It seems that one of the oldest animal discussions in Georgia is the one centered on big black cats-Black Panthers. While there are panthers and other cats on the terrain of Georgia, it is debatable as to whether there are large black panthers in the state.
One of the oldest sightings of a black panther was in 1958 near Rome, Georgia. A motorist reported that a huge black panther jumped on the side of his car and left muddy pawprints on the side of the automobile. Other reports in Georgia exist, some in the metro-Atlanta area.
In Loren Coleman's book "Mysterious America" he mentions a report from 1975 where the local paper in Stockbridge, Georgia ran a story with the headline "Something Screams in the Night." According to the report, people in the vacinity reported seeing a sleek black cat having a long tail. The animal also had very large eyes, so much so that they were described as the size of silver dollars. The report also mentions that a famers penned up goat had been killed by the animal. A few days later, a few residents of Stockbridge reported seeing the same animal. These reports caused such a furor that officials from the Department of Natural Resources set traps in the area. Officials at the University of Georgia, specifically Dr. Ernest Provost, weighed in on the topic. He declared that "There may be panthers here but they are not black. This black business has never been proven. No one has ever gotten a black panther." The curator of the Atlanta Zoo at that time, Ron Jackson, mentioned that black panthers were not a biological impossibility, but that so far, noone had one.
I didn't realize it, but black panthers seem to be a topic of much debate. According to Coleman, there are zoologist and others in the world of science who have called black panthers the "feline flying saucers" because they are so elusive and mysterious. Others deny that they exist at all, as Dr. Provost illustrated. Noone seems to debate much about cougars and Mountain lions, but black panthers still mystify naturalists and mystery hunters alike.
71 comments:
Oooooh a subject near and dear to me. Bout time someone posted about it!
I can tell you for a FACT that these beauties are alive, well and thriving! Their cries will give you chills though, fore they do mimic a human scream or a childlike crying noise. They are fast, extremely fast and you do not want to come across them alone unarmed in the woods!
1983 in the woods of Whitfield County was my first encounter with a black panther (from a semi safe distance mind you). It proved not to be my last either of these powerful beast. Catching one back then on film was laughable, maybe now with these nifty fast cameras it can be done. But I would have to have my 12 gauge with me too ;)
Thanks Jeff for posting something about I have seen first hand!
This is an interesting story. I also have some information, from the same source mind you, on African Lions in Georgia. I will post that soon.
My husband who has been an avid hunter for more than ten years was on about 200 acres butting next to the National Forest in Jasper County and said he saw a large black cat. Though he said it reminded him more of a lynx than a panther...
Have you heard about jaguars moving back into the US from Mexico?
Our grip on the top of the food chain is starting to feel slippery!
I found an interesting quote in a book I'm currently reading.
Has anyone read "The Search For The Last Undiscovered Animals" by Karl P. N. Shuker? Shuker (in case you are not familiar with him) is a Scientific Fellow of the Zoological Society of London, a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, and a member of the International Society of Cryptozoology.
Here's the quote,
"Mystery Peruvian cat resenbling a giant black panther, entirely black and at least twice the size of the jaguar. Known to the Quechua Indians as the "yana puma" ("black puma"), it is said to be very aggressive at night, tracking hunters to their camps to kill them while they sleep. Known melanistic pumas are extremely rare and are not uniformly black; their underparts are slaty grey. It could be an unusually large variety of melanistic jaguar, one whose cryptic coat markings are wholly concealed by its fur's black background color."
Maybe this is the cat people are seeing...
Shuker has a great Introduction!
He quotes a Traditional African Proverb,
"What is the world's most cunning animal? That which no man has ever seen."
He then goes on to state that more than 300 major new species of animals were scientifically unveiled during the 1900's.
Here are some of those animals:
Okapi (discovered in 1901)-a forest dwelling, short-necked giraffe;
The Mountain Gorilla (1902);
Giant forest hog (1904);
Coelacanth (1938) ya know this one...belongs to an ancient lineage of fishes formerly believed to have DIED out at least 65 MILLION years ago;
Komodo dragon (1912);
Cambodian wild ox or kouprey (1937);
Queen of Sheba's gazelle (1985);
Vu Quang ox (1992)-largest (buffalo-sized) new land mammal to be discovered for more than 50 years;
... and the list goes on!
Some of these newly discovered animals sound pretty big! And the science community didn't recognize that they existed until the 1900's?
I don't know, Prof. Your Bigfoot theory is sounding pretty good.
Hey just the start of this year alone Scientist found 10 new amphibian species that supposedly never existed before.
