OK this is something most hunters don’t believe when I tell this story.
I live here in northeast PA. I wasn’t going to share this story, but recently on the animal planet I saw a show about it, so here it goes.
The year was 2008 , and I was sitting in a tree stand looking over a 200 acre field. I was just trying to figure out where the deer were coming out, so I could set a tree stand there.
On the far side of the field is the susquehanna river. There is a ditch that runs up into the field. I seen 2 does come into the field standing about 50 yards from this ditch. They were just munching on some grass and what not, when they both looked towards this ditch, ya know heads bobbin’ tails twitchin.
Then up out of this ditch I saw what looked like a big black panther!
Not a house cat, I mean I’ve seen house cats, skunks, wood chucks from this same lookout. I had to put binoculars on those to see them better.I could see this with my eyes.
So I put up my hunting binoculars , he had a long snout, a long tail and shiny almost oily black. He was crouched down just staring at those 2 does.
At that same moment they just took off through the harvested corn field. The cat stood up walked out about 15 yards from the ditch, and just watched the deer run across the field.
I watched him for about 30 seconds more. Then he slipped back into the ditch and I never seen it again.
My heart was beating out of my chest. I may as well seen bigfoot or a UFO.
The next day I went down there with a 22- ya know just in case. I looked all over for some tracks or poop, but it was pretty grassy where he was standing-oh well.
People always look at me like I’am crazy and say the same damn thing , it was probably a house cat.
Well I’am 46 years old and spent count-less days in the woods, seen lots of cool stuff, never have I seen anything like that. I mean I’ve seen bobcats, lynx and mountain lions.
He was about the size of a mountain lion. Maybe someone had it as a pet and let it go or it escaped.
I know people think I’am making it up- but why would I wanna’ make myself look like an idiot, I know I am a little crazy. But I know what I saw.
Has anyone else ever seen something out of place? Has anyone else seen a big black cat? Or heard of other people with similar story?
Please leave a post or comment!
Update 2016!
This story continues to get a huge amount of engagement and new comments from people that have seen a big black cat. It seems like there must be some hunters out there with trail cam photos of one of these cats. I am asking anyone with a photo of one of these big black cats to reach out to us here at deerhuntingguide.net so that we can post the photos. Here is the one photo that we have so far. You be the judge…
While it does look like a big black cat, the tail does not look long enough to be a puma or black panther in my opinion. What do you think? Scroll down to the bottom of all the comments and leave your opinion!
Here is a video of a big black cat sent to us by a reader. You be the judge…
Comments for Big Black Cat !!!!!!!
Jul 20, 2015
Black Panther Sighting (north country trail, Parker,PA)NEW by: Alex Ravas Tonight I saw something I thought I would never see in the backwoods of western PA. I’ve been hiking the north country trail in Pennsylvania for years now. Often hiking in the Allegheny National Forest. I’ve seen bears on hikes there before. Usually just running across the trail. Tonight at around 8:30 pm, my girlfriend and I were exciting the woods on the north country trail off of East Eldorado Rd in Parker, Pennsylvania (south of ANF) and saw what I believe to be a big black panther. There is a creek that runs through the valley of two mountain sides. We stopped on a bridge just about 300 hundred yards from the trail head and our car. I was on high alert for any black bear since this was an ideal time of the day for them to be moving around. But what I saw across the creek on the other side of the mountain was no black bear. It was moving so slow and cat like. Real shiny black coat and long body. Hands down, the most majestic thing I have ever witnessed in my life. I will admit, I was extremely frightened and waited for it to change direction before continuing down the trail. Its very possible it could have been stalking us. Once we were hunched down on the bridge it stopped and changed direction. I’m glad I noticed it, but wish I would have gotten a picture…but that’s the last thing I was thinking about. If anyone has heard of any sighting in this area or believe what I saw was actually a black panther, I’d love to hear your feedback. There is a popular swimming hole just a half mile down the creek from where I spotted this. Thanks for reading & stay safe!
Jul 19, 2015
black panther NEW by: Anonymous Today is 7/18/15 I live in Kirby waynesburg pa Greene county. This morning in my yard was what looked to me as a black panther. Everyone thinks I’m crazy Telling me it was a bear but I know what I saw. My dog ran and scared it across the road through very thick brush. I know what I saw. A bear doesn’t have a long tail.
Jul 18, 2015
Black catNEW by: Uniqieroofing.pres@gmail.com I live in Pittsburgh and I can swear I saw a big black looking like Panter today its 3 a.m. right now me and my family was sleeping and we heard a loud roar in the back of our house and we heard something growling and eating a deer we could not see because it was too dark and there was a lot of trees so I’m guessing it’s a panther not sure but I believe you I was googling spotting so black cats cause I thought I was spo but its definitely something I left my email if you want to talk about it
Jun 24, 2015
Big black cat by: Anonymous I saw a black panther at the top of our driveway this June, 2015, near Lake Pleasant, Erie County, Pa. The dog was barking. I went to check on him and saw the animal at the top of the yard.We photos of the cat’s footprints in the wet driveway with our dog’s footprints near by.
Jun 22, 2015
Big black cat by: Anonymous I live in Orang County NY. One day I’m looking out patio door, there is snow on ground (everything is white) I see huge black panther in our back yard. The tail alone is abou 5-7′. We have black bear here but never saw anything like it. It really stood out because everything surrounding it was white. About 2 days later our neighbor told my mom her husband saw the tail run past him behind his house. Needless to say he freaked. I know what I saw, I’m now scared to get the paper!
Jun 18, 2015
where did you see this big cat by: Anonymous List your location please..thanks
Jun 13, 2015
Scared shittless by: Amber Goss Tonight at about 10:00 pm my cousin and seen some thing cross the road by our houses and then heard a loud noise behind their pig pen. And it was some thing bigger then a house cat but smaller then a bear which we do have around where we live. I have been hearing loud huffing noises at night time and crows and turkey buzzards have been hanging around making noises all the time now. What he saw was a black cat and from 150 yards a way at night in the low light of our porch light could still make out the figure. He said it was bigger then a house cat but paid no mind at first until he was by his truck and heard the loud screeching noise like that of a bobcat which we also have around, but louder and not as high pitched. We were all scared to leave his house. I’m not letting my dog out tonight!
May 17, 2015
cat in pa early 80’s by: Anonymous My friend and I were driving the back road from loretto to the old farm inn near carrolltown pa when we stopped the car because we believed we saw a bear on the side of the road to the left. When we looked there it was gone. Suddenly I glanced in the rearview mirror and screamed. We turned around physically and standing on the road 3 ft behind my car was a black panther…its tail was 3 or 4 ft long and the cat shined blue black. It was enormous. It threw its head back and showed its teeth and then in one leap was up an aprox 12 ft bank. I grew up in the woods and I know what I saw. 3 months later that year there were reports around the philly area of sightings of a black panther and reportings of domestic animals being killed.
May 10, 2015
two black panthers by: preble county ohio A friend and I were coming back to Eaton Ohio from Camden Ohio through some cornfields and wooded sections when we both spotted two large black panthers playing with each other in the cornfield we pulled over and watched for approx. 5 minutes in amazement and no they were no housecats they were large and bouncy as to testify to their weight big as German shepherds but thicker and way more agile I will never forget these cats in the southeast Ohio woods
May 02, 2015
I sent it by: Anonymous I went to school in blairsvill pa an I live a maryland and I would drive home on the weekends on one of the drive home I was driving along an I saw what thought was a black bear run across an opening in the woods where power lines went up the mountain but second look I was like that’s a huge black cat the body about 3 to 4 feet long an a tail just as long midnight black and very stocky iv hunted all my life an maryland an have seen black bear 30 yards or less from me an iv never seen anything like that big black cat (Panther) ever so I called wildlife fish an game they said they get call every now an then about big black cats an that they know they are there an in West Virginia well that’s my Panther story
Apr 12, 2015
Central Illinois Large Black Cat by: Anonymous I took my dog out for a car ride this evening; decided to drive through the park. I pulled into a small parking lot close to one of the trails. As I was scanning the area for more deer or another wild turkey (had already seen some), out of the corner of my left eye, I saw movement. I glanced over in time to see a huge black cat walk behind some trees. I kept watching and it emerged from behind the trees and was standing in the tall grass about (best guesstimate) 100 yards from me – looking at me, then it calmly continued its walk through the woods and disappeared from my sight. Even though it was that far away from me, I could still see its bright eyes; I was in such shock and so scared it didn’t occur to me to grab my phone to try to get a picture. I wasn’t expecting to see such a large cat. No, it was not a dog, not a coyote, not a bobcat. Yes, I really saw it!
Apr 01, 2015
black panther near Newport pa by: Anonymous On March 30 2015 my daughter an I were driving north on route 34 near the intersection of bucks valley rd an a a very large black cat crossed the road in front of us it had a very shinny fur an a very long tail
Mar 30, 2015
Buffalo MN by: Anonymous I’m a normal kid in buffalo living with my family… Today my dad was driving to work on 14 territorial road or something like that and he saw something that was kinda like this… He was driving down the road and all of a sudden this big maybe 4 foot tall animal with a long tail and jet black coat came lunging out of the ditch, according to him it took the animal about 3-4 “lunges” to get from one road side ditch to the other… Keep in mind this is at 4:30 am, but this is my story
Mar 16, 2015
Finleyville, Washington cnty, PA by: Anonymous My 22 yr old daughter swears she saw one last week as she was driving on Venetia Road. It was bigger than an average dog, long body long legs & yellow eyes. Could it be a black mountain lion?? Or a black version of another bigger cat?
