To: Rick Meril
Re: The Dakota Cougar who wandered to Connecticut
Wild, native cougars have been known in the Catskills & Adirondack State Parks since the late 1800s, according to sources who send us clippings.We continue to believe its nothing but a joke, the Milford Cougar walked from S.D., when there are multiple cougars just up the road in the Catskills, Adirondacks & across eastern Canada. The Milford Cougar's route, backtracked too many times according to data released by Ct DEP....that NO decent, self-respecting wild cougar would do. A released pet might do so.....but NOT a wild puma.
Tracks of a Mountain Lion were found near Swinging Bridge Reservoir in Sullivan Co, NY in May 2009...Tracks of another mountain lion were found near Corbett, Delaware Co, NY in June 2010...NOT a word from NY DEC as to why they haven't claimed the Milford Cougar was seen in above 2 locationsin 2009 & 2010...or were these OTHER wild cougars from S.D., eastern Canada or up the road in Adirondack National Park???
John A. Lutz
Eastern Puma Reserach Network
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From: Helen McGinnis COUGAR REWILDING
To: Meril, Rick
Subject: Re: Coyotes,Wolves,Cougars..forever!
To: Meril, Rick
Subject: Re: Coyotes,Wolves,Cougars..forever!
A solid black cougar has never been documented. The photo shows three gray Florida panther kittens. Mark Lotz told me that when they were older, they grew into ordinary tan colored panthers. One of them was killed on a highway recently.
Black bobcats definitely exist. In Florida for sure, and probably elsewhere.
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From:,Carmel
To: Rick Meril
Re:" Black Panthers"
I can shed a lot of light on these black panthers.
The 2 kits shown held by the FW officer, if I remember correctly one of them did not survive to adulthood, but I do know that at least one of them as an adult had a normal pelt, buff colored coat. It did not turn into a Black cat. You can review these kits information on the Florida Panther network site FWC.
Hard to tell from the photo of the black cat in the field, its body was very broad. If it was in fact a large cat more likely a black leopard-- (Escaped animal)
If your not up on them or catch them in the right light you cannot tell the larger black cats have spots - could be either leopard or Jaguar.
Native Tales could in fact be referring to a Black jaguar as apposed to a cougar, jags used to inhabit this country. The cougars when in shadow can also look black/dark in color.
Bobcats can be melanistic, My husband & I actually saw a very dark brown bobcat cross the road in front of us near the Sawgrass rec park Fl.
- Carmel.
Posts
3 comments:
on October 22, 2013, I was driving on Rt. 16, in Wentworth Location, approx. 8:30am. going downtown. which is approx. 8 miles from my camp. as I was approx. 2 miles down the road,in a deserted area, I came across a solid black cat in the middle of the road. it was very large, and had a very long extended tail on it. I am an animal person, and can identify most anything. this was a solid black panther, or mountain lion. it stood in the middle of the road until I got a little closer, and then disappeared into the woods, from which it came. it stood on the double yellow line for approx. 5 seconds, and then, just took about 3 leaps, and it was gone. so, don't tell me there are no black panthers, or mountain lions in the state of new Hampshire !!
Jaguars are often black colored,,,,,,,,,,,Pumas?????? Likely not..............and no Jaguars in New England, of course, let alone in the Southwest, save a lonesome wanderer now and again
Another subject I have great interest in(and some experience)!.....I've been following the possibility of cougar/panther/painter/puma/mountain lion prescence in the Eastern U. S. for 50+ years now. I don't think we have a breeding population of any size YET, but I do believe it is only a matter of time before we do(yee-haw!)--especially in the Appalachian chain, and in the larger swamps. Black cougars????? Being a cougar keeper in a large zoo, I have to fence with this question all the time from visitors--it is an EXTREMELY popular notion that people can be absolutely vehement about! The FACTS are, there HAS NEVER BEEN a verifiable case of a black cougar EVER--and this is after zillions have been hunted and killed throughout the centuries, and even more telling in recent decades, bred in captivity, often in large numbers for the exotic pet trade. IF there were such a color variety, you CAN BET it would have been exploited by breeders, as black leopards(the REAL "black panthers"!), white lions and white tigers have been. There HAVE been a few verified cases of WHITE cougars(albinos), but they are exceedingly rare. In the sense that due to genetic mutations nothing is impossible, it certainly MIGHT be possible one day a black cougar might be born, but to put that in perspective, it is LESS LIKELY than an albino! IF people are REALLY seeing large black cats with long tails, they are either escaped black leopards, or possibly escaped captive black jaguars, or hard-to-believe as it might seem--BLACK HOUSE CATS! I used to think NO ONE could ever mistake a HOUSECAT for a cougar/panther, but alas, I have dealt with several cases of just this PITIFUL mistaken identity, from otherwise intelligent(but NOT woods savvy!) people! Including people involved as professionals regarding animals that SHOULD know better! So that DOES happen, quite commonly, alas. An escaped/released black panther(i. e. LEOPARD!!!!) is VERY POSSIBLE, and I personally am suprised leopards from the exotic pet trade have not established a feral population in the U. S.(especially in the south, where I live),as incredibly adaptable and elusive as they are, and the fact that in Africa and Asia they often live in very close proximity with developed human areas quite successfully! But if we DID have such a feral population, people would/SHOULD be seeing SPOTTED leopards as well, as the melanistic color phase is NOT as common in wild populations. But you NEVER(at least I haven't ever)read or hear about someone seeing a spotted "panther"!!!!.....L.B.
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