Some 500 previously unknown species of marine life were discovered during the latest Census of Marine Life, a research effort involving some 2000 researchers from 80 countries. The discoveries, made during 19 ocean expeditions in 2006, included a gigantic 1-centimeter in diameter single-celled organism in the Nazare Canyon off Portugal, a "blonde-haired" lobster near Easter Island, a "chewing" squid, and a four-pound lobster off Madagascar.
A three-week scientific expedition to America's newest marine park, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, may have discovered 100 species of marine creatures including crabs, corals, sea cucumbers, sea quirts, worms, sea stars, snails, and clams. While some of these species are known from other areas, this will be the first time they have been recorded in the French Frigate Shoals of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
All this ^ was just last year alone too. Get the idea and view man has not even begun to get the big picture yet on who all lives on this planet than who and what they first thought?
OH yea!
I think a lot of people don't realize just how many areas of our planet that research teams have not entered - or cannot enter yet.
... and the list I blogged, that over 300 species were "scientifically unveiled" those are the key words - I haven't looked up how many were "discovered" in the 1900's - I'm sure it's quite a few!!
Sorry folks, probably not a panther. You are most likely seeing a Jaguar. They do indeed have a better chance of having the black phase and at one time were known to dwell in the U.S.
Make no mistake that there are Big cats in Georgia. A road kill of a mnt. lion on hwy 106 a few years back in Madison county was all the proof I needed. My mother in law called 911 to get one out of her backyard about the same time. Too many people see them. I can never get the DNR to own up to their existance but I have gotten the Forestry people to confess of their presence. These cats are kept a secret for both their protection and ours according to the forestry official. We need to leave them alone unless they are threatening us. I have practiced taxidermy for fun for 32 years and I have had many calls from people who claim to have just seen one of these cats and they want to know what it would cost them to get one mounted... People don't call for a price because they imagined seeing these cats, they really saw one and they want to kill it. They see the Tawny browns almost always but sometimes there are a few black ones. Of course people have also claimed that they will bring the Bigfoot that just the road in front of them too. And there is the occasional ... ( how much to get my wife mounted ? ). Maybe one day I too will really see one of these critters.
Has anyone ever heard of a WOG, This creature was written about in the early 1800s and it is close to what we would now call a Bigfoot. The early settlers and indians of Georgia had to deal with this animal way back then. Anyone have any knowledge of it ?
Yes, the book Haunted Georgia released by Stackpole Books and written by University of West Alabama English professor Dr. Alan Brown wrote about it. If I am not mistaken it is supposedly part of the local legends from up around Winder, Georgia.
My great great uncle wrote the book you are probably thinking of professor. The early history of Jackson county by G.J Wilson. Other names for this creature were Womback and Wah. I live at Booger hill in Madison county and one of the stories passed down for how it was named was the sightings of bigfoot in the area in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The name bigfoot had not been coined yet. Any info on this creature from anyone would be appreciated. The native Americans and the early settlers had to deal this creature long before Hollywood could create a nation of skeptics.
My golden retriever chased what looked like a big cat - I mean as big as the golden is - about a month ago near our cabin in white county. It was at dusk and it was fast, very fast, so I only caught a glimpse...
For the last two months I have been working on a mans hunting lodge near Greensboro, GA. (Green County)He has 153 acres near I-20 and has several cameras set up about the property to track various wildlife for hunting. Mainly deer and turkey. Yesterday he showed me 3 photos of a large black cat that were captured on film over the last two weeks. It was mid-afternoon and the images were very clear. I believe it to be a Black Panther. It's size was that of an animal I've seen at the zoo. I have heard these stories for many years and now firmly believe in the big cats existence here in Georgia. Seeing is believing. I would love for a knowledgeable zoologist to examine the photos. The owner plans to blow up the photos, framing them and adding to his collection of photos and heads mounted on the walls of his lodge. In all the Google-ing I've done around this subject, I've only found eye witness reports, no photos. This may be the proof needed. I will ask for a copy and post soon if he allows.
I am a firefighter and medical first responder in both Putnam and Morgan Counties. (I'll be 60 later this year.)I add this only because I have developed a certain detachment, required for the work, which creates a necessary objectivity in stressful situations.
are you guys kidding me!?!? I got one shot and stuffed sitting in my addict. i bagged it in the Blue Ridge mountains in 1987 ( where i have lived the past 48 of my 60+ years). it scares the grand kids but i plan on being buried with it. I remember it like it was yesterday. Early one morning i was sitting in my deer stand when i saw a magnificent buck, but before i could get a clean shot it was spooked by something. it was a panther taking down a one of the many does in the area. i could hardly believe it, plus i was a little mad (it scared off a 10 pointer!), so i took it down as it was dragging off its prey . my oldest grandson wants to turn it into a keg stand, but i told him such a beautiful creature deserves better, maybe it could be a whiskey dispenser,ha ha ha. if you wanna see it come on over. It must have weighed 225 or better.