Feb 28, 2015
Big black cat in our field today Avondale PA by: Anonymous Had left food out for vixen thinking she had Cubs and was hungry. Today we were looking out of the window and saw what we thought was a large black dog eating the food.
Anyway it soon became clear it was a HUGE black cat with a very long tail. It stayed for five minutes and we got a couple of photos, not good, but good enough to verify what we saw. We took pictures of tracks which are hard to identify as there have been, deer and fox visiting. Took pictures of large poo which we think is the cats.
Feb 25, 2015
big black cat long tail by: G Kratzer Saw a huge black panther like cat out back of Kratzer Oil co. office….really long tail..we took pics of the paw tracks which are far apart enough to know it was not a house cat! Sunbury Pa
Feb 23, 2015
Schuylkill county by: Mumsey Today at 6pm I saw one run through my back woods, cross my creek then through the side field app 300 ft from my house. It is just as you described; large, black with a tail as long as its body and to the ground. 4 deer had just run through the woods minutes before with a very small deer and I think it may have been following them. The way it ran was similar to a weasel or otter; like a leap/jump. It kept moving so I didn’t have time to get the camera to take a picture.
Feb 18, 2015
Yes, I have seen a black “panther”! by: flfirecracker I saw a black panther on Longboat Key, Florida in the 1960’s. A wildlife “expert” told me that I was mistaken, that there was no such thing! Sorry, but he was wrong! This cat was the size of a large German Sheppard and my Grandmother said he lived there in the woods which abutted her place. Longboat Key certainly was wooded back then.
Feb 12, 2015
I saw something too!!! by: Anonymous OwI went out on my porch to smoke around 3 a m, about a month ago. We have a few stray cats in neighborhood. I stood on porch and watched it walk up street and didn’t think anything of it, until it walked directly across from my. I thought “wow, that’s a pretty big cat for being a house cat ” still thinking it was just a big stray house cat. I always hiss at them when I see one, just to watch it run. Well, it stopped dead in the driveway across street staring at me. Between one to two minutes past. I was going in house and it still sat there. I growled at it as I was walking toward house. I MOVED TOWARD DOOR QUICKER THAN I MOVED IN A LONG TIME AS IT STARTED TO WALK TOWARD ME!!!!! When I grabbed the door, it made a loud noise because I almost ripped it off the hinge. Now that scared the cat enough to make it turn around and start WALKING, T RUNNING LIKE CATS DO. I stood in doorway and watched it. That’s when I saw how long it’s tail was. It looked as if it’s tail was dragging on the ground behind it as it walked in the fresh snow. It looked like it picked its tail up twice to snake the snow of it. I have never seen a cat shake its tail like that nor have I ever saw a tail so long that it was proportioned compared to its body size. NEXT MORNING THERE WERE NO OTHER MARKS IN SNOW. I WALKED OVER TO SEE IT’S PRINTS AND WAS ASTONISHED AT WHAT I SAW. THE PRINTS WERE SO PERFECT. I could see how big each of the pads on its paws were and how deep they went through ice snow. I never expected those paw prints too look like that. THEY WERE HUGE!! BUT THERE WANT A DRAG MARK FROM TAIL LIKE I THOUGHT THERE WOULD BE. I AM IN SHAMOKIN PA
Feb 11, 2015
big black cat by: Anonymous I saw it yesterday in Lyons PA about 2 pm. It was in the woods near the road it was moving steadily north. My guess is 40-60 lbs or more
Jan 22, 2015
Huge Black Cat by: Anonymous We live approx. 20 miles N. of Bloomsburg, PA & several people in our area have seen a huge black ‘panther’ like cat.
Jan 19, 2015
Black Panther California PA Jan 19, 2015 by: Joe B About mid august of 2014 while heading to work one morning. A giant black cat, and when I say giant, roughly the size of my dog, a 75 lb german shepard, jumped out in front of my car. I hit this cat and stopped but the cat had run off. The plastic bumper of my car is now cracked from hitting this thing. I cant believe it ran off! My home is about a mile from where I hit this guy. So, last week, my girlfriend spotted what sounded to be the same or a similar black cat across the road from my house. She watched it for about half a minute before it snuck away. When I got home from work, she told me all about it. We think it was a panther. NOW, this evening, I came home from work and hop out of my car to hear what sounded like a lion attacking an animal in the woods on the hill above my garden. The animal cried and that was the end of him. I fired my pistol into the air in fear this cat may come at me beings I live in a wooded area, kinda desolate. I never heard an animal like this, best I can describe it as like a lion in a movie. If anyone else has seen cats in this area, I’d like to hear.
Joe
Jan 11, 2015
big black wildcat seen in Downingtown, PA by: Anonymous on Jan 10th I have seen a big black wildcat walking through the forest in Downingtown, PA. It looked like a black cougar / puma. It was the size of a large dog with long tail, but walked slowly like a cat. My dogs went crazy when spotting the big cat. Unfortunately I did not have my cell phone at hand to take a picture.
It clearly walked and behaved differently than a dog in this situation. In fact the big wildcat did not react at all, ignored the dogs and walked along slowly with showing no interest in the two dogs.
I know this sounds crazy, but wondering if anyone has had a similar sighting in the PA, Chester County area.
Jan 05, 2015
Rising Sun by: Anonymous Rising Sun. I would love to see the pics. Who is the friend on facebook
Jan 05, 2015
Rising sun md by: Anonymous About two weeks ago in rising sun behind mcdonalds my friend on Facebook has pictures
Jan 01, 2015
Butler County Ohio December 30, 2014 by: Anonymous On the early evening of Dec30, 2014, my 23 year old daughter (who is a teacher AND a hunter) saw a large black panther along the side of US 127 near Collinsville Ohio. This is north of Hamilton, west of Trenton and east of Oxford. She was very excited and called me immediately to tell me what she saw. It was dusk, not dark, and it was off the road in a field. It’s very interesting to see all these other sightings. I understand there have been many in the Hamilton County area as well. We used to live in rural western Butler County. We had many wild turkey, red fox and deer on our property. My nephew also encountered a Bobcat near Ross.
Dec 18, 2014
Big Black Cat Spotted by: Nikki This morning, Thursday December 18, 2014, around 7:30 a.m., I was sitting in my car in the Mariott Suites parking lot right off the Beau Street exit in Washington, PA, when I looked to the right, up on the hill and saw a HUGE BLACK CAT walking. I tried to get my boyfriend’s attention so he could see I wasn’t crazy, but by the time he looked up, the cat made its way around the corner. He kept asking if I was sure of what I saw, and I told him it was definitely a cat, not a house cat, but looked like a wildcat, the kind we don’t have around here, like jaguars, panthers, etc. When I drove out of the parking lot and up to the light, I looked for it again, but it was long gone. This is driving me crazy, I couldn’t get my phone out fast enough to get a picture or video of it for proof. I really want to find out what kind it was, and why it was there. I’m really glad I found a page where other people have seen similar sightings!
Dec 15, 2014
Rare black cougar!….final answer…! by: goldentrail I believe in my comment earlier on Nov 25/14 that I made…the more I think of it….I BELIEVE it was a RARE BLACK COUGAR without a doubt!….I was raised country and I have seen a lot of wild animals…There are WHITE moose, WHITE deer….so why not BLACK cougar!……..
Dec 15, 2014
Mckean county pa by: Anonymous Not a Fisher for me. The tail is the stickler. That was a long skinny tail if a large cat that I saw
Dec 15, 2014
Saw it too by: Anonymous I just saw the same kind of cat running across the road in Northern Westchester, NY. It had a prey in it’s mouth and was black, and as big or bigger than a mountain lion.
Dec 09, 2014
I ve seen fisher cats by: B. R. Yanney A fisher cat is actually simalar to a badger or weaseal. I,ve seen those in pictures – thats not what I saw. Fisher cats are bad-ass though they will attack and kill dogs, cats, chickens, baby goats etc.
Nov 25, 2014
Black cat or what? by: Goldentrail Well I live in Northern Alberta, Canada……and it was 2 yrs ago I was quadding with my grandson and I saw this big blackcat-like figure with a long long tail run across our trail…It looked like a black panthler…It had a cat-like face and ran like a cougar…What was it? I don’t know but I know my animals..It just disappeared right before my eyes! I was raised in the country..Remains a mystery!
Nov 20, 2014
Fisher Cat by: Anonymous Just contacted a game guy and he stated that it was a Fisher. Look it up on net. That’s what I saw
Nov 20, 2014
Big Black Cat Sighting by: Dude Ok, so what he the heck is it. I saw one twice this year in the same area. Once just before dawn, early archery season. It crossed a corner of an open area and slowly and low to the ground, entered the woods. It was approx 30 yd from me. I was in a blind. The second time I saw it, I was in a tree climber and the farmer was cutting his corn. This big black cat come out of the brush and entered the corn field while the farmer was cutting the corn with a combine This took place in Hempfield Twp, Westmoreland County.
Nov 16, 2014
Black Panther sighted by: Anonymous I saw one too, about 10 years ago outside of Williamsburg. Some people said I was crazy, but one man agreed I wasn’t and swore they were purposefully released out there to take down the deer population. A Black Panther, and no, it wasn’t a housecat…maybe a housecat on steroids!
