Black Mountain is the highest mountain peak in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It stands a whopping  4,145 feet above mean sea level and has a top-to-bottom height of over 2,500 feet. The massive mountain towers above the towns of Lynch, Kentucky, and Appalachia, Virginia. 

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BLACK MOUNTAIN'S HEADLESS ANNIE
It was just a coon hunting trip. Some of my distant relatives (I prefer not to publicly say their names because what happened to them was bone-chilling and disturbing, not to mention they fear being scoffed) ......these distant relatives of mine decided to go coon hunting on Big Black Mountain one August night when the air was thick with humidity and ghostly mist. I was just a child in the mid 80's, and I remember sitting in the back of my Daddy's blue Chevy truck as my distant family (all men) were taking inventory of their equipment for the all-night excursion upon the state's highest peak.

They tried to talk my Daddy into joining them, and although he was an avid coon hunter himself, something just "didn't set right" with him. He told the men "I don't reckon I want to be up on that mountain in the middle of the night." Once they were satisfied they had all the equipment they needed, they piled in their truck and sped up KY 522 toward the Tri-Cities where Big Black Mountain towers over the old coal mining towns of Lynch and Benham, as well as Cumberland, which was more of a municipality for commerce.

I went on to bed that night, saying my prayers for the poor, defenseless coons (that's just the kind of child I was) and never gave the hunting trip another thought. In fact, it wasn't until months later that I overheard another family member relay to my mother the events of that horrific night experienced by my coon-hunting distant relatives upon Big Black Mountain.

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Big Cat in Deane, Ky?

I just got a report of a large cat sighting in Kentucky, I don't think it has really been reported until now. I also have more information below the report.

-Start Report-
My name is Randy Isaac and I'm from Letcher co KY.
One night around 9:30-10:00pm in July or August 1997, a friend and I were traveling on hwy 317 going into Deane KY.
We were going down what we call Rockhouse Mountain when we rounded a curve and all a sudden a big dark colored cat with about a 3-3 1/2 foot tail, jumped from the right off an embankment crossed the road and over the hill. We looked at each other and I said, " did u just see what I saw?".
His eyes were big as silver dollars and he said, " yes, a big ******* black panther!".
I knew he had seen it because you would have to be blind not to have seen it.
I know how big it was and I know it was dark colored but not dark black, but I'll call it that just for the sake of dark and light.
I had a guy that lives over that way tell me he saw one in the same curve and he had no idea that we had seen one there.
I told him that we saw it there to and we couldn't believe it was in the exact same place. I talked to a couple boys that live down the road from me and they started talking about thing like that and told me they saw a big black cat about 100yds above that.
The didn't know about my sighting either. I again had to bring my sighting up and we all were astonished we had seen it in the same place. This was just last month that I talked to those boys. I don't care whether they saw this big cat or not, because I know what we saw, but this just told me that they must stay in the same general area.

Some guys that live above me supposedly shot a big cat back here on the mountain and killed it. They got scared that they would go to jail when they saw it up close so they threw it over the mountain. They told a few people about it but no one believed them, but a couple boys went and found it where they threw it over the hill and they swore it was a lion, like u see in the circus. They said it was huge and had a real short mane. I couldn't figure that one out but they also said it was a lion. I'm gonna catch up with them to find out more.

This next photo was reportedly taken in Harlan, Kentucky, but I have seen different counties listed as to where it was taken, which raises questions about the authenticity of the location.
 I have no information on this photo.

Now before you totally dismiss the possibility of big cats in Kentucky watch this News video.

Notice how the wildlife guy totally dismisses the big cats, much like they dismissed the bear reports in my area for awhile, until a lot of people started seeing them.

Here is another report of a large black cat in southern Kentucky - Click Here

I have also heard some other local people talk about seeing black panthers in this area over the years, I do think there is something to it. If you have seen a big cat/black panther/cougar in an area that they are not suppose to be in, then please submit it to us.

A big thanks to Randy for sharing his sighting.

Thanks
~Tom~



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