I live in N. Hall County and I have spotted a very large black cat at the edge of my neighbors yard three times in the past few months. I own a large black cat, and there is another black cat in the neighborhood. The cat near my neighbors yard is 3X their size. My neighbor has bird feeders which also attract squirrels. The cat seems to be after the squirrels. My best point of reference for size is the one time it was directly under the bird feeder. This was not a house cat. It has the definite appearance of a small panther.
I'm super excited to have found this post with other people saying they saw the same thing. My husband saw one in Athens two summers ago in the woods behind the YMCA. There are some trails back there that seem to have a lot of people on them, so we thought there might be some other reportings, but I can't find any. It was dusk but there was still enough light to see it. He said he thought it was a black lab at first--same size and with a long tail, but then he noticed that it was leaner and walked like a cat stalking something--basically a dog size with a cat body. It was quick and ran away. He said it was only about 5 feet in front of him before it ran. We looked it up at the time and there weren't any local reports. Glad to hear he's not crazy!
Well all I can say is we have seen two large black cats around our farm in Hart county Ga. We have many deer and coyotees turkeys and other prey that could sustain a population....My Father and Mother have both seen them...within the last month...they are 65 and 71 so they have nothing to prove to anyone about what they have seen and they swear to it....take it for what you will
I saw one while deer hunting in Putnam Co about 10 years back. I was about 2 miles south of Eatonton and about a mile off of US 441. While walking out of the woods at approx. 10 in the morning I saw what I thought was a dog. But when I pulled up my rifle and looked through the scope, I clearly saw a large cat. It stopped and looked right back at me. It was only about 30 yards away from me. I estimate that it was about 2-2.5 feet tall at the shoulder, and it had a 4 feet long body. The coat was very smooth, glossy black, and the tail was almost as long as the body and slender. I did not shoot at it because it turned and ran off deeper into the woods. Really spooked me, and still does.
Last night me and my mom went out side so she could smoke and after a while we looked torword the fire pile where we dump scraps and a big black cat we identified as a black roared at us and we went inside... A couple nights before that we saw something in our field while pulling up. running across with its glowing green eyes
I have seen a Big 'Black' PANTHER running right beside my Yukon 8 years ago on Lookout Mountain in Cloudland Georgia! So for them to say there is no such thing as a blck panther...well, they are just wrong!!!! Tami Darling Alsobrook
I just got in from hunting in Putnam co.just south of eatonton.where yesterday October 31 2009.I was in my tree stand about nine thirty in the morning.I saw a big black cat.It was about 150 yards down the power lines in the road bed.it was about 2 1/2 ft tall and maybe 3 to 4 ft long.It was just standing there,I went to get my binoculers and the big cat just bounced off in the woods.If anyone has seen this cat in the area please contact me clay3845@charter.net
Yes!! They are here!! Nice size to them too!! Can be aggressive! If you shoot 1 you will be fined! :/
In the last few days here in Barnesville,Ga I have had two people see what looks like a large black cat around the house in town.The sightings were here in the daytime, one right on the front porch. I myself am a skeptic, but still believe it is possible. How about those pictures?
I live in a fairly large neighborhood in Rome GA, not too far from the downtown area. Beginning around Thanksgiving of 2009, a neighbor began seeing what she described as an extremely LARGE black cat--"like a black panther with a looong tail," she said--frequent her backyard. Since then--and particularly in the last month--there have been multiple other households which have reported seeing an animal of this same description. Strangely, neighborhood pets (both dogs and cats--my own cat, as well) have been disappearing, never to be seen again. Several folks have found large tracks (not horse or cattle) and even larger piles of feces in the woods behind our home. My neighbor has recent photos of such tracks in the light snow we received a couple of weeks ago. This "cat" appears to be getting bolder...another neighbor reported a sighting in her front yard just 2 weeks ago before it darted away and into the woods. This animal is scary, elusive, and has obviously taken up territory in our backyards, making meals out of the neighborhood pets. Animal control has been called but seems not to take us too seriously...now the wildlife and gaming folks have been alerted, and hopefully they will be able to trap it. Not sure it's definitely the elusive black panther, but all sightings sure point that way...