Nov 15, 2014
sighting by: Anonymous It was the early 1980’s, i was pretty young but, my family and I were driving in Johnstown Pa. across the river from the Point Statium when we saw a giant black cat jump off of a 12 ft wall to the side of the road where there was a lot of traffic. I know there had to be a lot of witnesses but we never heard anything about it. When i tell the story no one believes me but I know what i saw. I’m only a little crazy.
Nov 11, 2014
Black panthers in Berks County by: Jeff Snyder Tony, this is Jeff. I saw those panthers too!!!!!! I was at the property adjacent to the quarry, 75 yards away from the panthers, in my dump truck. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I got a good long look at them. I am so thrilled that you saw them too, because everyone else thinks I’ve lost my mind. Please call me if you still have my #.
Nov 11, 2014
Robeson Township, Berks County by: Tony 11/11/14 TODAY A PAIR OF LARGE BLACK CATS WERE AWAKENED WHILE SLEEPING BY THE SOUND OF A DUMP TRUCK REAR DOOR BANGING. THEY BOTH STOOD STILL FOR FEW SECONDS AND JUST WATCHED, THEN JUST SLOWLY WALKED THE OTHER WAY INTO THE HILLY WOODED AREA OF A NEARBY QUARRY. HAVE SEEN AND HAD CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH PLENTY OF COYOTES IN THE AREA, BUT FIRST FOR THE BIG BLACK CATS. FOR SURE IN NORTHEAST PA!
Nov 11, 2014
Big Cat by: Anonymous In the summer of 94 I saw what I believe to be the same species of cat that is described on this page. I saw him about a mile from my parents house in Berks County, Pennsylvania. For 20 years I have been telling people this story and they all think I am nuts. I was with 2 of my friends and I had just got my drivers license. I picked my friends up and took them for a ride, and I stopped in the middle of the road because something was walking across the road.At first we all thought it was a dog, but as it got closer we could see that it was definitely a large cat and not a domestic one. I’m just glad other people have seen this type of cat, because I was seriously starting to think that I was seeing thing that day.
Nov 10, 2014
Black Panther in Lackawanna County by: Anonymous I live in the Roaring Brook TWP PA. I was walking my vary large dog today 11-10-2014. I noticed him acting funny! I stopped to see what he was up to and looking to the side of the woods I notice this VERY Large Cat sitting about 20 yards away looking at us. without a question it was a large BLACK cat. My dog start running in the direction of the cat and the Panther start running! I could not believe my eyes! the Cat was larger then my dog with a very long tail. I went to my computer just to look up the fact that PA has Panthers living hear. I live in the country and have been hunting for years and never in my life did I think I would run into something like this…
Nov 02, 2014
Large Black Cat Sighted… by: Tommy Gun 2 days ago I was out in Koppel, PA looking for a deer I shot with my bow. A large cougar sized black cat darted across the corner of an open field and into the brush. It was of pretty decent size with a long tail. I went and got the .22 as I looked for my deer. I did not see the cat again.
Oct 23, 2014
I seen one too by: Anonymous To day a seen one when my name was giving my aunt her mail and the one I seen had a red collor on its neck my nana dose not belive me but I know what I seen
Oct 18, 2014
seen the same thing by: Anonymous I live in westchester county, ny. I was looking out from back yard for deer when I spotted a 2 foot long plus long tail black cat. I got closer and waited to spot it again. Long, black and cat like. This was Oct. 16 2014 in the late afternoon.
Oct 16, 2014
what the heck was that? by: Anonymous I just saw it last night while driving .I said to myself no one will believe me but,the other driver that slowed down for it too has to be at least a little curious
Oct 14, 2014
Big Black Cat by: Anonymous Northern Minnesota, today was out grouse hunting driving slow in dense cover. Saw a large black cat about 30 yards in front of the car. Very shiny coat with a very long tail. We have lots of bobcats, lynx, wolves, coyotes and the such here and i’ve never seen anything like this. My guess it was over 6 feet long with the tail and approximately 100lbs.What the heck are these things?
Sep 28, 2014
Hunting/black panther by: Craig bowes I watched my dad one year going hunting and I looked up the hill he was walking up. And there was a big black cat standing up on top of the hill. I know it was something big because I was like 600-1000 yards away and it was still huge. Then a couple years later we were headed down the renovo lockhaven road and saw a black cat run In front of the car and step over the guard rails. Not jump but just step over it.
Sep 28, 2014
Black cat in forest county pa . by: Andy Probably ten years ago now my dad told us he saw a big black cat that he swears was a panther while hunting in the mountains . We have been going hunting / camping here all my life and I believe he saw a panther . he wasnt to shocked about it just couldn’t figure how or what it was doing here in pa .
Sep 17, 2014
2 Big black cats by: Chip F Sept 14th, Sunday evening around 5:30pm
While traveling east on 68 between Flintstone and Sideling Hill, I saw 2 very large black cats dart across the road. I guessed they were black panthers but don’t see how it could have been. They were black with long tails like a cougar size, but BLACK.
I did not see things, these were two large black cougar sized cats. Nothing else.
Aug 10, 2014
Saw one tonight! by: Anonymous We stopped at the marathon station exit four on 68 in western md tonight. Saw a beautiful dark cat walk across the field. At first we thought it was a plywood cutout propped in the field. But then he walked forward and laid down for twenty seconds. He then got up and walked into the brush. He was dark, four feet long. More long than tall. Had a thick tail the curled up on the end. His tail was about the length of his body. We watched him for a full 45-50 seconds. I couldn’t break myself away from the moment to grab my camera. It was breath taking! Wow!
Aug 04, 2014
Big Black Cat by: Cali I had seen a big black cat up in northern PA when I was a little girl. My family owned a small cabin up in the woods and I was there with my parents, my two little sisters, and my grandma. We were staying at our cabin in the early 2000s for a week in the summer and my grandma wanted to take my sister Brittany and I in her ford explorer to a store down the road. My parents were in my dad’s truck with my other sister Ashleigh, following behind us. Suddenly grandma stopped the car and we all watched a large black cat crossing the street slowly, staring at us with these big eyes. It had a long tail and shiny black fur. It had disappeared before my dad’s truck came up to see us and when grandma told my dad what we had seen, my dad said we had probably seen a bear. I know what a bear looks like since I collected teddy bears for years and I knew what I had seen wasn’t a bear.
Jul 27, 2014
ohio panthers by: Anonymous This is a story from my grandparents when I was little and happened about 1920 in Meigs County Ohio. When My grandfather was courting my grandmother they had gone to some sort of evening service at the church. As everyone was leaving, the young couple trailed behind a bit walking down the one lane country road with their lantern. Suddenly from the dark woods came a huge black cat. As told, when the nose reached the trees on the right side the long tail was just coming out of the trees on left side. It was a few feet in front of my grandfolks and between them and the others leaving that night. The cat walked slowly They got a good look and held real still till it was gone, then yelled like mad and got the others to come back to them. The men searched with their lanterns and found the biggest cat prints anyone of them had ever seen. No one doubted it was real but several of the men went back the next day with guns and found nothing. It is nice to know the black panthers of Ohio are still running wild. I’m glad I found all of your stories and am glad to get the chance to share mine. Thank you
Jul 25, 2014
Big black cat by: Ron I just returned from a 4 day back packing trip
in north central PA. I hiked some remote secondary trails and ravines near Slate Run, PA. As a solo trekker, I often encounter wildlife because I’m pretty quite as I walk. Over the years I’ve seen most of the larger mammals that live in the Pennsylvania woodlands.On this hike I saw something quite unusual that I
couldn’t identify on the spot nor find afterward on an online search when I got home.I entered an open space from thick woods and spotted a large, black, (dog-sized) cat prowling and hunting amoung the rocks. It was oblivous to me, so I just stood there and watched it hunt and
move. It was cat-like in it’s movements but smaller than a puma. I thought to myself hmmm…super big
ferral cat? Bobcat with very dark fur? Something in the weasel family?Anyway, I got a really good look at this 50lb-ish
feline—but I don’t know what it was.
Jul 25, 2014
BIG BLACK SOMETHING ! by: ROD H. We live in Clinton county between Avis and Woolrich. We were driving down RTE.150 towards Lock Haven and all of a sudden this big black thing with a long black tail ran across the road right in front of us. It was around 7:20 pm so it was still light out. My wife said what in the world was that thing. I have been hunting and camping in the PA. woods since I was a little kid and I’m now 51 years old. I told her I don’t know I’ve seen about everything in the woods but I never saw anything like this before. I will never forget this big black animal. It only took it like 2 seconds to cross 2 lanes of road and disappear into the woods. We have a bunch of pets and young kids that live by us. It was only like a quarter of a mile from our house to where we saw it.
Jun 29, 2014
I HAVE 3 PICS OF BIG BLACK CAT by: Anonymous We were just camping from June 26 – 29 at a campground in South West PA very close to the WV and Ohio borders. It was early morning like 7:30ish am on Friday June 27th. My boyfriend had gone to work and not many other campers had arrived for the weekend and so I went walking down by one of the ponds with camera and binoculars in hand. As I was headed there I come upon 2 large deer that had came across a small wooden bridge between the two large ponds, to the side I was on and saw me and ran up over the hill. I was not prepared and did not get a pic of them. I proceeded down by the water and got some nice shots of some large carp, geese, and a baby fawn that crossed the same bridge as the large ones. Well I was getting ready to walk back to my campsite and I could hear something large coming out of the bushes behind me off the hill where the large deer had ran earlier. I stopped got camera in focus, prepared this time to capture the large deer.Well to my surprise this animal was huge and jet black, at first I was thinking bear. My heart was racing but I managed to click 3 pics of it and later when I went over to where it went in the woods, was again in total terror, the shortest grass went above my knee and in my pic was only half way up its leg. It was very very large. Everyone is determined I am crazy, but i am not and am so happy I had camera ready to get pics.
