Mississippi man spots possible cougar across road from Wendy's

Now, the article calls this a cougar, but it's the wrong color, and I can't buy it being "dirty" making it look that dark! More like one of those pesky American black cats, that "don't exist", if you ask me! Far too large to be a house cat, for certain. Melanistic cougar? I know someone who claims to have seen one, in Texas. Some other sort of large cat, all black?

Oct. 17 (UPI) -- An astonished Mississippi man captured video of a mysterious big cat he spotted wandering across the street from a local Wendy's. The video, recorded Wednesday, shows a dark-colored large cat wandering a grassy field across the street from the Wendy's fast food eatery in Hernando. "I was out running normal errands, and I stopped to pick up some lunch at Wendy's," the man wrote. "Once I pulled up, I saw something walking into the field. At first I expected it to be a deer or dog, but realized it was a large cat. Then I quickly started filming the cat because I have never seen a cat that large before." Commenters suggested the animal appears to be a cougar, and may have merely appeared to have dark coloration due to being dirty.

link

What say you, ATS?

Looks like a good video, to me, of a large black cat!!

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

Your link is dead

Looks like a black panther to me. Curious why it is out in broad daylight like that. Maybe it was once someone's pet and they had to release it. Sadly, it will probably be hunted now but I hope it is captured and relocated, for I understand the danger of having an apex predator on the loose.

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

Embedding...Could be a Black Panther, a cougar but black. They er out there.

Seems completely oblivious its in plain sight during daylight. Kind of odd. Are there any reported missing from zoos? Maybe released during hurricanes?

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

There are definitely panthers/cougars in MS. I’m from there and my uncle was a game warden.

I heard about this case, but haven’t watched the video. I will now.

Just as a guess before I watch it, though cougars are definitely here, a black one would be SUPER rare. So that I doubted.

originally posted by: rigel4
a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

Your link is dead

Thanks for the heads up! Should be working now.

a reply to: intrptr

Appreciated, and fixed in the OP as well. They apparently added extra crap on the links, didn't realize!

originally posted by: waftist

Looks like a black panther to me. Curious why it is out in broad daylight like that. Maybe it was once someone's pet and they had to release it. Sadly, it will probably be hunted now but I hope it is captured and relocated, for I understand the danger of having an apex predator on the loose.

Now that's interesting!!

I especially like the one line - "Black panthers haven't been documented in Mississippi in more than 100 years." So, they were before?!?!? That would be news to the official claims now, wouldn't it?? I'd bet it was no pet, personally. These things are seen far too often to be exotic pets, all turned loose. Always black, too, never spotted, or a tiger, etc? Sure, those escape, but are reported as such. The ones seen that seem to be wild, and no one's reported an escape, are always black.

originally posted by: JoshuaCox
a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

There are definitely panthers/cougars in MS. I’m from there and my uncle was a game warden.

I heard about this case, but haven’t watched the video. I will now.

Just as a guess before I watch it, though cougars are definitely here, a black one would be SUPER rare. So that I doubted.

I hear that, but I know a guy, fro HS days, that claims to have seen a black cougar. Not a "panther", he stated, but a cat that looked like a cougar, save for being black. So, possible. Could be one of those other sorts of black cats, too! I suspect black jaguars, and far more common than is officially believed, and with a far greater range. They are elusive, after all!

As for cougars, oh, yeah, all over that state, and all the rest of them. They are starting to admit that they are in other states, these days, such as Tennessee, where they claim they have "returned". I don't believe they ever left. No reason they would have, and people all over have claimed they have seen them for many long years, even when they were officially "not there". What does your uncle say about those claims, out of curiosity?

Cool video.

I saw something similar outside Smokey Mountain NP about two years ago along the highway even though all the official web sites say there aren't any in North America. Early morning but light outside. Pretty much the same size and shape as in the video, maybe a little smaller.

Wiki on Black Panthers

Also a few years ago - maybe five? - I saw a mountain lion - same size and shape as the panther in the video, that is, big! - right along I-495 outside Boston, middle of the day, slow traffic on the highway. Web sites say there aren't any in Boston either. Got a good look at that one, gave me chills when I saw it.

Panther. We even have those in Georgia. Looks like evening and the sun going down. Just about right for em to be on the move.
Lets stay in Wendy's and chat a while , shall we ? May want to help the employees clean up after closing time as well

I no longer believe the "official" story on any wildlife NOT existing somewhere. And people shooting video like this are why. How are they going to argue that?

Here in MI, we did NOT have Cougars. Just ask the DNR. They would repeat that over and over and over. Even with pics being caught on trailcams.
Then the video was taken, of one in an area that is highly populated (and extremely wealthy). The official story changed immediately.

Very cool video. I would have been too excited to remember I had a phone, I think.

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

Apparently if there were in fact black panthers in the USA we'd find them as road kill. But according to what I've read we've never found any.