I live in a fairly large neighborhood in Rome GA, not too far from the downtown area. Beginning around Thanksgiving of 2009, a neighbor began seeing what she described as an extremely LARGE black cat--"like a black panther with a looong tail," she said--frequent her backyard. Since then--and particularly in the last month--there have been multiple other households which have reported seeing an animal of this same description. Strangely, neighborhood pets (both dogs and cats--my own cat, as well) have been disappearing, never to be seen again. Several folks have found large tracks (not horse or cattle) and even larger piles of feces in the woods behind our home. My neighbor has recent photos of such tracks in the light snow we received a couple of weeks ago. This "cat" appears to be getting bolder...another neighbor reported a sighting in her front yard just 2 weeks ago before it darted away and into the woods. This animal is scary, elusive, and has obviously taken up territory in our backyards, making meals out of the neighborhood pets. Animal control has been called but seems not to take us too seriously...now the wildlife and gaming folks have been alerted, and hopefully they will be able to trap it. Not sure it's definitely the elusive black panther, but all sightings sure point that way...
I just got a picture of a BIG bobcat on my trailcam here behind my house where I feed my deer in Canton, GA.I also have a pic of my boxer who weighs 65 lbs. and this cat is VERY close to the same size as him. I have the pictures on my myspace and face book. If you want to see them look for Hellvaguy on myspace and look under the hunting album or contact me @ dddaniel622@bellsouth.net I would like any info on this beautiful cat. Thanks David
I am so glad to find this post. They are in fact real. I grew up admiring and fearing them every fall. I still hate going out to my car in the late fall in the dark. Ever since my father was little there has been a family that comes down from the mountains every fall. I have seen them in the middle of the day just walking down the center of the road and I have also had the hair on my neck stand on end when I heard the unmistakable blood curdling screams.
I remember 1 November not too long after Halloween. My family lives down a one lane country road in Cherokee County named after my great grandparents. We had a rather large pumpkin and had to break it apart into pieces and were walking the pieces across the road to throw them into the woods. I stopped at the road and waited for a car to come around the sharp curve just before my house. I knew I was hearing a car motor running but there were no other houses in sight. I looked back up the road toward the curve and sitting on the opposite side of the road was this beautiful black panther. The sound I thought was the engine humming was the cat purring. I slowing back tracked to the house where my mom, brother and sister all watched eagerly from a window as it casually walked down the middle of the road.
It really disappoints me when these "experts" call us liars. This wasn't a one time encounter but an annual occurrence.
Wow! We live in Haralson County Ga For the past 8 years we have heard the screams of the cat. Not just fall but the spring as well. When my girls were 8 and 10, My sister babysat them at my house. I got a call from them they told me about these 2 black cats that were as big our dog had jumped on top of these plastic containers.That night I heard the screams over and over. They were less than 50 feet from me. This spring my youngest daughter she is 10 now; told me about the cat that she seen. She discribed a black cat about 3ft tall and about 5 foot long. About a week later my 17 year old daughter opened the front door and a large black cat was about 10 feet from our front door. Last summer we were in the pool and our dogs and my nephews dogs went barking and running to the woods. We heard screams and grawls and yelps. We just thought they were fighting. About 20 minutes later the pit bull came back bloody. Then about 5 minutes after that my bulldog came back so tired he could barely stand, he had blood on him too. We went down in the woods to find theblack lab. He had large gashes and slashes all over his body. I recongnized the screams of the cat when the fighting started. We lost several dogs this past spring. The cats are getting bolder this year.
It is not very hard to believe that a large, black cat could be roaming around in the remote woods of Georgia.
After all, a lot of the land is very secluded, and the chance that a breeding population of at least 300 or so is entirely feasible.
We saw one on hwy 100 headed towards Summerville,Ga Friday Sept.10th. It looked to be about 4 feet long and as soon as it saw the car coming, jumped back into the woods. We have never seen anything seen anything like it. I just wish I had been prepared with the camera.
My husband just saw one right after dark. He was walking back from his deer stand at the other end of our property! I've noticed that most of the people on this forum are from the northern parts of Georgia in the mountains. We live in South Georgia just outside of the Okefenokee Swamp. We have 10 pitbulls, but it scares me to have a large cat around because I don't want any of our babies to get hurt trying to protect us!
There are panthers. I live in Savannah, and I have been in the woods and have seen very large cat prints, larger than the palm of my hand. My friends have seen them, but I personnally haven't. From what I have heard, a long time ago there were panthers released to control deer population. I'm not sure if that is true or not. I also know that there are big cougars back in the woods here as well.
