Mountain Lion in NY

[Water Rat]

I have never made any claim that black panthers exist in North America , let alone New York state. I was simply responding to the claim that the large percentage of the mountain lion sightings were black. A black panther is typically a melanistic color variant of several different species of large cats, whether they be jaguars, leopards and in very rare circumstances tigers. I hope this helps.

[Single_shot]

Get the bat.

[Sogaard]

Exactly what species are these "black panthers" that you mention...?

I have been somewhat of a student of worldwide animal biology over the years, not as a PHD, but as a person who is interested in such things...

I never saw any documentation of a "black panther" unless you are talking about those black homo sapiens whose organization bears that name.

The only black feline I ever have seen documented is a black phase of the jaquar, which exists in South and Central America, and occasionally gets as far north as southern Arizona in North America..

Tell us about these "black panthers" that supposedly exist in North America, especially as far north as New York..

Pictures or any biological evidence would be helpfull...

Please educate me.

Ask, and you shall receive: http://marvel.com/universe/Black_Panther_%28T%27Challa%29

[WNYBuckHunter]

WNYBuckHunte

Nope,

Not a bobcat. Long thick tail that does not taper. Got a good look indeed. What a presumptuous __- you are to think you know what I saw. I know you weren't traveling 7-mph--you were not there at all! I wasn't traveling 70 mph either. Funny how someone like you would feel more comfortable saying it was an elephant in drag or that I was hallucinating then it is for you to accept that it likely was exactly how I described it. Long thick tail. Redish/tan/orange with black markings on round face. Those were the most obvious and clearly viewed features. come on now. Tell me what I saw. Let me know what has a long thick tail, cat features, round face with dark lines/markings. That was what I saw. If you come up with something else that matches those features....cool.

Was most likely a mountain lion. The mountain lion found in a NY apartment happened once-- around 2003-approximately 9 years ago. The ml in CT was about 16 months ago. There are quite a few ML in captivity in zoos and places like Paws and Claws (which I know is in PA-but I said "LIKE"). There are not a lot of mountain lions being raised as pets in people's homes. There are not a lot of Mountain lions raised and then let loose when they become too much for the people raising them. What makes me think you work for some state or federal agency? Just wondering. You'll are eating your words. How do they taste?

Hey, uh, not to drag up old stuff, but I remembered this post you made, and the thing about not going as fast as I said you were on I-81 when you saw the cat. Weeeeellllll, I happened to run across this little gem today...

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/upstateny/msg0606125911089.html

....and on Jan 17th (yesterday) someone going by the handle "LionsandTigers" posted up your same story. I can only believe it was you that posted it, and in this version of the story, you mention that you were traveling highway speeds, in fact you said "65 mph". I believe you called me a "presumptuous __-" lol. Guess my presumption was pretty spot on.

[tuckersdaddy]

my hunting buddy bow hunted the bottom of the rock cut in whitney point, family owns property on top of the rock cut. my buddy saw at least 2 different bob cats in there this season, sighted a 3rd but couldnt tell if it was the one of the same ones or a 3rd bob. family has seen a bob wondering around the top of rock cut. my aunt said she knows when to look, the dogs go nuts. there have been some dead torn up critters in the area, but with bob sighting, coyots shot, and a bear hit 1000ft off of 81 on rt 26,and at least 30 trailcams i know of in the area, cant say he didnt see a big cat but........