Jun 28, 2014
Big Black Cat indiana pa by: zack k I very much so believe you saw a black panther. I’ve heard that insurance companies are somehow legally releasing fishers and black panthers. fishers because they eat bones and all. also fishers climb down trees which kills off the porcupines. the panthers are supposed to kill off our deer population? but I’ve heard of 5 different sightings in or around shelocta pa. All 5 people dont even know each other. I’ve also heard that pgc are trying to get it hush hush. well when your a hunter and you got to worry about predators like a damn panther in pa?. all I can say is be safe and always carry! 🙂
Jun 25, 2014
Big Black Cat by: Linda Carey Sandy, we are wondering where you were camping in East Stroudsburg, PA
Jun 23, 2014
Big Black Cat by: Dan Carey My husband saw a big black cat on 6/20/14 on Snow Hill Rd just pass Camp William Penn is that near you?
Jun 23, 2014
Big black cat! by: Sandy I saw a big black cat in the clearing by my campsite in East Stroudsburg on Sunday morning , 6/22/14. My 2 beagles were outside barking about 9 am. I looked out and in the clearing standing in the sunlight, was a black panther, only about 50 feet from me. Almost as large as a mountain lion, but all black with a real long tail. It stood there for about a minute and then turned and slowly walked behind some brush and turned and walked up the hill and into the woods. I could not believe what I was looking at. I have been staying in the woods in the Pocono mountains since 1968 and have never seen a panther. I have seen a mountain lion many years ago and several bobcats. This was a big black panther! Anyone else seen this cat?
Jun 01, 2014
Thought it was Bobcat by: B.R Lewisberry,PA
I take my dog out every morning through the woods as we have trails back behind are house. I stopped for a minute to just relax and looked across the creek and saw Yes!! A Big black cat! (It was about 4x the size of regular house cat ((If you google saw a black bobcat)) thats basicly exactly what it looked like)) I only saw it for about 3 seconds and I was honestly spooked and started questioning my self, I clearly did see it though, it walked right through this little opening brush saw its full size and body and then I lost it. I then tried to look for it more without noise then i started making noise but it must of been very well hidden. I’ve been trying to shrug it off all morning thinking?? what in the world was that!!! Then I Googled and saw your post and all replies. Wow! This is kinda freaky I mean me and dog out in the woods daily through the trails ughh.I told my dad and he well, already thinks I’m nuts basically looked at me like yea right haha. Mom then begin to tell me that my cousins wife saw a bear the other week in there back yard that’s in Roanoke Va. though. Anyways thanks for sharing I feel little more at ease now after seeing your post and the others I just hope we stay safe and they don’t attack us 😀 errr…
May 20, 2014
Big Black cat in Salina, Kansas by: Anonymous We live in the country in Salina, Kansas and one morning looked out the window and sitting out by a pile of old tree limbs sits this big black cat. First I thought it was our black dog, (which is part black lab)then looked again and this was bigger then our dog. Ran for the bonaculars to get a closer look and just as i looked, it got up and started behind the trees so didn’t get a good look at the head, but definitely saw the very long tail and shiny gloss black hair. This was last year, haven’t seen it since. But we have three hunter dogs and many times they bark into the tree area near our house and will Not go into that area. Our most agressive hunter has even stood on the deck shaking and looking into the trees. We have also font some hairy scant with chunks of animal hooves in it.Got that same feeling, couldnt beleive what I was seeing.
May 19, 2014
BIG BLACK CAT (Panther, Jaguar, Leopard by: Anonymous Once Upon A Time 30+ yrs ago in Montgomery County, PA
My younger sister and I about 10 and 7 yrs of age at that time…were picking pretty wildflowers in our NEIGHBORS field
literally two doors down from our house!
Low and behold…We thought we were seeing things 2 Beautiful yet fierce black velvet cats… BS more like Leopards!
They showed up quietly out of seemingly nowhere!
Looking back we still say Remember when …
Thank God we knew enough to stay still otherwise we would probably not be alive to tell of our safari experience in our own side yard!!!!!!!!
Looking back it feels as thought we were in the jungle book!!!!
May 10, 2014
Big black cat by: chuck I also seen this panther about tow weeks ago , was sitting on the back porch around 7 am drinking my coffee when my Great Dane started growling looking aback in the field, thinking it was a deer as we have many, I started watching the small cleared area and was I surprised to see this big black panther run from one side of the wooded area through the clearing to the other side and yes by the time my mind reacted to what I was seeing I got a great view of the back end and the long tail , he disappeared as quickly as he showed up and have seen no sign of it since/It was defiantly not a regular house cat as it was nearly as big as my dog…was not going to mention this to anyone but now I have seen that they have been spotted and also am now thinking on the other side of the field and woods is where they were putttin the pipeline through last year…so they could have followed the pipeline from Penn. seems that is where they have been spotted the most I live right outside of the city of Hamilton,Ohio
May 10, 2014
Big black cat by: chuck I also seen this panther about tow weeks ago , was sitting on the back porch around 7 am drinking my coffee when my Great Dane started growling looking aback in the field, thinking it was a deer as we have many, I started watching the small cleared area and was I surprised to see this big black panther run from one side of the wooded area through the clearing to the other side and yes by the time my mind reacted to what I was seeing I got a great view of the back end and the long tail , he disappeared as quickly as he showed up and have seen no sign of it since/It was defiantly not a regular house cat as it was nearly as big as my dog…was not going to mention this to anyone but now I have seen that they have been spotted and also am now thinking on the other side of the field and woods is where they were putttin the pipeline through last year…so they could have followed the pipeline from Penn. seems that is where they have been spotted the most
May 04, 2014
Big Black Cat Fulton County by: Anonymous Saw a large black cat this morning walking from our clearing in the back into the woods. The birds and squirrels had coincidentally cleared away from the feeder just score.
May 03, 2014
Shocked and amazed by: Kane pa My wife, my stepson and I went turkey hunting this morning. I stayed back in the vehicle. A couple of hors went by and my wife and her son came back to the car to get warmed up. They decided that they would walk down the road to see if they saw anything. I swear as soon I watched their heads disappear over the hill I saw something black mosy up out of the woods where they just came from, at first i was like its a bear and then it came more and I said o shit that’s not a near it a black panther. It stood about 10 feet away right in front of my car. I was so shocked I started to cry because it was so beautiful.
Apr 27, 2014
big black cat by: michael I saw it last night around 1020 in fivepointville! No lie
Apr 23, 2014
I’ve seen this cat a few times. by: Marty I saw it the first time sometime in February. I should have reached for the camera instead of the binoculars. I saw it again on 4/21 & 4/22 and managed to get some good photos. It appears to be as big as my golden retriever.
Apr 17, 2014
Big Black Cat by: Anonymous Eaton PAI saw a giant black cat. He wasn’t scared of me in any way just looked at me and kept walking. There was no mistaking is he was about 100 feet from me. It was the sure of a mountain loin but jet black!
Apr 14, 2014
Wampus Cat by: Andy I live near Waynesburg in Greene County, PA. Though, I have not been fortunate enough to see it, my neighbor (2013) and my timber cutter (2007) have seen it on my farm. At my brother’s farm by the border with WV, they call it the Wampus Cat. Google Black Panther sightings and look at the trail cams and cell phone videos. Looks like a remnant population of black Jaguars. There is evidence that Jaguars ranged as far north as Ohio during the last ice age and grew to 420lbs. (larger than S. America.) Featured on Mountain Monsters, 2013Of Course this cat does not exist to science. The name Wampus Cat comes from an American Indian legend. Like all cats this cat likes to watch.REALLY REALLY COOL! It survives and now thrives in spite of us
Apr 12, 2014
i had a similar experience by: Anonymous This was about four years ago, My aunt was away on her honey moon in Alaska. I was house sitting for her in Corrie Pennsylvania, and as I was doing dishes I was looking out the window into the back yard where there was a trail going back with fences on both sides, the wooden one on the left was about 5 feet, and the horse fence about the same height) when I noticed a big black animal walking down the path towards the house it stops midway turn to the left and leaps up and over the fence. Do to the distance about 200 yards or so I didn’t get a great look at it, besides its tail it was thick and had a rounded end to it like a house cat, I ran to the phone and called my grandfather who is an active hunter and asked him. He said their was no such thing. He told me it was probably a coyote, or a bear but there was no way either of the two could have jumped gracefully like I witnessed, so I explained the story and he laughed and from then on I’ve only told a few people. But I know exactly what I saw there is no way I making stuff up in my mind!
Apr 07, 2014
Big Black Cat I seen one ALSO!!!! by: Charlotte I am SO glad to see this, a few weeks ago in March I seen a huge black cat out of the kitchen window walking across our field! We live in Shelby County. When I read this I was nodding in agreement to everything this hunter said! I felt like I had seen Bigfoot also, I was shaking. I called the local animal control but nothing came of it, they came out and that was about it. My husband and I walked back there but it’s grassy so no prints. The fence line is a bit muddy but we didn’t see anything except a bunch of deer droppings. Our daughter who was 12 at the time told her dad last year that she seen a large black cat with a big nose and shiny eyes cut across at the back of our yard! We both dismissed it as she was mistaken…kinda like what has happened to me now, but now I KNOW better! I sure wish someone would trap one of these things just so we won’t feel like nut cases! Haha Thanks again, I hope this may help track where they are showing up.