A female (lactating) black panther was seen two years ago in Moody Forest crossing the road. This is a protected area. It is located on the Altamaha River in Appling County
Well I have heard these tails for years and laughed until a year ago here in homer ga. My wife and I where driving home when a big black cat with a very long tail crossed in front of of head lights, I would guess and say it weighed around 115 pounds with yellow eyes that glowed. I have hunted here most of my life and seen bob-cats wolves black bears but never anything like this. I talk to a local gun shop owner and he said its not a panther but instead a black leopard I dont know what to think but what we saw was very much alive and very fast and scary. I just wonder if this was someones pet that was shipped in and turned out? I would love to have it mounted but would rather have it protected by our dnr. any help would be awsome! As far as the sounds it makes it sounds like a woman screaming help.... and man the chills it brings!
I too am sooo glad I have found this post. I live in Pridgen, Georgia. I have seen four big black cats over the past two years. I saw one between Alma and Baxley on US 1, twice. It was about 6:30 during the summer of 2009. Within a week of each other. Then the other two sightings were close to my house. No one believes me. My uncle who is an avid outdoorsman scoffs at me every time he gets a chance. I know what I saw. I saw the long tail. I saw the shiny black fur. I saw those beautiful eyes. I know what I saw. Especially when it was only 20 yds in front of me. I am in my thirties. I have talked to several neighbors who have also vouched as to either hearing or seeing these creatures. I also had a dog get attacked by some unknown animal. It had a huge paw print and big bite. So thank you for this post... At least I am not the only crazy person.. I had to say that...
I live in Calhoun Georgia. This morning, January 26, 2011 at 10:30 in the morning I SAW a black panther in the backyard. It was maybe 100 ft from me and walking very slowly across the yard. It paused briefly to look at something that was ahead of it. The panther was about 5ft or more in length. It had a long tail that swooshed the ground. The legs were very long and the entire body was solid black. I must say I never expected to see such an animal in my life time, ever. I don't know how it got there or where it came from. I just thank God it did not see me or I would not be here right now, I am sure of that. I hope I never see it again because the sight of it paralyzed me.
I was just talking about this with my aunt, who used to live in Roopville (West GA). I remember seeing a huge black cat across the road from her house in a cow pasture when I was preteen. Turning out, she had seen it too with a girlfriend of hers and we both never said anything until the other day. I believe it took place in the early 90's if memory serves, and I noticed it walking along the wood line of the cow pasture.
I used to go visit my aunt in Roopville (West GA) back in the early 90's and saw an abnormally large black cat across the road from her house in a cow pasture walking along where the woods met the pasture. My aunt said she and her friend both saw it at the same time, so I wouldn't doubt it at all. Especially considering how much wooded area is still out there in GA.
I lived in milledgeville Ga in 1983 84.We lived really close to the lake . my father was a avid hunter at the time . we had a new doublewide set up on a lot. I was very young at the time about 3.5 yrs old i was outside playing ran up on a pather on he woodline directly outside the house it growled at me I took off running mom said I was white as a sheetI told her I thought it was a bear . about 2 months later my older sister was taking the scraps out to dump them at the egde of the woods and a juvinile pather ran across her feet inches in front of her . the next day at dusk my father shot the panther not knowing it was a cub cause ofthe size he stuck it in a trashbag and was gonna take it to the taxidermist the next day he set it on top of our window ac unit outside. that night the mother panther we could hear her screaming extremely loud outside the trailer when we went out the next day the mother panther had clawed the bark of every large tree in our yard . my father took the panther to the taxidermist he had just do a ten point buck for him and he told him to get it out of his shop it was illegal for him to have killed it so he got rid of it quickly .
I live in S.E. GA. Brantley Co. and I too have seen with my own two eyes a black panther cross the road approx. 75-100 feet in front of my truck. It was dusk almost dark and I was on 259 heading home when he with all his beauty streaked across the road heading to the Satilla River. He was absolutely magnificent and I pray that everyone who has seen then leave them be. They are a gift from God and no one should harm these beauties. I have also heard their crying and it is amazing!! Please Please let them be!!!!
They are here...When I was about 10-12 years old,sometime around 1991-1993 I went to a trash dump with my uncle(the old one that was on the corner of Cobb Rd,and Old Colony Farm Rd,Milledgeville Ga),anyways there was one dead lying there on the ground in front of the dumpsters.This Was A Panther,the body alone was about 5',had a slender tail that was around 2' long,sleek solid black hair,must've weighed atleast 75 pounds,and big green eyes.That was a big beautiful cat,and obviously someone had just killed it hours before,because we checked it out,and there was no stiffness...They are here...
