Sorry to disagree Phil, but I've seen a large black cat before in
North America. In Florida actually. Regardless of the " proper name"
of the animal or what species. It was a very large black cat.
I was out hiking/hunting one day in some nearby woods, when I was in
my early twenties when I rounded a bend in the trail, there was a very
large black cat standing about 30 yards from me on the trail. The cat
was larger/longer than a Labrador retriever and pure black. (Just a
note on weather. It was not raining, it was bright and sunny outside.
And the animal's coat was black as night.) There was NO MISTAKING this
animal for a house cat. Scared the shit out of me, and probably sacred
him/her too. The cat stared at me for about 20-30 seconds, both of us
frozen in our tracks, then it turned and bolted up the hill into the
forest.
After waiting another minute or so to make sure the cat wasn't coming
back, I walked to the spot in the trail, and saw the tracks in the
soft sand. They were about 2.5-3 inches across, or a little small than
the center of the palm of my hand.
I grew up in the woods of Florida, and spent most of my childhood and
early adult life hunting and hiking the southeast. I've seen and
hunted deer, hog, and Bobcat, and tracked them over long distances.
The tracks left by the large black cat I saw were at least twice the
size of bobcat tracks (bigger than a silver dollar).
I've also spent a bit of time in the desert in the southwest, I've
seen mountain lions in the wild in the northwest, and I've run across
big cat tracks in California and Arizona while out hunting meteorites.
Point being, they are very distinct tracks, and unmistakable. They'll
also give you chills if they are in your tracks too!
Now, maybe what I saw was a cougar or "Florida Panther"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_panther But I can tell you this
cat wasn't brown or dark brown. It was jet black, and close enough I
could see the golden eyes of this magnificent animal.
Perhaps this was a genetic mutation of the more common Florida
Panther/Cougar which ranges all over the southeast USA. Not sure.
All that said, I wouldn't discount a large black cat just because most
have never seen one, in Texas or anywhere in the USA for that matter.
Regards,
Eric
Quoting dorifry <dori...@embarqmail.com>:
Just to clarify, there are no black panthers (Panthera) living in North
America. Texas has lots of mountain lions from the Puma genus. Black
panther sightings are urban legends.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_br_w7000_0232.pdf
Phil Whitmer
Joshua Tree Earth & Space Museum
----- Original Message ----- From: "McCartney Taylor"
<mccart...@blackbearddata.com>
To: <meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 12:17 AM
Subject: [meteorite-list] 2nd Report from Strewnfield in Edgewood Texas
Nothing has been found where the radar data said it might be. Torvald
and Donavan have left the zone replaced by Stephen Thompson out of
Fredricksburg TX who is an expert on Sonic Boom characteristics.
I've been lucky enough to get some media attention to try to motivate
the public to assist here is today's interview on TV. This is the 5 TV
interview I've given since arriving.
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/video/6713580-meteor-hunters-scouring-north-texas/
We spent the day interviewing more witnesses & compiling and extending
the range of sonic boom farther to the east to include Wills Point, and
southern Lake Tawakanii.
We'll do some field samplings tomorrow east of 19.
Also as a warning. I've heard from a local that the landowner who owns
the land in the north where the upper radar blip is, has gotten very
hostile to all outsiders. The local warned me to tell everyone to stay
off that property. He thinks the landowner may shoot to wound or maim.
So I'd like everyone to take that threat to heart.
At this point, we have two new important observations and think the
strewnfield to be east of 19 now.
At this point, there have been no Z sightings, but the Black Panther
remains a constant threat. 5 dogs were killed. Also, the park rangers
at the state park warned us that a mountain lion has been spotted in the
area.
Some sonic boom activity has been traced back to some individual using
some kind of reactive explosive that detonates when shot by a bullet.
The local police has informed us this has been a bit of a problem for
weeks. Consequently, it really screws up our acoustical survey.
and a mention and big hand to Dirk Ross, David Gonzales, and Marc Fries
for giving us back support.
-mccartney taylor & stephen thompson
(meteorite hunter) (offical panther bait)
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