Mar 24, 2014
Big Black Cat McKean County by: Lori I’m still not sure what I saw. I’m having a difficult time convincing myself it was a black panther because that sounds insane. I had told my son there was a turkey in the field across the street. This was yesterday 3.23.14. He told me it wasn’t a turkey because it was alone. So he watched intently then exclaimed “It’s a bear mom!” So we ran out to check it out…and then it pounced towards a bird. Hmmm, I thought, never saw a bear pounce. It was just a black blob crouched down and did resemble a bear cub. But then when it pounced, it turned sideways and the long tail came up and flicked. I took off for binoculars to get a closer look and it went into the woods before I got back. It was much larger than any house cat I have seen. I’m trying to convince myself it was a black lab because that’s what I think size wise it equated to. But I can’t get that tail out of my mind. That was no tail of a dog. I wish I could put that experience in rewind and then slow motion forward.
Mar 14, 2014
Big black Cat by: dinamyt Driving to work this afternoon saw a big totally black animal cross the road in front of me. I first thought it was a dog, but as a dog breeder, I realized that it was not because the tail was the same the whole length and too long for any dog. It was also larger than any all black dog such as a lab, so I think it was a huge black cat!
Mar 07, 2014
hit one by: Anonymous I live towards boswell pennsylvania and tonight a huge black cat hit the side of my car. I said it looked like a panther and turrned around. Was no where to be seen. My 7 year old son and 73 year old mother witnessed it. Never thought they were aroind here until i came home and googled it. Going to look off the road tomorrow.
Mar 06, 2014
Saw a jet black panther by: Pam near Barkeyville, PA March 6, 2014 at 7:30am saw a jet black panther cross the road and walk thru a tree line between two fields. Lived here
Over twenty years and never saw anything like this before!
Feb 22, 2014
Big Black Cat by: Deb I have 2 pictures taken with a trail cam of a BIG black cat / panther on 12/11/13 at a cabin in South Central PA. I have been googling trying to figure out what it is and keep seeing that no such animal exists in PA.
Feb 09, 2014
Big Black Cat Susquehanna by: Anonymous In Jackson pa 2 miles from susquehanna pa There’s Panther hill and the gas and oil people were doing work while One guy saw something what looked a black house cat but 5 x bigger.
Feb 06, 2014
Panther sighting by: Anonymous I live in ohio 30m west of Columbus and have seen a black panther four times now on the property. Today being the latest he sees us and crouches and heads for the woods. I’m thinking he is staying near the house but we do not fear it as it hasn’t caused problems. It is gorgeous and is afraid of us so we are leaving it be. About ten yrs prior my daughter and I ran across a mountain lion in the woods and it was huge as well. The three of us just stopped in shock then it ran off. Beautiful creature as well.
Jan 31, 2014
Big, Black Cat in E. Stroudsburg, PA by: Anonymous I live in East Stroudsburg, PA and about 2-3 days ago as I was passing by the glass door- that leads to the deck and my back yard – I saw this big, black cat. It wasn’t huge but it was too big to be a “regular cat” which led me to take a second look. Yes, we do get a stray cat here and there but this was no regular cat. It then disappeared into the woods. My first thought that it was a baby black panther but then I thought I was crazy to think it was that. I just forgot about it then today I decided to see if anyone had reported seeing a big, black cat around PA and I came across this site. Thanks for your posts.
Jan 28, 2014
black panther in pa by: Amy your not crazy , my mom told me today 1/28/14, that twice now she feels she saw a black panther behind her house near a creek in Enola Pa across the river of Harrisburg for those that don’t know where Enola is and she is not crazy , her house is close to 11/15 . I want to see myself I hope I do , I didn’t think it was possible, Amy
Jan 05, 2014
Big Black Cat in pennsylvania by: delila saumier its true–in early 1800s my great grandma and her sister had a run in with a black panther in your state–it was early evening but thank god their mom showed up with a lantern and it ran away
Dec 30, 2013
Huge cat!!! by: Anonymous Hi!I was walking down by a strip of trees when for some reason I turned around.I saw a huge cat like animal walking down the path. I lifted my BB gun and fired at him. He turned and stared at me for about 10 seconds than went on his way. This animal scared me so much that I looked like I had saw Bigfoot mixed with a monster!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dec 07, 2013
Possibly saw one going to the bus by: Anonymous On my way to the bus last week I saw a Big Black catlike animal that crossed my neighbors yard in about 2 seconds then disappeared into the woods. I have a 90lb dog and it was about her size or bigger. Sighted near Evans City PA
Dec 05, 2013
big black cat Bucks County by: Anonymous About a week ago I saw a large black animal disappear into the woods as I came out of my house early in the morning. Several days later , a friend was hunting on our property, was watch a couple of doe from his stand, and saw something large and black out of the corner of his eye. Did we see a big cat, a bear cub? we don’t know, but it seems a lot of other people are seeing something also.
Dec 02, 2013
Two big black cats by: Anonymous 11/30/13 Big Beaver PA, crossing Rt 376. At first I thought they were cats because I saw them from a distance. Then I realized they must be very large to be so visible at that distance and they also had extra long tails.
Nov 29, 2013
Big Black Cat route 40 uniontown Pa by: Anonymous Crazy as it sounds I’ve seen one also on the way up the summit. It was big ran across in front of my van on the way to deep creek maryland for work. I was so dumbfounded by what i had seen. It had a long black tail and a longer snout than you would think a cat would have, not canine like or bear size. It’s size was about 5′ long with a tail about 3′. As quickly as i seen it then disappeared into the woods. Talked to other local people about seeing the cat and they have seen them. I am a hunter for 30 years,seen a lot of wild life but absolutely nothing like that!
Nov 10, 2013
No one believes me!!!!! by: Anonymous Yes! Just last evening, I seen this oversized cat that was black, long and very muscular.. He had a long tail that have a curve in it and it drug on the ground. It was pretty but my mouth dropped I could not believe what I was seeing this was in Armstrong county
Oct 30, 2013
Big black cat in SW PA by: Anonymous Last night we were traveling to Maryland and somewhere between Breezewood and the Maryland line we saw what I could only describe as a mountain lion like cat come out of the trees near the road and then it turned around and went back into the trees. I almost thought it was a deer at first, but it had a very long tail and was not as tall as a deer.
Oct 28, 2013
waterford,pa has black panthers by: beverly I was walking my usual walk on Trask Road, just west of Greely Road, in Waterford,pa. It was daylight out, and quite. I was walking, looking straight in front of myself down the road, when a black panther, which looked like a young adult,crossed the road from the field by the marsh, walked crossed the road looking straight in front of it. when it got to the other side of the road, took a leap up onto the side of the road which is a little hilly, disappeared into the field of pine trees. The long , jet black body, its big feet, appeared muscular,, and i will never how its long black tail at the end almost touched the road, but then curled up like the Q of an ice cream cone. I was recently told a man seen a black panther over on Plank Road, too.
Oct 28, 2013
Big Black Cat Gamelands 57 by: Don Saturday October 19th my 14 year old son and I went to our deer stands in the afternoon to archery hunt. As soon as we got to our stands it began to rain pretty hard. We walked about 200 yards to a thick pine swamp to get out of the rain. About 50 feet in front of us there was a load noise in a tree and then something black with a long tail jumped out of the tree and disappeared into the swamp. We looked at each other not having a clue what we just saw. I have no doubt that this was a panther I just saw. I am 46 years old and have been in these woods since I was a small child. Makes sense with the deer population continuing to go down every year on this gameland that the game commission has added this new species to my hit list. I will not hesitate to open up on it if I see one again.
Oct 25, 2013
Big Black Cat from sweet valley pa by: jake I just wanna say that all these comments I have read from my fellow pennsylvanians are true and I hate how ppl think its something else because they didn’t see it and obviously thinkthat we are a bunch of stupid rednecks or something because we all know what a bear looks like we all know how tiny domestic cats are there is no such thing as a five foot eight foot freakin house cat and I’m pretty sure I know what a freaking Panther looks like so I’ve myself have seen them with my father and my father is 57 years old and has zero reason to make some story up especially my father if you know who he is. Game Commission is treating the situation like a men in black huh Roswell type why we do not know I believe somehow they induce this animal back into the wild to rid of the highly highly population of coyotes being that they are reducing our turkey and deer populations more the deer than the turkeys however these coyotes are a hindrance and need to be rid of in Northeast Pennsylvania and the human hunters Plus this New Black Panther will help read them all. Why the Pennsylvania permit Game Commission is treating it like a man in black situation I do not know because this animal is the seventh beast and can kill little kids the safety of residence in Pennsylvania apparently is not in the grass because you want to keep this secret who this animal doesn’t exist what are you talking about yeah well again I have never seen in eight foot house cat you.idiots And I know what a freaking bear looks like Jack!!!!!!!!!!