I am 32 years old & have deer hunted since I was 6, I have never seen a big cat, but have had several STRANGE things happen to me on this 1 piece of property in washington co ga.. First incedence was in bow season 4 years ago was walking out & realized I was being followed/stalked...everytime I stopped it would take a step or two & then stop also...after this happening 3 times I flipped out & ran to the truck where my hunting buddies were waiting..two of them (father & son) had just experienced same thing on same trail... At the end of that same season I was hunting close to same area (w a gun) & shot a hog 3 times using up all of my ammo, on way back to truck (same trail as before) I heard a very low & deep growl!!! I pretended like I never heard it & didn't say anything to anyone, because I didn't want people thinking I was crazy. but a few weeks later we were hanging out @ camp & I over heard two guys talking about hearing the same thing within 50 yards of where I had heard it. Now fast forward to 2011 turkey season, me & same father & son were turkey hunting the same property, @ daybreak we were hearing turkeys gobble like normal, & then the coyotes started yipping & howling, which is strange for them in the daytime, about 2 hours later we moved spots & had just got set up when we heard what had to be a big cat screaming, it sounded just like a woman screaming, & I actually thought it was a woman & was trying to figure out what she was saying....SERIOUSLY.... My hair was standing up on my neck...this property is located off of panther branch rd, & now I think I know why they gave it this name years ago
I actually saw one while hunting in the jones county round oak area. I thought it was a big black dog moving through the thick cane stalking some turkeys feeding about 25 yards from my stand. I found that the dog assumption was a wrong guess when the cat pounced from its hiding place in the cane to catch one of the unsuspecting birds. I was a little alarmed to say the least. Only armed with a compound bow I would have been no match for the cat that looked to weigh around 150 pounds. One of the first comments was a little off on the sound this animal makes however. It sounded more like a really deep voiced bobcat than a persons sream.
I was just outside a minute or two ago and i saw what looked like a big dark colored cat (size of a big dog) walking calmly by the pool. It didn't seem to notice me, as soon as i opened the door to go back inside, the door made a loud sound and I looked back and it was completely out of sight. We have a bright light by the pool, so there was no mistaking what I saw with a neigborhood dog. It's shoulder's moved like a cat, it had a long thin tail, and seemed to be almost black in color. Are these things dangerous? What should I do if I see one again? I live in Reidsville, GA. I'm scared to go back outside...what is this thing?
I saw one about 3 years ago in Walker County Georgia in our back yard. Granted we live in the sticks but still population. No one believed me until a couple of nights ago my boyfriend saw one off Taylor Broome road in Chickamauga Georgia about a mile away. He didn't know me when I saw it prior, and i had never told him about the sighting. He says there have been several mutilated corpse of deer and he had wondered why. Also that he had heard screams he thought several times late at night. He is terrified too just walk up the hill to our car at night now.
I saw one about 3 years ago in our 30 acre back yard in Chickamauga GA, which is in the sticks, but populated none the less. No one believed me at the time, until a couple of nights ago my boyfriend saw one about a mile away off Taylor Broome Road. I did not know him at the time I spotted one prior to this and had never told him about it. He said he had seen mutilated dear corpses and wondered why? He also said that must be what that screaming sound is he keeps hearing late at night. He is terrified to walk up the hill to our car at night and carries a flash light and weapon. My boyfriend is 6"5 and he says the black cat easily was as tall as his waist a little above and about 5 ft.long. I showed him various pictures of wild cats some being black panthers some being darker bob cats and pumas with out their species identified and he picked out the black panther very definitely. He said that was it down to the ears.
There are some very large cats (the size of a panther or cougar; not bobcats) roaming around rural Baldwin and Putnam counties (around Lake Sinclair). I've seen them twice in the last few years. My neighbor has a small one that seems to like to watch him tend his garden (now with a .357 holstered) he's seen now 4 or 5 times in the last 3 months. It could be very dark/dirty cougar, but they're very dark gray to black colored. This isn't big foot. These cats are real.
They definitely reside and flourish in the remote sections of Baldwin and Putnam counties around Lake Sinclair. I've seen them twice in the last few years. My neighbor has seen one particular one 5 times in the last 2 months while he's tending his garden.
I have seen them down here in south ga. I live in charlton county on the ga/fl border and I know for a fact they can easily get here from florida (their native area). And the okefenokee swamp park released some not long ago.
I live on the ga/fl border in charlton county and I have talked to a lot of people that say they have seen them here. After research I discovered that the melanistic jaguar is most likely what is seen down here in south ga..a dark pigmented jaguar mistaken for a panther.
While on vacation in Towns county GA this past July, my wife and two grandchildren saw a big black cat with a long tail running down a ravine. This cat was seen running in the same direction as a deer which had past just minutes before. That same night one grandaughter heard the scream of a women in the woods about 4 AM. The next day we mentioned this to our neighbor and he too heard the screams.
These cats definately exist.
I lived in Lauren's County (Dublin) Georgia till I was 18 and I remember seeing a black panther when I was about 11. He was running across a field. He was big but not huge. Shiny, muscled, and fast. This was in 1981.
