Black Panthers in TX

[jshouse]

it's all semantics. you can go to any zoo and see that a large black cat exists. sure it's not a "panther", (mags are not clips, ponds are not tanks, soup with beans is NOT chili, etc...) but there is no way anyone can say with 100% certainty that no one has ever seen a black jaguar or leopard in the wild in TX.

What's a tank?

[duckmanep]

what's a tank?

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[jshouse]

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Ezzackly

[bowhuntvideo]

So let's look at this scientifically. There are either two options. Option number one... There are no black panthers. Option number two... There are black panthers but they are so intuitive and elysuve that they can avoid millions of trail cameras, video cameras, and moving vehicles on the roadway.

Even the rare ocelot from down south gets hit by cars and captured on photos. So once again... There either are no black panthers or they are magical. I think I'll Trust the scientists who say it's physically impossible for a mountain lion to get the black pigment Gene. Unlike a deer who can be black, albino, or piebald.

every black panther sighting is always right at dark or right at the sun's coming up. And it's always crossing the road in a Flash. It's never underneath the deer feeder stalking a deer or quail.

I can honestly say that I have enjoyed all 500 black panther sighting threads on TBH since I joined in 2003. I will enjoy them even more when somebody provides a trail cam picture, and ldp, or a roadkill Panther. When that day comes not only will I be happy, but I will send you a check or money order for $500.

I almost got $25M for dropping a dime on bin Laden and $500 is the best you can do for a TX most wanted? If that’s the best you can do I’ll just carry the pics and their den location to my grave.


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[PondPopper]

Yes, we know for a fact that they aren't here. Unless you're talking about jagurundi, which you're not. Here's why...

Black panthers are the melanistic phase of the jaguar. There are no black mountain lions. Not an animal. Do not exist.

While it is true that the native range for jaguars used to include Texas, they were extirpated around 1900. The reason I wrote "were extirpated" is because there has recently been a confirmation of a jaguar crossing the Mexico border into New Mexico, so it's possible that you might have the same cat make its way briefly into far West Texas. But that's not really all that relevant to the "black panthers in Texas" discussion, because most of those sightings are in East Texas. But anyhow...

The percentage of jaguars that reflect the black color phase is 6%. 94% of them are your typical spotted variety.

In order to have all these "black panthers" running around, you'd have, on average, 13 regular jaguars for every "black panther". Yet you never hear anyone claim they saw a plain jane regular jaguar. Why? Because it's stupid and no you did not.

But for some reason, you have all these otherwise seemingly credible hunters, etc. that swear up and down they have seen black panthers. They never claim to have seen jaguars, which again would be 13 times more prevalent if they actually existed in Texas. Nope, it's always "black panthers". Why?

Mistaken identity. A whole lot of things will appear black when running through the shadows in the woods. Dogs (many of which are actually black), deer, feral cats, you name it. The right light conditions can make a tan animal appear black.

It is a fact that black panthers are not running around the woods in Texas. Though I do believe you believe you saw one. That obviously happens a lot.

And there are no black bobcats, mule deer and whitetail don't cross breed, grizzly bear and polar bear do not cross breed, mallards and pintails do not cross breed, pintails and wood ducks do not cross breed and the red wolf is extinct.. Oh but wait... I could go on and on. Don't believe everything you read.

Never talk in absolutes when it comes to nature..
I've never seen a big black cat but I hope I do and if I do it won't shock me..Malik's it be rare? Extremely..
Hey but I have seen 2 mountain lions in a county that the "do not exist in".

[Deuce16]

When someone says they say a "black panther", they lose all credibility to me. For the all of the obvious reasons above. It would go something like this:
"Hey, I was hunting the other day and leaving the ranch and a black panther was running across........"
Drifting off=Me: I wonder what im having for lunch?

[AntlerCollector]

So you believe in Bigfoot???

Of course not! That would be nuts!

[BitBackShot]

You can safely talk in absolutes when it comes to black panthers in Texas. There are zero in the wild.


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[AntlerCollector]

What's a tank?

According to BOB all small bodies of water are tanks unless they have a park bench and some flowers planted around them. Then they are called ponds.

[PondPopper]

You can safely talk in absolutes when it comes to black panthers in Texas. There are zero in the wild.


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The same was said about black bobcats. Oops.

[BitBackShot]

And there are no black bobcats, mule deer and whitetail don't cross breed, grizzly bear and polar bear do not cross breed, mallards and pintails do not cross breed, pintails and wood ducks do not cross breed and the red wolf is extinct.. Oh but wait... I could go on and on. Don't believe everything you read.

Never talk in absolutes when it comes to nature..
I've never seen a big black cat but I hope I do and if I do it won't shock me..Malik's it be rare? Extremely..
Hey but I have seen 2 mountain lions in a county that the "do not exist in".

I doubt you've seen 2 mountain lions in counties they "do not exist in" either.

Lots of mistaken identity there as well.

[Clay C]

And there are no black bobcats, mule deer and whitetail don't cross breed, grizzly bear and polar bear do not cross breed, mallards and pintails do not cross breed, pintails and wood ducks do not cross breed and the red wolf is extinct.. Oh but wait... I could go on and on. Don't believe everything you read.

Never talk in absolutes when it comes to nature..
I've never seen a big black cat but I hope I do and if I do it won't shock me..Malik's it be rare? Extremely..
Hey but I have seen 2 mountain lions in a county that the "do not exist in".

Those are all proven/known/documented things involving known/documented species. I don't really see how that makes the case for black panthers?

[centex_aggie]

The same was said about black bobcats. Oops.

When has anyone said that?

[gingib]

I found this map of all the ACTUAL black panthers in Texas. There is a red dot everywhere that black panther actually exists.

truth

[Clay C]

Let's say mountain lions can be black. Do you know the rate of that happening in other big cat species that carry that trait? It's incredibly rare. Now factor in where most of these sightings take place. In areas with few to no mountain lions. How in the world would people be seeing that many black mountain lions?

Now let's say they're black jaguars (again incredibly rare to have a black one). You're saying there are so many jaguars running around in Texas that people are seeing a bunch of black ones?

As someone pointed out bobcats can be black, it's proven. How many black bobcats do people see running around?