Oct 13, 2013
Big Black Cat Cambria County, Pa. by: Shawn Yesterday, October 12th 2013, my son and I were both bow hunting in a ground blind in Adams Twp., Cambria County. The woods were alive with activity until 8am, all fell silent. A few moments later, I saw a large black figure appear. I motioned to my son who also turned to see the surprise figure. As It got closer, it became apparent that it was not a bear, due to the length of it’s tail. I then thought it was a black coyote. I have actually seen black coyotes(I coyote hunt in the winter). Just then, at 50 yds. it went up a tree stump and back down. So I said to myself, no dog can do that. By now I realize it’s size of about 60#( same size as my Collie). By now I have ruled out a fisher cat,(way too big). What I am seeing now at 30 yds away is a sleek muscular body approx 24″ at the shoulders a 4 1/2 to 5 ft. long tail, short cat like face and perky ears. Then it turned and I saw the face of a cat…black panther to be exact. My son said it before I could say it. I’m 38 yrs old and I know my Pa. game animals. As for my son, he is a national honor society student. ..Black Panther in Adams Twp.
Oct 07, 2013
Big Black Cat by: Phil Traveling west on 422 , about 30 miles east of Butler, PA. I saw a black panter cross the road in front of me without giving a look in my direction . He laid down next to the guard rail and we drove past him. Oct. 7, 2013 at about 8PM.
Oct 01, 2013
Big Black Cat in PA by: Dia While taking a walk today in Columbia County today I saw a large completely black panther-like cat with a very long tail. He just walked across the road in front of me into the woods.
Sep 28, 2013
Saw something just like you described tonight! by: Tom I live just outside of Harrisburg, PA and I witnessed a large black panther-like animal cross the road in front of me and head into the woods. I had no idea what is was so I did a search which led me here. It’s good to know I’m not the only one who witnessed something like this!
Jun 20, 2013
Big Black Cat I’ve seen it to in towanda! by: Anonymous I just saw this animal today! I wasn’t sure what exactly it was but I knew it was too big and long to be a dog but walked kind of like it was in the cat family and was her black! I live on old plank road in towanda and just saw this in my back yard.. I’m glad I’m not crazy an other people have seen this too but I’m also a little concerned for children and stuff that might be out playing.. I really think that the game commission should take this seriously and try and do something about it before there is a big pop of them here, they don’t have to kill it but try and capture it and take it away or something so I don’t have to kill it if it comes around my baby.. That would be nice!
Jun 11, 2013
Big Black Cat South Central Pa. by: David S. Kipple Good Morning; I just wanted to add my little encounter of Thursday May the 30th of this year – I have a cottage on the shore of the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River, Eastside of Tussy mountain – I spend a lot of time watching the birds, fish and other animals from a bench on the rivers East back – Approx 8:30 AM I watched as something Black walked through the tall river grass on the West Bank of the river – I have seen a black Mink a couple of times in that area, but always right on the river shore – As I watched, what ever it was, it moved into an area of trees and I lost sight of it for a couple of seconds – Then it moved into a small clear area where I could see it standing on a large rock out cropping – It turned it’s head to look South, down river, and that’s when I could see it was a large black cat with a very golden color eye – It stayed there for just a couple of seconds, and then started climbing the large rock out cropping – Thats when I lost sight of the cat,
I’ve two cats of my own and I know that they would have not looked as large as this cat did @ that distance – What ever it was I just hope I see it again, and I have my camera!David S. Kipple – Cypher Beach, Pa.
May 27, 2013
Black Mountain Lion, MA by: Sasha May 26th, 2013 @ 6:30 AM clearly saw a black mountain lion in Northbridge, MA. Feel like I saw Bigfoot too.
May 22, 2013
Big Black Cat It’s real! by: Anonymous I live in chester county Pa and a couple of years ago we had a black panther in our area. my uncle saw it in his back field with binoculars, he said that it was about the size of a black lab but it had a long tail. And some of the other neighbors saw it many other times! We use to hear it at night and our dogs would go crazy. We called the game commision and they said that no panthers were in pa, but we know what we saw! Ive hear a story about how years ago the game commision set a black panther free on a big farm because the deer population was getting to high. And ever since he has been traveling around Pa.
Apr 03, 2013
Big black cat by: Anonymous Funny that I see this now. My brother, father, and I were fishing the broadhedsville gorge many years back, at least 10, and witness the large black cat in the middle of the bike/ walking trail. At first it was walking toward us. We thought it was a small bear as it was pretty far up the trail from us. When it turn to the side it was clear that it had a long tail before it jump up into the woods. My father felt that someone probably had an exotic cat that became to much to care for or had escaped. They feared prosecution so never reported that it was now running loose. No questions about what we saw.
Mar 26, 2013
Big Black Cat by: Anonymous I used to live on the boarder of Kunkletown/Brodheadsville, PA. Every night I’d run my dogs after supper. We would walk up a short wooden path, which led us to a large open field behind the West End Fair Grounds. This summer day, the field had been plowed but not planted yet. The dogs started off, sniffing the ground, when all of a sudden, from the fair grounds side of the brush walked this huge pure black cat…it’s coat shone in the sun…and it stretched, as if we woke it up…well, I called the dogs and we ran all the way home. Called the police but he only laughed at me.
Mar 20, 2013
Big Black Cat by: KZ from Brownsville PA This was about 3-4 years ago me and my boyfriend was riding a quad back from a friends house and we had to go threw a huge field and a dark wooded area on our way through the field I asked him you see that? That’s a big dog!! As we got closer to it we realized it was no dog it was way to big and it was gracefully jumping through the field… It was probably between 200-250 pounds and 4 1/2 to 5 foot long and its tail was every bit of 4 foot long and shiny black fur… We was on a 500 honda rubicon and it was as long as the quad or bigger… We had to be 50 yards away when we first seen it but the trail into the woods was probably 20 yards away from it we was scared to death and flew home… People didn’t believe us but I know what we saw and it was no dog, no bear it was a huge black cat .. 2009 was the sighting.. east millsboro, pa was where we seen it…..
Mar 23, 2013
296? by: Anonymous ..You wouldn’t by any chance mean 296 would you? My sighting happened off of that road, Lake quinn area..we may have seen the same one that apparently has a bad hobby of playing chicken with cars 😮
Mar 22, 2013
Big Black Cat by: Anonymous I live in northeastern pa and was traveling on 286 when a huge black cat ran in front of the car. It was large and black with a very long tail and beaming green eyes. Definitely had
A face that is hard to forget. I definitely believe that it was a black panther.
Mar 21, 2013
Big Black Cat 2000 sighting by: Anonymous I’ve also witnessed a very large black cat in NE PA back in 2000. It ran across the road in front of my car. The most striking thing was the size, as it took up most of the road when running across, and the length of the tail. It baffles me why people find this hard to believe. Wherever there is a lot of wilderness and prey, why couldn’t they be there? There is without a doubt big black cats in PA.
Dec 03, 2012
Big Black Cat by: Anonymous my brother lives in Jersey Shore,Pa he walks in the mountains along a deer trail, twice he saw a large black cat the size of a puma it jumped across the path in front of him, tail was thick and longer then its body, several months later he saw it crouched in the brush, he said it was watching him, when he got closer it crouched,creeped out of sight, I told him to be careful if they are really hungry it may attack you, he said he sees lots of deer thats what its after.
Nov 22, 2012
Big Black Cat by: Anonymous i live in herminie pa. is about 25 miles outside of pittsburgh on my way home from thanksgiving dinner TONIGHT I saw a large black cat walking along the edge of a cornfield along the side of the road it was about the size of a mountain lion with a very long tail it was only about 25 feet from my car so i am 100% positive of what i saw it was not another animal or a house cat
Nov 21, 2012
game commision says by: elk mountain my wife took pictures of large black cat in our yard nov7 2012 near elk mt.ski resort estimate 1.5-2x times as big as our 50lb.dog have excellant pictures have talked to PGC. they say exoctic pet realeased whatever.
Nov 20, 2012
Big Black Cat with Long Tail by: Anonymous My husband and I own a tree farm in southwestern PA and one morning we saw this black cat drinking water from our in-ground pool. My husband mentioned the long tail, which hit the ground and curled upward.
It was not full grown and it came back the next morning. Haven’t seen it since 2009.
Nov 19, 2012
Big Black cat with LONG tail by: Anonymous My husband and I live in Southwestern Pennsylvania and have an in-ground swimming pool. One morning, we noticed a black cat drinking from the pool, my husband said look at the tail. It hit the ground and curled upwards, it came for two days and left, that has been nearly five years ago.
Sep 25, 2012
Big Black Cat Fulton county/route 30 by: badasdart I was on my way home just before dusk, and I was on rte 30. I thought it was a dog. It came down the mountain and onto the road and stopped. It was black, long tail about knee high. It was not full grown but it was definatly a black panther. After it hesitated it ran, my car scared it. It was beautiful I wish I had a camera. No one would believe me, but it was so graceful. it sorta flew. I was probably as amazed as he was. I have not seen one in this area ever.
Aug 21, 2012
Big Black Cat by: js 2nd one I’ve seen life time in Athens and if you ask around, you’ll find a few others come forward. Funny never mention the color an and then ask them what color theres was and they all say Black. I even have a picture of the last one out in the field. Its 200 yards away but its there.
Aug 18, 2012
Not to far from there ! by: B.R.Yanney I live near the Towanda/Wysox area of PA, not to far from Centralia PA. I seen this near the French Asylum ” Where Maria Antwonette was going before they lopt off her head ! ” right next to susquehanna river. Not only did I see this but the farmer who leases the land on my step fathers farm seen it, and my mother seen it walk right through her yard, but that was almost 10 years between sightings! so Iam not sure If it could be the same animal? What ever the case may be I now what I saw, Thanks for your comments, it reasures me we may not know every thing thats out there! Some day maybe some one will capture one or hit one with a car, I dont know if I would shoot one if I saw it or not. I think in PA you cant kill any animal thats not considered a game animal. But, if I felt threatened I would certainly kill it.
