big cats in s.c.

[falcon40]

are there really big cats[panthers]in s.c? saw on the news tonight a knightsville woman had her 100lb german sheppard was taken over a 6ft. privacy fence.said she didnt see it happen but found large cat tracks and evidence of the abduction. hope to hear more about it.last i heard d.n.r. denied their existance.almost everyone i know knows someone that knows someone that has seen one or had a close encounter with what they said was a large dark cat?

[BOGSTER]

they exist in SC, disregard any info from DNR or anyone who tells you otherwise. I don't know of any conspiracy or anything like that. But one of my close friends filmed one attacking his turkey decoy. Everyone in my area saw the video. He sent it to DNR 4 years ago and has heard nothing from them. He was told the video was enough proof and by luck DNR lost the tape.
i saw a very large cat on hwy 267 near lowfalls a year ago. He crossed between me and an oncoming tractor trailer. We both couldn't believe what we saw and stopped to talk about it. I was still in shock when the driver of the truck jumped out and said "was that what i think it was"
Someone find the data on the last recorded cougar in SC

[HuntinCosta]

I saw one about 5 years ago in Jacksonboro on some property that backed up to Hope Plantation. We figured Ted must have released it on his place, maybe not, who knows?

[Tuffy]

The most recent "confirmation" that I know of...If true. This is from an abstract of a Post & Courier article from January.

In 1966, a government biologist and a clerk at the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge saw what they believed was a cougar and found some feces and tracks. They sent the droppings to a Canadian scientist, who said he found cougar hair -- something you would expect because cougars, like other cats, groom themselves by licking their fur. It seemed like solid proof, but state and federal wildlife officials maintained then, as they do today, that cougars don't exist here, and that people are most likely confusing them with dogs, bears, bobcats and, more recently, coyotes.

[Tuffy]

...and a bibliography of paper/articles on the subject:

http://www.istormcats.com/species/co...dy.asp?key=208

[falcon40]

kinda makes you wonder why?

[TKB]

years ago when i was a crewchief for a surveying company the company i was working for won the bid to build the 521 bypass through andrews towards charlston, for about a year i spent surveying all across westvaco property and among other strange things saw many very big cat tracks 3 to 4 times the size of a bobcat track, in every track the claws were retracted so i know it was a cat and a huge one at that. I during that time found out from locals that there had been many sightings of large cats in that area, dont know for sure but i wouldnt doubt it.

[falcon40]

didnt get that promotion,huh.

[Sashimi]

Originally posted by Duck Tape:
I seen Swamp Thing jump an 8 ft fence with a goat in his mouth. We sent a hair sample to the Bigfoot Institute of North America and some guy named Raul said it arrived empty. Pretty sure the postal service is connected with the CIA and confiscated the contents. Of course I kept a sample knowing that would happen and sent it to a trusted friend who determined it was Hillary.
Dang!

A newly elected public official with a sense of humor and a dose of reality.

Fresh air and sunlight are going to two good things for the SC House starting January 9th.

[Duckkiller]

A cousin of mine was deer hunting a large tract (1500++acre) in laurens, SC about 2 years ago maybe 3. Didnt video and does not have any other witnesses, but said he saw a large black cat. The cat was seen by some farm workers on other particular encounters as well.

I think we do have some, but they are scarce and very smart. I don't want to see one on my place, I think I'll shit myself.

[JABIII]

Horseshit. There are no and there never have been any "big black cats" seen in South Carolina. The fact is, they just don't exist...

The Puma (Puma concolor), also known as the Cougar or Mountain Lion, is a large, solitary cat found in the Americas. It has a vast range, from Yukon Territory in Canada to the southern Andes of South America. Their primary food is deer, but they hunt prey in a range of sizes, from insects, mice, rabbits, to the domestic cats, domestic dogs, alpaca and even Bighorn Sheep and Elk. They are secretive cats who usually avoid people, and attacks on humans are extremely rare and usually brought on by human actions[1]. Due to overhunting and continual human development of puma habitat, populations have dropped in many parts of their historical range, although recent conservation efforts have allowed the puma's numbers to improve in some areas.