We live in Screven County GA, which is in SE GA, on Hwy 21 (also known as Savannah Hwy). This is about 1 hour north of Savannah and 1 hour south of Augusta. We live on a large farm in a very rural area. My husband has seen a large black cat (size of a large dog) standing in the middle of the highway. This was during the middle of the night, night before last, but it was a near full moon and also we have a large outdoor light in our yard, which allowed him to see it very clearly. He is a person who laughs at stories of things like bigfoot, so it really surprised me when he told me he had seen this, and it made me a believer.
My husband recently saw a "larger than a dog sized black cat" of some sort in the middle of the highway in front of our house. We live on a farm in rural Screven County GA (which is about one hour north of Savannah) on Hwy 21 (Savannah Hwy). My husband was outside in the middle of the night in our yard, and there was a full moon (this was about a week ago). He saw the "cat" in the roadway, then it turned and ran away (off into our pasture across the road). My husband is normally a skeptic about things which seem incredible (like Bigfoot), but this really seemed to un-nerve him when he was telling me about it. He was concerned because we have goats, chickens, horses, and donkeys on our farm. Also, when I was researching the possibility of large black cats of some sort in Georgia, I found on another source that what was called a "black panther" had been seen in Screven County elsewhere, but not sure of the exact location. Also that other source stated that what was called a "black panther" had been seen around Griffin Lake, which is in northern part of Effingham County (the next county south of Screven County).
Ok everyone I am in cartersville ga and about two months ago and almost every night since ! There was a sound in our woods right beside out house that sounded like a person moving they the leaves ! I know what deer dogs ect sound like and this was heavy moved uniformly like a person and was no easily spooked! We have no bright lights so we have not seen anything yet but have heard many things! The last week the same sound about the same time every night , I go out on the porch to smoke and that's when I here it , it always stops at the edge of the yard and the woods meet and I have confronted it with yelling like telling it I have a gun get of my property ect . It actually listens to me rant and rave lol and then slowly walks off to the valley at the edge of the mountain. We have ten acres surrounding us so no close neighbors. I swore it was a person every time until last night when it WASNT the least bit spooked when I was yelling or threatening with the gun! Then this is the spookiest part there has been this very loud sound like a screening shrill and blowing all mixed together and it's very loud and to top it all off the sound has started to be accompanied by another sound that's like you are taking a very large stick and beating it against a table but all there is down there are trees and heavy woods. We live close to the cartersville airport at the foot of the small mountain they call Barrett's mountain. Anyone have any ideas as to what type of animal this could be???!!' Shaken in my boots in cartersville
to "shakininmy boots" - sounds like Bigfoot, not black panther - with the heavy walking and knocking sounds....
Bout 15 years ago I saw one in the edge of a field crouching in the grass. My friend and I was memorized for a few moments. Then we ran in the house to get more people and it was gone. That was Statesboro(Clito). My grand daddy saw a couple on the river(ogeechee) along with bears.
Yes there are, in Jones co,. Or at least there was, about 23 years ago. My husband and I came to the end of Cumslo rd at 49, we could see one over near the Martin Marietta sign. He was very clear in the headlights. His eyes looked yellow and like he was staring right at us. Plus we saw tracks after they cleared 95 acres on Kelly rd. , which is behind the asphalt plant just across from Martin Marietta. We could hear weird screaming sounds from our home on Kelly rd.
I live in Hephzibah,Ga. About 1 hr north of statesboro. About 30minutes from Augusta. It's full of wooded areas but becoming increasingly populated. Most yards have .5ac-1ac lots and there are plenty of farms in this general area. Our neighbor actually has a billy goat and chickens. Around 11pm tonight, on our drive home from Waynesboro,Georgia, we (my self, my husband,& our 5 yr old son) turned right and a mere 10 ft from the road, in the ditch,I thought I saw a large black lab. Shiny black, bigger than the size of a full grown black lab. Very lean,with a long time. Almost touch the ground. I rolled the window down to see if I recognized it from the neighborhood watch app that posts about anything happening around us. It looked me right in my eyes & literally made me speechless and Heeby geebys all over. Those bright green, glowing eyes, and it dawning on me that it was NOT a dog, made me speed home. There was a Male fox outside our window last week screeching. Now, either a black panther, cougar, puma, or jaguar. Definitely too big to be a bobcat. I'm 99% positive that it was a panther because of its size. Thank God for this post because I know what we saw & they're all over Georgia! What a beautiful animal & how awesome it feels to have seen one right in front of me.
