn on foot. Why we didn't drive on down
there is beyond me. I was 13 years old then. Anyway, we found dozens of
it's tracks in and around the barn. Dad said maybe it was female.
We know we saw a large black panther that day. Or black cougar. All we know is it was a huge black cat with a long tail.
My guess is if you talk to Oats Hill residents they have stories as well.
If
on Aden Road going toward Grahn ... There is a road turn off before you
drive between the two large rocks on Aden Road ... The turn off
immediately crosses a creek and turns right at an old water spring going
uphill. Follow it staying to the left to the hilltop. This is Oats
Hill.
Probably, close to Happy Hill Farmstead (area) on Google Maps. "
-End Report-
Thanks goes to Fred for submitting his sighting.
Now, I know what I saw and it sure sounds like Fred knows what he saw but they tell us there is no such animal in our area. Further more there is no documented evidence of a black cougar ever. The
Panther is not a distinct species itself but is the general name used
to refer to any black colored feline of the Big Cat family, most
notably Leopards and Jaguars.
On the one I saw, you could see a hint of a pattern on it. I didn't know what this was called so I looked it up. It is called rosettes and it is the rose like markings on the creature. This one I saw was standing in the road, I had a good view of its side. It had these rosettes markings on it's left hip. The markings were faint but I could see them. They were no where near as light as the one in the picture but I could see them. The one I saw was large, much larger than a bobcat, and it had a long tail. But if I was going to guess I would guess the one I saw was not full grown.
Also as a side note, I have seen a black bobcat in this area, several years ago. They are very rare for this area but, while still rare, more common in Florida.
I would imagine these, Big cats, are really rare for these parts. Is it a cougar or a panther? The main difference between a cougar and panther is that the cougar is a distinctive species native to North and South America and panthers are distributed in Asia, Africa, and America. So knowing that information would make me think I saw a panther but they are not native to North America...so how can that be?
We assume that a black panther sighting is a black cougar but there has never been a recorded melanistic (black) color phase cougar either in captivity or the wild.
So what did I see and what have others seen?
Yet another mystery to dig into. I think we can possible solve this one at some point. If I had only been running my Gopro camera that day while riding my ATV I would have solid proof. Its funny because I use to run my camera often while riding but that day I didn't and have kind of got out of the habit of doing it.
Hope you enjoyed the post. If anyone has seen these large cats in Kentucky or surrounding states, feel free to contact us.
This
post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the
cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto
Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of
unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild
land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.
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Have you had a close encounter or witnessed something unusual?
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