However, sport hunting for pumas in the United States is still commonplace, and is permitted in every state from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, with the exception of California. Pumas are generally hunted with packs of dogs that chase the animal until it usually climbs a tree for refuge, from where the hunters shoot it down. State agency records show that over 30,000 pumas were killed for sport between 1996-2006, one of the highest totals for any decade on record.

Pumas are known by many regional names, including Panther, Catamount, Painter, American lion, Mexican lion, Florida Panther, Silver Lion, Red Lion, Red Panther, Red Tiger, Brown Tiger, Deer Tiger, Ghost Cat, Mountain Screamer, Indian Devil, Sneak Cat, King Cat, and Painted Cat. The word puma comes from the Quechua language. In Brazil it is also known as Suçuarana, from the Tupi language, but also has other names. In fact in the English language the Puma has over 40 different names.

In North America, particularly the United States, panther by itself refers to a Puma when the context implies a local species. In South America, panther refers to the Jaguar and can refer to either the spotted or black Jaguar.

There is a considerable variation in color and size of these animals across their large range of habitats. Adult weights can range from 180-200 pounds. However, in spite of anecdotal accounts of "black panthers" in the Puma's range (and outside the Jaguar's), melanism has never been documented in Pumas. Such anecdotal accounts are particularly prominent in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States, a region where P. concolor is accepted as having been wholly extirpated by the late 1800's, and where breeding populations have not been documented as re-established by 2005.

[tradorion]

Why in the hell would you send the only copy of a tape to ANYBODY?? Keep the original for your own records...

Does my Department think they exist in SC? Nope.

Do I as a private SC sportman? YUP!!

Are they truly wild critters that stay in out of the way places or critters that got away/were released by someone? NO FRIGGIN CLUE

But as to the idea of them being here- stranger things have happened.

T

[BOGSTER]

No no, people that claim they have seen a black cat have been smoking pot in the deerstand. Jab is right, there have never been Black Cats in North America. The animal i saw and the animal in the video are the same color and shape.
And Trad, you would think that he would have made two copies, but you would also think you could trust your state's DNR to atleast make information like that public.

[JABIII]

Originally posted by bogster:
Jab is right, there have never been Black Cats in North America.

Not exactly. There are melanistic or "black" jaguars that roam as far north as Azizona and New Mexico...

[SCTIMBER]

Never seen one myself, seen some tracks before that I thought might have been one but nothing to put my eyes on, have seen some very large bobcats, a guy that stays on the other side of town from me shot one a few years ago in Bear Swamp (not far from Ashpole) if any body local knows it, and it was one of the biggest bobcats I'd ever seen, didn't really know they got that big. But as far as black cats, I wouldn't doubt it

[BOGSTER]

the animals that we have, are pumas. they were all but wiped out, but i believe they have returned, migrating from southern florida.
when we lived down there, you would occastionally hear of one hit on I-95 as far up as Jacksonville.

[Fat Sales Guy]

I don't throw this around much and usually don't buy into things things that are on the pheriphary of proven.

I know for a fact that I saw a cat. I was a junior in highschool (92) and was driving between Jacksonboro and Round-O late (around 2:00 or so) and had a cat cross the road some 50yds or so in front of me. Tawney colored/ long body/ long tail. No way a bobcat (seen hundreds).

What of the few extra-ordinary things that I have ever seen.

[Catdaddy]

Black long-tailed cat= River otter

[2thDoc]

i have seen a brown, long-tailed, (black-tipped) cat in the 80-100 pound range. turkey hunting. at 50 yards.

cut'em saw a similar cat in the same area. i'm sure he can relay his story, too.

[mirroman]

I am sorry 2th, but you are wrong according to the experts. Or you were smoking dope...