Aug 14, 2012
Big Black Cat by: Anonymous I was telling my friend (co-worker) about the black cat I had seen years ago in the Anthracite Coal mining area of PA. Around 1989 my friend told me that he had seen a “black panther” like cat behind his parents’ house in Centralia. He said his dog took after it but couldn’t keep up.Fast forward to 1995 and my friend Tom and I were in Tom’s truck at the top of the hill above Numidia, PA. We saw a large black cat on the other side of the road against the guardrail. A car in the opposing lane must have seen it too as they hit their brakes and turned their head towards it.I have seen this thing a few times with the last sighting being 1998 when home from the Navy. I’ve seen it in Centralia twice, above Numidia, near a campground in Numidia (my ex girlfriend saw it too), and once near route 61 between Shamokin and Kulpmont. When I was on delayed entry to the Navy a co-worker at the factory I was at told me about a run-in with a large panther like creature while hunting. I didn’t prompt him and hadn’t mentioned it so I was surprised but relieved to hear about somebody else seeing it. He was hunting in the Frackville area.If I had to guess, I’d say that it might be a mountain lion that has adapted to the dark coal region soil. Who knows. I’d love to see it again. Especially if I’m walking the woods with a firearm. It would be a shame to kill such a rare and odd creature but it needs to be catalogued and studied. You’re not crazy, apparently a few of us have seen this thing.
Jul 22, 2012
Big Black Cat by: B.R,Yanney Thanks everybody for the comments, it means a lot to me, as Ive tried to second guess my self since this has happened to me, but ,gosh darn it, I know what I saw! Thanks again !
Jun 28, 2012
big black cat by: Anonymous when i was probably in the third grade about 12 years ago in northern Idaho i saw one of these black cats i know it was not a burned stump or anything like that i was sitting in an open feild with my friend while his little 4 wheeler broke down and when his dad showed up it was just gone. but i know and remember what i saw i dont think anyone who has seen these are crazy.
Apr 16, 2012
Mushrooms indeed ! by: Brr Black Do morrel mushrooms make you hallucinate? No I never seen a A big black cat before, but I believe ya’.
Apr 12, 2012
Big Black Cat by: Anonymous I a panther in north dakota while i was looking for morel mushrooms. He was probably 150 lbs.
Dec 23, 2011
Thanks Randy ! by: B.R.Y. Thanks Randy, your comment and the others make me feel so much better. For a while there I was begining to doubt myself.But damn it , I know what I saw ! Thanks and merry christmas.
Dec 23, 2011
Big Black Cat by: Randy I live just North of Dayton ohio and there have been Several sighting of a large black cat/black panther in this area. This has been confirmed all over the local News. I totally belive your story.
Nov 27, 2011
Big Black Cat! by: B.R.Y. Thank you, so many people think Iam full of it.But I know what I saw ! It kinda’ chills you to the bone. doesnt it? Thanks for your comment.I totally believe your story!! That is so awesome ! For me it was the length of its snout, and the fact that I’d seen cats from that same vantage point before. Also there where deer near by so I had something to compare body size.We are now part of an exclusive group of lucky people!!!!!
Nov 27, 2011
Big Black Cat by: Anonymous We were spotting a few weeks ago in western pa and saw exactly what you are describing! It was about 40 yards from us and ran across the breast of the dam into the woods. It sat in the woods for a while watching the deer in the nearby field. We had heard many stories of black panthers being in pa for years and years but you never truly believe it till you see it!
Oct 19, 2011
Thank you ! by: B.R.Y. Thanks jeff. I feal a little less crazy!
Oct 19, 2011
Big Black Cat by: Jeff As a young boy growing up on the east coast of Florida, I have seen on two occasions black panther cats. Both were easily between 75 and 100 lbs. as an estimate.I have hunted Mountain Lion in Utah and know they exist in many other states.Why not Pa. Great habitat and plenty of food. Good chance you saw a Black panther or version of Mountain lion.Hope you see him/her again.Jeff
Driving on 9N today, north of Bolton and Silver Bay, up a mountain with dense forest on both sides when I thought a black bear was emerging from the woods to cross the road. But it turned out to be a large mountain lion type of cat but completely black. I should have stopped and tried to take a photo bc I was the only one in my lane but i had to slow down and became mesmerized just observing it and it was a pretty quick moment in time. It wasn’t a fisher cat. They are stocky and have different types of ears and tail. It was a big cat with a long tail that dips and turns up at the end, like a mountain lion’s. I know what I saw and it was amazing!
In 2018 (or 2017, can’t remember now) my husband and I were turkey hunting in sgl 226 north of Millville PA, in the north east corner near the cell towers. We were following a trail and had found some signs of turkey, we came down into the bottom, I was a few feet ahead of him and was creeping around a curve in the path and in front of me, I saw the most majestic creature, so graceful, easily ascend a large embankment with it’s long shimmery tail sway gracefully behind it. My husband saw nothing…. He actually more or less told me I was crazy and that no large black cats are in pa. He is a dcnr employee and gave me some weird response and tried to convince me it was a house cat. A house cat could not have climbed effortlessly and gracefully over the 3 ft embankment…….It drives me nuts to this day. I know what I saw. I made us sit with our backs against trees facing the direction it went for 30 minutes before I was ready to move on. I was on high alert, but it left us alone. Needless to say, we did not go back down at sunset to find the roosting turkeys …… I actually never hunted there again.
Coolest thing I’ve ever seen though, even if no one believes me. I know what I saw and am sure it will find me again some day. 🙂
Years ago, (2003-2004) I was living on a naval base in Great Lakes, Illinois. Me and a buddy were out at 3-4am running to get in shape for the dive motivator program. We were rounding the corner by the old marina, and spotted a giant black cat. There was a single street light about 75 yards up the road from us with a lower bank on the left side of the road, and a higher bank on the right side of the road which led up to a hill. This cat leaped probably 40’ onto the road and then jumped another 40’ up the hill to our right. We both stopped dead in our tracks, scared the shit out of us. We didn’t know whether to turn around and run which would have probably been 2-3 miles back to a building or keep going on the path we were on which was only about a mile. After a quick whispering debate we decided to stay on the path we were on. No matter the direction we stood no chance of getting away if the cat came after us. We both ran as fast as we could to the barracks. Never seen the cat again. We told a few instructors about the incident and nobody believed us, they all just laughed and said it was probably a house cat.
The problem is that people keep mistakenly calling them panthers. The pics are of Jaguars. Jaguars can have short tails- or long tails.. (between 18-30″ long) and can range from 180-300 pounds as adults. They can be solid black with hard to see spots. They originated here in North America, and then spread to other areas. I saw one hunting me as a child, and I drew many pictures of it because no one believed me. I also made plaster casts of the nearly 5″ pawprint in the mud next to a dead deer- that over time was parted out. The first day the brains were missing out of the jagged top of the open skull (between the ears) and most of the viscera were missing, a few days later the head and shoulders were missing a few days more and a bit of hide and one ankle were left to the flies… My dad said wild dogs killed it- but that made no sense to me, then he said I made up the paw print to reinforce my ridiculous claim of seeing a big cat prowling. So I kept my mouth shut and drew my pictures and took my notes. They are Jaguars, They originated here in the US and are intellegent shy and Big. The males can have a hundred mile range and they can live 20 years, and almost never attack humans unless injured or cornered. My son also saw one outside our house (a few miles from my parent place) when he was little (he never knew about my sightings because I never told anyone after my dad thought his little girl was a liar- But, about four years after my intial sighting (after much ridicule) Dad woke me just before dawn, apologizing deeply because that big black jaguar, (bigger than he was) jumped out of a tree next to him, turned it’s head to gaze at him, and then walked quietly into the weeds) My Dad said he was frozen to the spot, Dad 6 feet tall, strong and afraid of nothing. It scared him and I realized how violently people can react to something they don’t want to believe…. So I Know what I saw, have my detailed sketches (from before the internet) Those thick legs, huge paws, thick powerful tail, that facial structure, the placement and set of the eyes and jaw, the wide rounded ears- can only be a jaguar. They are in Ohio, maybe always have been in Ohio, ingnorance does not make something not exist… I like that they exist alongside our pompous self-importance and hide in plain sight from people who might destroy what they don’t understand. Jaguars are apex predators, but don’t bother people. We are who We should be worried about. We are the silent killers, that kill without provocation, or reason, or thought. We value the natural world, but many would kill it in a moment, and hang it on a wall to display their enormous inferiority complex…
I saw a black jaguar in wilton ny in early 2000. I get that doesn’t make sense to anyone ive talked to. Middle of winter..across the street from my house in a wooden area in the morning. Walked out to my car and this very tall shiny black haired cat with leapard print that i noticed when the sun hit it. Still confused to what i saw because ive never seen a picture of one. I started to search for it and had no doubt that what i found out was a black jaguar was exactly what i saw i watched it walk away as i stood near my car waiting for it to notice me. I made some whistling sounds but it never looked my way. This was a cat for sure in fact i was surprised when i saw its head which had the small round ears and flat looking face and kept its head even with its back. The tail was thick and long enough to touch the ground and curl up towards end. The hair was so shiny and tight to its body but the marking i saw in the sunlight were a gold color open print not spots but beautiful connected line pattern kind of what you’d see on a snake. Not a single person believes me. Especially when i show a pic of a black jaguar from internet. How i wish i could’ve grabbed my phone from my purse to take a pic but i was too focused on watching it walk into the woods.i feel now that i witnessed something no one else in the area did. I didn’t even report it because i didn’t think id be taken seriously as i still am. Lucky and blessed but wish i had shared the moment with someone else just for verification.