[lionsandtigers]

Yes I as probably going about 65. I did not think that very fast but the speed limit until I saw the thing. I am not sure why people would prefer me to say that I saw something the looked like a bob cat because I'd be just as happy to learn it was a bob cat-so I could stop trying to find others who saw it---but one of the distinguishing features was its thick tail. And, yes I have posted all over. I am looking for anyone who saw it or who has seen similar or who may be interested in exploring the area. Why in the world would I be motivated to lie. If you told me a bob cat had a long tail, I'd be fine with saying-good, its a bob cat. Why does everyone prefer it to be a bob cat. At this point, I am sure it was a young (and maybe very young) mountain lion. I was traveling fast enough that I may have missed details so if there are other animals similar but with different characteristics I may have missed because I was passing it too fast, I'm fine with that. But, the thing had a thick long tail that did not taper like a domestic cat. I am really just looking for others who may have seen it--and don't really care if you believe me or not because it makes no difference to me whether you do or don't. I just want to locate others who may have seen it or know about it. And, Tuckersdaddy-no it wasn't a bob cat because it had a long tail. I would like to see a bob cat but this wasn't one. They don't have tails that would clear the hind legs to mid-torso.

[lionsandtigers]

I will also add that, until recently, threads just like this one were posted about Missouri. Not any more. Have you seen the camera images. They went from denying the possibility of sightings to the usual "no reproducing..." to hey we have loads of um. From 1927-1993-nothing. A total of four throughout the entire 1990s. Then 14 confirmed in 2011 and 2012 is off to a roaring start! Why don't you believe that the same thing could be happening here? Odd that some people are so freaked out that there could be mountain lions out there that, even when confirmed sightings are increasing exponentially in other states, they can't bring themselves to believe it could happen here. What difference does it make? There are now tons of black bears-in places like Vestal. Why be strung out about mountain lions?

[lionsandtigers]

oops I meant 2013!

[WNYBuckHunter]

Im not saying you are intentionally lying, well, you did about how fast you were going until I accidentally caught your lie, but mostly you were just mistaken about what you saw. I dont care about Missouri, which is much closer to the areas where Mountain Lions actually exist than NY. And even though they are not sure there is a regular, breeding population there yet, there are confirmed sightings, complete with evidence including trail cam and other pictures. None of that has come from NY.

[landtracdeerhunter]

[WNYBuckHunter]

Pass me some of that buttery goodness!

[lionsandtigers]

Really WNYBuckhunter, why the accusations? I have no reason to lie for goodness sake. I am trying to contact people who may have seen what i saw or who may be interested in looking at that area. I would have no reason to lie since that would make what I want less likely not more. I am also not looking for anything besides information. I don't usually read hunting or nature sites but have followed google links anywhere they take me in search of someone who may know something about what I saw. I want to be as accurate as possible-something would increase the odds that someone who did see what I saw will come forward. Lying would do the opposite. I don't care what it was but I want to hear from others who saw it. What, do yo think I am looking for fame or fortune? What in the world would lying do for me? Can you not tell that I really want to know the story behind what I saw? It is really bothersome to have seen something so odd and not be able to find out anything-thus the time I've spent on something I acknowledge is absurd-trying to figure it out.

In terms of how fast I was going. No I did not lie. Why would I. I was not going too fast. I an a more careful driver than most on 81 who fly by me. I don't' have a radar gun. There are tons of cops on 81. So, I'm not whizzing by. I go under the speed limit usually. Always, no, But usually. I was not going too fast to see what I reported. I was on I-81 driving a car.Next time you are driving on a straight road (recall my sighting was on a straight stretch of 81-before 81 goes through the rocks of Whitney Point) identify something in the distance on the shoulder of the road. Now, as you approach it going 65, notice how long a time you are able to see the item and how much information you are able to encode. it is pretty substantial. it is true that you will miss some detail. I am sure I did. Did I conjure up detail. No. But, I could not say that I am certain the animal was solidly colored. Maybe there were stripes or dots. But i was passing it, And, in terms of its face and everything else, I was only a few feet from it when I passed it. Since it was so much larger than any cat I'd ever seen before, something that captured my attention as soon as it was at all visible to me, I was watching it from the first glance until I was past it. There was nothing obscuring my view. I would have to be brain damaged not to have been able to see such obvious features as what the tail looked like or if the head was round or oblong. If motivated to lie, I'd make my descriptions much more similar to the usual pictures you see of mountain lions. But the face was far rounder than any pictures I have seen. So, if there is something out there that has the other features I mention but has a much rounder face than a mountain lion, I'd say it was that and not amountain lion. But, I did not conjure up a tail, for instance.Ithought the tail had gravel on it. Now that I have seen pictures I imagine that the gravel could really have been the coloring but, that was not how I interpreted what I saw the first time. I thought it was probably soiled by tar and gravel. In terms of it being a bob cat. I assure you that would have impressed me much more because of how odd it is. I would have been much more impressed with the truncated tail that the bob cat has if I had seen that. I don't think I had ever seen anything like that until I started to look up all the animals that the dispatcher mentioned to me. What an odd looking animal-much more so than a mountain lion. Believe me, if I had seen such an odd looking thing I would have noticed it and been able to distinguish it from a mountain lion. Again, I don't see why anyone would be motivated to lie about seeing a mountain lion if they had really seen a bob cat. If you wanted to impress me, either cat would do.