It's probably a cougar of some sort. And it looks dark because of the lighting.

FYI. There have been no authenticated cases of truly melanistic cougars.

There are plenty of panthers in America. My former uncle used to hunt them at his deer/hog lease in SeTX.

originally posted by: LanceCorvette
Cool video.

I saw something similar outside Smokey Mountain NP about two years ago along the highway even though all the official web sites say there aren't any in North America. Early morning but light outside. Pretty much the same size and shape as in the video, maybe a little smaller.

Wiki on Black Panthers

Also a few years ago - maybe five? - I saw a mountain lion - same size and shape as the panther in the video, that is, big! - right along I-495 outside Boston, middle of the day, slow traffic on the highway. Web sites say there aren't any in Boston either. Got a good look at that one, gave me chills when I saw it.

Oh, great sightings!! I know the Smokies, but never saw a cat there. Heck, I never even saw a bear, best as I can recall!! Wish I could, from a safe distance, of course!! Plenty for a cat to hunt, in any case! They are finally admitting cougars are in Tennessee, in light of too much evidence to deny, so perhaps they will for the Boston area eventually. People all over the country report seeing cougars, and these black cats, all the time, so I don't know why they can't just admit there are there! Heck, places they do admit they live, they claim they are "rare", like in Florida. Was one living near where my eldest lived, near the west central Florida coast. Supposedly, they aren't in that area, but they are.

originally posted by: Gothmog
Panther. We even have those in Georgia. Looks like evening and the sun going down. Just about right for em to be on the move.
Lets stay in Wendy's and chat a while , shall we ? May want to help the employees clean up after closing time as well

I suspect they are in a lot of places! Yeah, I'd be staying in till it was gone, myself, just to be safe, and checking things out even when I did leave!

When the hubby was still in the Army, we were in NE KS, and my older son and I were certain a large cat was stalking us. No idea if a cougar, panther, or what, but something! You could feel it, a clear threat, and I know the "feel" of a cat, too. Both dogs - both large - that we were walking, typically fearless, were very skittish, too, and clearly felt threatened as well. I'd guess only the fact that there were two dogs and two full-sized people there kept us from being attacked. We'd have been defenseless. Same area, my younger son stated once that he saw a large spotted cat, in a tree right across the street from us! Large tree, mostly vertical, and half dead, but some places a big cat could rest. He wasn't inventing, either, and the kids all knew what a bobcat looks like. We had the at the local zoo that you could see from very close up, right through glass. I went online and pulled up pics of spotted cats, and he stated the spots, as best he could tell, were more like those of a jaguar, than a leopard or cheetah. Maybe that's what stalked us that night? I don't know, but something did!! Oh, and the dogs either ignored, or barked at and tried to chase bobcats, no fear at all, though they could have been hurt if they'd been allowed to pursue one.

originally posted by: chiefsmom
I no longer believe the "official" story on any wildlife NOT existing somewhere. And people shooting video like this are why. How are they going to argue that?

Here in MI, we did NOT have Cougars. Just ask the DNR. They would repeat that over and over and over. Even with pics being caught on trailcams.
Then the video was taken, of one in an area that is highly populated (and extremely wealthy). The official story changed immediately.

Very cool video. I would have been too excited to remember I had a phone, I think.

So, they show around money, and suddenly officially exist?? Go figure!!!

I'd have been scrambling for my phone! I like video of deer and raccoons, so a large cat, I'd have to get some! My luck, it would run off before I focused!

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

Could have been a black bobcat maybe... I think those get 40lbs and can take down deer.


Your like is broken , but I watched a video from pike, ms debunked. The game warden put up a cut out in the same spot and you can tell it dwarfed whatever the cat was..

At least I think that was the same clip...

Also there is always the option of an escaped/released pet.


That uncle I mentioned once found a pit about 15ft deep that some idiot was using to house a tiger lol...

Appearently he decided that was easier than building a pen..

It would have to be a Jaguar and that far north? An escaped pet is more likely. It does look to big to be a house cat, but to small for a Jaguar which is likely not possible there. Might be someone had a Leopard as a pet? It's not a Cougar/Mountain Lion/ Panther (depends on what they are called in your area).

originally posted by: grey580
a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

Apparently if there were in fact black panthers in the USA we'd find them as road kill. But according to what I've read we've never found any.

It's probably a cougar of some sort. And it looks dark because of the lighting.

FYI. There have been no authenticated cases of truly melanistic cougars.

How do we know we don't? Because officials would report that, if someone hit one? Plus, even cougars aren't hit that often. Cats are more careful. It happens, but far more rarely than with some other animals.

As for the coloring, that's a black cat, no doubt.

No authenticated cases, but a guy I went to HS with claims he saw one in Texas. Plenty of the usual sort, of course, and jaguars were stated - when I was in HS - as being known in that state, too!

Maybe a cougar, and maybe some other black cat, like a black jaguar.