My son lives in Oliver, GA; northeast of Statesboro on a huge hunting preserve. A game camera behind his home captured a picture of a large cat puma/panther on Friday night, June 1st. I'll try and add the pic later.
They are definitely in Georgia. I live in troup county. The scream they make is unmistakable it kinda sounds like a lady screming help...when i was young and heard it for about 3 nights my father just casually said it was a black panther and he saw one when he was a kid also although he was in heard county at time around the 4os or 50s...
I lived on Lower Harmony Rd Eatonton in the early 80s. I used to see a black panther all the time. I'm not sure whether it's the same cat or different ones. I thought panthers in GA was a normal thing.
I saw a black panther on the Tippetville Hwy. in Dooly county on Thanksgiving in 2009. It was about 5:00 in the evening. I was traveling down the road next to a field and saw an animal running at a very high rate of speed toward the road. At first I thought it was a black lab and slowed down, but then I realized it was no dog. It ran just like the cheetahs you see on the wildlife shows. Its body was long and lean and it stretched hard. Its run was very different from a dog and had a very long tail. It ran across the road about 10 feet in front of me. I could not believe what I was seeing. It was probably 2.5 - 3 ft. high at the shoulder and about 4 feet long in body, not including the tail.
My father-in-law saw one at Robins AFB in the mid-80's and my cowowrker saw one in the parking lot at Robins AFB near sunset in 2000. Both of these sightings were in the back part of the base near the swamp.
I saw one in Georgia in 2009.
I saw a black panther this week cross from one side of the paved road to the other. It was black with a long tail curved at the end. It was bigger than a house cat and left two babies on the side of the road where it crossed. I didn't get to see it's face, but our family has heard screaming sounds for years from the woods where we live in Nahunta, GA. It is a rural area and plenty of deer,coons, armadillos, etc. We are located in South Georgia about 30 miles from I95 west of Brunswick, GA.
Dawson forest also has these strange animals. You can hear them scream at all hours of the night. I know I have seen one in the Forsyth area of GA, when I was younger. It was long and lanky, and taller than me as a kid. Pitch black, and stealthy.
Heard the tell tale screams not too long ago, down our road. Dogs from the neighbors were all losing their minds, but everything else was quiet. Its eerie to be outside when those big cats are around. Everything gets oddly quiet, no other animal dares to make a sound.
I feel sorry for the dogs lol. Getting scolded for barking so late at night, when their just barking to protect their owners.
Maybe people should pay closer attention...
I am now 83 years old. We owned a Farm near Vinings, Ga Close to the Chattachochhe River. Coming home one night crossing a bridge on a creel, a Black panther crossed in front of the car. I was then 8 years old. We also on several nights heard the SCREAM of a woman, who we were told by locals that it was a Panther sreaming,on a hill behind our house that was Blood curling. Once one came and crawled under our house and cried like a baby, whimpering all the while. My older brother shot a gun out of our window to scare it off. For people who say Georgia has no Panthers, ask about all the Panther names of towns and location in Georgia.
Didn't see a black one, but saw a tan panther crossing Brooklet Denmark rd at Black creek around 25 years ago...dad and grandad had seen black one off 46 years ago.
If you want some info about the big kitty's , i have been studying them for years. People here on lookout mtn. Have been seeing them for years! The first time I saw one about 1971 or so, when I was riding my dirt bike in Gerber ga, near where we live. I rode so close to it i could have spit on it! It was laying on the right side of the trail , looking off down the hollow below us. It never even turned around to look at me, but I could tell at first glance this huge cat was not a happy camper ! It was flicking its tail like a pissed off house cat !!! This encounter scared the hell out of me . I was able to be that close to a very dangerous animal , and live to tell about it. This encounter started a life long study with these amazing animals. As of 2019 I am 63 years old, over the years we have learned a few things about the big kitty's..... They seem to migrate long distances to breeding areas... They are much larger than people think... They seem to have odd habits... They do not interbreed with Cougars, even though it would seem possible... Most sightings are young ones about 150 lbs... Full grown adults are huge... The only eye color seems to be yellow, young and adults... Eyes are very large... Adults have very stocky build, like a jaguar... Not shure about eating habits, much debate... Should be studied.... Should be protected!!! ....DNR boys not much help???
Bobby Mitchell that is a good one and I have a couple of elephants in a pen in my back yard too I rode them home from Africa too while on a black bear hunt in Africa last year
There is a Wog running loose out in the cove in between Manchester and woodbury ga. Ive seen it with my own eyes many times back in 1997 not gonna lie scared me to death but my ancestor background had me chasing after it one night. And it just vanished right in front of me. The location of this spot is quite a interesting spot it served a purpose during the civil war. Cove church road and pebble brook. Same side as the golf course
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