[lionsandtigers]

Also WNYBuckHunter, You are correct. I don't know what various unusual animals look like. I still don't know many. Now I know the ones that were on the original list that the dispatcher told me. After she told me that the animal was no longer there, I asked her what it could have been. So, she listed about 10 animals that could be red (orange, tan, tawny-similar to the color of some orange tabby cats). I took the list and googled each one looking for features that matched the ones I knew were present. Long tail that did not taper, round face, etc. Before I did that, I had no idea what a lynx or a bob cat or a mountain lion looked like. I cared only to the extent that I did not like having seen something i could not identify. That is a very unsettling feeling. So, I looked every one of the animals she mentioned up on google images even the ones I was pretty certain I knew. Fox, for instance. Well I was pretty sure that a fox would not have those features-but maybe there was a variant that did. So I looked them all up. So, I certainly acknowledge that I did not immediately think I saw a mountain lion. Nope. In fact, when the dispatcher started to list the animals I initially laughed because some seemed absurd. I was not inclined to jump at the idea that I saw a mountain lion because I did not know any of those animals were anywhere in this country except the zoo. Lynx, bob cat mountain lion, are you kidding me? So, all were equally implausible to me. I knew that there were bears in the area because a few years before there was a problem in Vestal with bears. They were getting into garbage and were hanging out in some of the newer developments on South Mountain. But, nobody had ever mentioned that there were these other things roaming out there-like bob cats and lynx. Anyway, I did not immediately identify the name of the animal I saw and I am willing to believe I did not exhaust all the possibilities. But, they have to match-round face with cat like features reminding me of a raccoon due to the markings, But I simply could not find anything else that had the features that I saw. The tail was unmistakable because it was noticeably different from a tabby cats. I do know a lot about domestic cats.

[WNYBuckHunter]

What accusations am I incorrect about? You claimed you were not driving highway speeds when you saw what you did. Did you not? I then found another post by you on another site where you said you were traveling 65mph. Did I not? Is 65mph not highway speeds? You are coming up with all kinds of details that one would never be able to properly distinguish at 65mph while they are driving.

Again, Im not saying you are intentionally lying about seeing a mountain lion, Im saying you are mistaken about what it was you saw. The rest of the details are embellishments and/or lies.

Also, again, mountain lions faces look nothing like a raccoon.

[wooly]

Time to put this topic to rest!

I believe lionsandtigers may have seen one of these... they walk among us you know, and it does kinda have the face of a raccoon!

http://youtu.be/LJ7zyNnEeyM

[BizCT]

you created a username called lionsandtigers, and all you do is post about mountain lions.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Lmao wooly!

[tughillhunter]

I got pics of sasquatch stealing beer in my shop. Its amazing. The killer of this true story that i just made up, is he has a mt. lion on a darn leash. Amazing.

[wdswtr]

Ummm so after all this searching for anyone else to confirm what you say you saw I have to ask how many have confirmed the same results in this quest of yours? What is the obsession with trying to find someone to confirm what you believe was a mountain lion anyways?