MIB Posted June 16, 2022 Moderator Share Posted June 16, 2022 I think the photo paints a misleading picture. That grass is shorter than it looks from this angle. Despite insistence to the contrary, I'm going with house cat, "final answer." MIB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patterson-Gimlin Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 20 hours ago, Incorrigible1 said: Produce one. Sorry to be abrupt, but folks have been reporting "black panthers" for generations. None have been produced. No carcass, nor pelt. In this case, I'm believing Science. Prove them wrong. Go on. (I'm not calling out CelticKevin, merely drawing attention to the lack of evidence.) Logic dictates large house cat. Sounds familiar 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norseman Posted June 17, 2022 Admin Share Posted June 17, 2022 4 hours ago, hvhart said: "Exotic" what? Name a species. Black versions of medium and big cats include Jaguars, Leopards and Ocelots. To everyone. I was a member of the big game hounds man forum. There were reports of houndsmen tangling with Lions. Not Mountain Lions…. Lions. I don’t live in the east. I do not know the veracity of this reports. But it would seem for some reason eastern forests have a lot of exotic animals running around. Monkeys, Chimps, Orangs, Lions, etc…. For a westerner I find it kinda far fetched but we evidently have photos and DNA for some of these claims. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 I have seen a black bobcat at close range (several feet) and a really dark brown, nearly black, one at about 20 yards away. It's not too far fetched for a mt. lion to be melanistic (black). As far as the one in the picture, I have no idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 The animal is about 2/3 the length of the sign at a distance away from the viewer and the sign. Measure the sign and the distance it was from the sign and you should have a rough length for the animal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCBFr Posted June 17, 2022 Author Share Posted June 17, 2022 (edited) First, thank you for everyone's responses. Since we hit page 2 I thought it was worthwhile to try to put a little effort in to solving this problem so here goes. According to the internet the body size (no tail) of a fully grown Average adult male cat is 24 inches. While it differs from breed to breed, domestic black cats (Bombay for instance) seem to fit within the average range. I have a Maine Coon which is considered the largest domestic breed and my girl is about 28 inches but I will admit she was not happy about being measured so I could be off by a couple of inches. An adult male black panther (melanistic variant of the leopard) body is roughly 48 inches and a US cougar is a little shorter at 40 inches. I had a hard time getting these facts so please feel free to come up with something better. My street sign i 40 inches in length. I am assuming this sign is the same length. The street sign is not parallel to the photographer. I estimate it at about 15 degrees from parallel. I paced of what I thought to be a similar length from the photographer to the street post and come up with 80 feet. I recognize this is very subjective but probably within 10%. My estimate of the angle from the photographer to the street sign and photographer to the center of the cat to be roughly 40 degrees. Using these estimates and applying basic trig and ratios I get the creature's body length to be roughly 48 inches but could vary considerably if any of my assumptions are significantly incorrect. Hmm, ignore my previous estimate. I need to go back to the drawing board. I will update later with better math than my first attempt. Edited June 17, 2022 by NCBFr Stupid math/logic error 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiiawiwb Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 It's nothing more, or less, than photogrammetric analysis. Where's Gigantofootecus when we need him?!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCBFr Posted June 18, 2022 Author Share Posted June 18, 2022 Honestly, I think it is a house cat. Got a little more work to do to figure out signage dimensions,, but yeah the math says house cat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted June 18, 2022 Share Posted June 18, 2022 Nice work trying to figure it out. Seriously. I'm leaning toward house cat, but there is no way at this time to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquatchRex Posted June 23, 2022 Share Posted June 23, 2022 On 6/15/2022 at 9:45 PM, NCBFr said: Taken not to far from my house. The obvious answer is large house cat but using the sign post as a guide I am not so sure. Maybe black bobcat but they are the rare of rare. Black panther, well we all know they do not exist in NA. Hmm, thoughts. Interesting. The length, height, thickness, posture, seems to match that of a cougar/mountain lion. I had one pass in front of me driving at 10 pm one night and this almost matches it to the tee. The head, the neck and shoulder muscles, the thickness of the hips and legs, the back, everything. I just wish that I could have a better look at the tail... The only problem with that is that there has never been a specimen of a melinated cougar/mountain lion/panther ever collected by science (thus far). The "black panther" is a bit of an ongoing cryptid phenomenon with the majority of sightings taking place in the Southeastern United States and along the Appalachian range. If you ever get the time, be sure to look into the "Beast Of Exmoor". It's a reported "black panther"/ "large black cat" cryptid that's been sighted in the U.K. Your photo sort of reminded me of it a little bit. Hope this helps! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myroom707 Posted June 23, 2022 Share Posted June 23, 2022 Please allow me to preface this post by saying that I'm new to the site and in no way do I intend to insult anyone. In fact, if this post is in an incorrect location please let me know and I'll pull it down immediately. The original post, the part that caught my eye was the request for rational ideas. So,... I always like to look at things from a weird point of view. In this case I thought to myself, you know what would be a cool social examination of the reactions of our friends and neighbors? Let's place a large, black panther lawn figure in a field near an intersection and see what happens! It would be interesting if it's something else entirely, but until then... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catmandoo Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 (edited) On 6/22/2022 at 5:28 PM, SquatchRex said: If you ever get the time, be sure to look into the "Beast Of Exmoor". It's a reported "black panther"/ "large black cat" cryptid that's been sighted in the U.K Owning exotic / large exotic animals as pets is legal in the UK. Apparently, the big cats dislike the human caretakers and frequently escape. Sightings of large cats in the UK is not tabloid fodder. The above post has a humorous garden decoration / decoy. It has potential. Next up may be a T-Rex or perhaps a 'land shark'. Edited June 24, 2022 by Catmandoo more text Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guyzonthropus Posted June 26, 2022 Share Posted June 26, 2022 There s a number of smaller than cougar cats from both africa(Serval and caracal) and south america(ocelot, jagarundi, and the margay) while most of these have melanistic forms, I d think the African species could be ruled out due to their notably huge ears, a trait not seen in the above pic. Of the three south American cats, the ocelot is certainly the most heavy set, but I'm fairly sure all three have been hybridized with domestic cats which could well result in black "bigger than a house cat, smaller than a cougar" feline more cold tolerant than the original south American species. Just a thought.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCBFr Posted July 4, 2022 Author Share Posted July 4, 2022 On 6/26/2022 at 5:39 AM, guyzonthropus said: There s a number of smaller than cougar cats from both africa(Serval and caracal) and south america(ocelot, jagarundi, and the margay) while most of these have melanistic forms, I d think the African species could be ruled out due to their notably huge ears, a trait not seen in the above pic. Of the three south American cats, the ocelot is certainly the most heavy set, but I'm fairly sure all three have been hybridized with domestic cats which could well result in black "bigger than a house cat, smaller than a cougar" feline more cold tolerant than the original south American species. Just a thought.... None of these are a great match. We have considered in the past getting a Savannah or Serengeti but I just have not had the ability to pull the trigger as I really am a dog lover. https://petkeen.com/hybrid-cat-breeds/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRockBigfoot Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 On 6/23/2022 at 6:45 PM, Myroom707 said: Please allow me to preface this post by saying that I'm new to the site and in no way do I intend to insult anyone. In fact, if this post is in an incorrect location please let me know and I'll pull it down immediately. The original post, the part that caught my eye was the request for rational ideas. So,... I always like to look at things from a weird point of view. In this case I thought to myself, you know what would be a cool social examination of the reactions of our friends and neighbors? Let's place a large, black panther lawn figure in a field near an intersection and see what happens! It would be interesting if it's something else entirely, but until then... 275 bucks for this thing? Looks like this will just have to remain a mystery. I have already blown my life sized panther garden decor budget for the year. Maybe in 2023. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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