Mebbe so, but do they interact with any Black Panthers in the Area?
Posted on 08/10/2009 7:32:01 AM PDT by BGHater
A series of unusual accounts last week show that black panthers and bears are becoming more legend than mystery in the Bay Area.
Lynn Reed, a ranch owner, avid hunter and wildlife expert, said he and his wife watched what appeared to be a black mountain lion for more than 10 minutes in the foothills near Dublin in Alameda County. The next day, another one was seen by an engineer in the nearby San Ramon hills.
Reed's 10-minute sighting is the longest, eye-witness account of a black mountain lion reported by a wildlife expert in 20 years. It is similar to a Fish and Game warden's description from the 1980s near Sunol Regional Wilderness.
The pelt of a black mountain lion has never been recovered by officials, according to the Department of Fish and Game, and they say a black panther does not exist in California. One theory is that a genetic mutant is out there. Another is that the owner of exotic wildlife, such as a black jaguar, let an animal loose.
"He was black as can be with a head the size of a cantaloupe," Reed said. "We watched it for 10 minutes. I said to my wife, 'Look how its tail goes back and curls up, look how its shoulders move.' It was 3 feet long, the tail 2 1/2 feet, maybe 60, 75 pounds."
A similar animal was seen last week in the nearby San Ramon hills by a surveyor, Art Whitten. "I was setting up an aerial panel and I felt something watching me," Whitten said. "I turned and he was sitting in a ravine, 100 feet away. Of course, at first I was nervous, but he showed no interest in me.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
That probably is the most likely theory. There are a lot more unresponsible people than you think who believe that can care for a wild cat, but than neglect them.
There, now that's out of the way
and don’t forget the breeding populations of released pet pythons in the Everglades
That is why you dont go hiking barefoot. Never go away from your vehicle without your short rifle.
Never seen one here, mountain lion that is, on this side of the valley, yet ... but recently, wifey says she has seen small groups of deer in the neighborhood in the middle of the night on poodle pee runs.. hungry I reckun. I stayz away from cougars.
After one of these "wild sanctuary" big cat attacks in California several years ago, I read that the population of these kinds of animals in that state numbers in the thousands, approaching 10K - including zoos. That's a big number. It's reasonable to assume that one of these (or several even) have escaped over the years.
Not sure if “short rifle” means the same thing in English, but if it does, leaving it in car would be a biological impossibility.
These have all been “proven” on TV to be merely large black house cats... Take no notice.
Mebbe so, but do they interact with any Black Panthers in the Area?
If so, the results are positively Revolutionary Revolting.
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