I had saved this site many years ago and just happened to look back at it but realize I only have posts from 2016 and before. I had my own personal sighting in 2013 in North Carolina and began on a quest that I gave up in about 2020. I have followed ever report I saw on numerous sites and have fought with the vast network of those that know they don’t exist because they have not seen one. Some are likely paid disinformation plants because they protest TOO MUCH AND TOO QUICK. I have been called everything in the book but I care not and I have given back as much insults as I could. I have spoken with over 100 people in maybe 15 states, all on the east coast, that not only reported them, but would fight over it, at least at the moment, with many close or long term sightings. There are many pictures, tracks, etc. but apparently only God or the Feds can approve them. I know these cats well and have helped more than a few understand them and verify what they know they saw. They are quite different from all the other cats unless you don’t want that to be the result. Since those that have seen them quickly fade away and don’t communicate with each other, we may never get acceptance. Only the people can solve this, NOT THE GOVERNMENT. I remain dedicated to helping the cause but even if I spoke with another 100, it would change nothing except keep me from enjoying my retirement which I worked on almost full time for 7 years, I am available at randallcullinan@yahoo.com most anytime. I have hoped I would get a lead where I could travel and get some indisputable pictures with my high dollar camera equipment, but people quickly lose interest. I have stage 4 cancer now and don’t know how long I have but I am in remission for now. When you hear the statement “You can’t fight city Hal” it pales compared to the ignorance and passiveness of the masses. In this case they wait for a Government that all of us know are liars to give us the truth.
In December of 2014 about 4:30 am while traveling to work at Kissimmee River Lock S65A on rural county rounds I saw a black panther. It was near the road and at the edge of an orange Grove at the edge of woods. It was laying down eating what seemed to be a large kill. The next day I confirmed a deer carcass was left at the same location. This was located in Frostproof, FL in Polk County on a road that traveled the shore of the lake on TS Wilson Rd. This area is heavily wooded and has numerous orange groves. Arbuckle creek reserve as well as many other protected areas and trails join this area. There is no doubt in my mind that it was indeed a black panther. My headlights briefly caught the eating cat as I drove past.
I just started looking this up because I just seen a large black cat taking the same path that the dear take every morning. Gallipolis, Ohio. That would be crazy if it was a black panther.
I live in Athens County, Ohio. I saw one last year, middle of summer, in the late afternoon. It was at the end of my field, little less than a 100 yards, by the creek. I saw it walking and thought that’s strange because it was walking like a cat does but that is way bigger than any house cat. It definitely wasn’t a dog or a bobcat. This thing was jet black. It had a tail almost as long as it’s body. It protruded straight out and at about 2/3 of the way it dipped up then straight again. The tail looked to be the same thickness the entire length. I yelled at my partner who was walking out to the creek with our son who was a little over a year old and waved her back to the house. I ran inside grabbed an unloaded pellet rifle and a loaded .45 Pistol. I just wanted to scare it off and the pellet rifle let’s out a nice crack when fired empty. When I got back outside it was gone. Must have dropped down into the creek. Haven’t seen it again but I hear noises every so often. There are at least 7 confirmed adult bobcats that live in the immediate area. Needless to say I always keep a pretty good sized blade strapped to my hip when I’m outside now. And we also just got a female Great Pyrenees to help keep an eye on our chickens and us. I never imagined that I would see a large black cat like that around here. And honestly I don’t care much to see it again.
I have been away for some time on this site. I think it is time to try to straighten out some commonly repeated and wrong beliefs.
The Jaguar in the US has no known attacks on people since some were supposed to have happened in the 1800’s. For some reason they are much less aggressive than those in South America. They cringe at human intervention and that is why most all pictures of them are made at 100 yards or further with piss poor phone cameras.
They don’t use game trails because they would be too exposed to take prey. Animals use it to AVOID predators with the ability for speed. Predators are hunting all the time and take careful steps FROM COVER to take them down.
The tail length of a Jaguar is much less than a Mountain Lion but thicker. Most that would be at rest would touch the ground and have mere inches to spare.
They are not just black, but shiny black, as pure a black as possible. There are no other colors unless you can see the rosettes shine through the black hair if the sunlight was just right, but grown ones have a LOT of rosettes.
The head of the males is quite different from other cats with a snout necessary to clear its TEETH.
The ears are perfectly rounded, unlike the other cats, like the leaf of a 4 leaf clover.
To make it easy for identification, if it is the blackest of black and approaching 100 lbs or more than a house cat, it’s a Melanistic phase Jaguar. Most are in the east to avoid exposure on more open ground. They prefer water and elevation changes.
The Jaguar, unlike the Mountain Lion is an endangered species which has ALL KINDS OF OBLIGATIONS ON GOVERNMENT if they admit it. Follow the money.
Jags entered our country between 20,000 and 200,000 years ago and the overflow from them populating our land was the spillover through Mexico to Central and South America where they flourish IN COVER. Seems like the Govt doesn’t want you to know that.
I have spoken with over 100 of people that claim to have seen one and passed my scrutiny with targeted questions. Some are up close and personal and they still were not threatened. I had my own personal sighting in NC so I can only laugh at those keyboard warriors that KNOW they do not exist because they didn’t see one saunter through their yards. They are very rare with my best estimate on the east coast as 10% of the number of Mountain Lions but it could be as high as 20%.
Sunday, 1-17-21 we saw a LARGE Black Cat across the street in a wooded area. We were so amazed at seeing such a large cat that we didn’t think to get a camera. It leapt up about 6’high into a tree, stayed there for about 10 seconds then jumped down & walked into the brush. I keep hoping to see it again.
We live in Niagara Falls, NY. There’s wooded areas around here. We get deer, & all sorts of animals.
In November 2017, a trucker claimed to have seen three highways workers struggling to lift the body of a dead 4 foot black panther into the back of a truck in a lay-by on the A1 near Harworth .
Gene: Thornhurst, Pa. , Fall 2020. My home borders SGL 135 and is a stones throw from Pinchot State Park. Recently saw a Black Panther approximately 30-40 yards out behind the house. It was just walking through the edge of the woods. Jet Black, Long Mountain Lion type tale, bright gold eyes, estimated weight 60+ pounds. Since then I’ve spoken to two others who have seen it, one said it was seen in his back yard in Mt. Pocono and the other saw it in the Blakeslee Area where one walked in front of her car. Been hunting since I’m 12, have never see a bigfoot however after this who knows what else is out their.
I am an actual observer of a black jaguar in North Carolina and there are many other sightings as well with a first class observation and pictures taken just over a week ago. There is no serious site where those that have observed may gather and exchange contacts. Obviously Governments do NOT want this to grow in seriousness. I know BIG CATS very well and would laugh at most of the comments from those that did not have a sighting. I am only interested in Black Jaguarsin the east and hope to speak with all others with first class knowledge. The Wildlife commissions for state and Federal are there to stop all inquiries best they can. They identify large black cats as bobcats or large housecats and remain unchallenged and even unnamed by hiding behind their organizations.
I’ve also seen a big black cat in 2008 in tullytown,pa near the waste management that use to be there with a lot of open land woods n a near by lake in the area I’ll never forget it I’m from phila,pa not from bucks so I kno a street cat they run wild in the city…I was at work and are garage was in the back of are buildings right next to the woods n a fence that began waste management it was about 6oclock at night in April I was going to drop the work truck off and lock the shop up and as I pulled up r door to unlock are garage is about 15feet from the door.i pulled to the garbage as I always do and as I was getting out of the truck I heard the trees move so I looked and there it was a big a** black cat looking at me so I jumped back in the truck rolled the windows up n lock the doors haha yea I did and as I when to take a picture 2or3 deers ran by and he disappeared I think they caught him off guard because he was so focused on me……I’ve only told this story to family and friends……
A week ago today my friend and I had just eaten at Long John Silver’s, on Rt 93 in Hazleton PA, Carbon County. We had just gotten into my car to leave when we saw this large black cat walking in the woods behind LJS. We sat and watch it for a few minutes trying to decide what it was. She reported what we saw to the PA Game Commission. There are a lot of restaurants in this area so maybe the smell attracted it.
I have property in Western MD where I go to ride my wheeler. I can confirm that this is not a joke or an old wise tail. I saw a huge black cat while my buddy and I were stopped along the power lines. Can someone please get some more footage. It was the coolest shit I have ever seen.
Hoping you guys don’t think I sound crazy, but honest to goodness I saw a huge black cat today. We live on a rural farm in Chester County, Pa. I looked out my kitchen window earlier & saw a huge black cat slinking from the field into the woods behind our smoke house. I still cannot believe that I saw this creature. I’d say it was at least as big as our dog & he’s around 75 lbs. I’m just stunned. Could this really have been some sort of black panther/mountain lion? It was definitely a cat and had a long tail. We have coyotes, fishers, bobcats, and it was none of those things. Wow.
My wife and son saw a black cat outside of Hollidaysburg, PA in 2014. It was near the chimney rocks formation on the South side of town along route 36. My son immediately said “Puma” when he saw it. I kept trying to convince my wife that what she saw was a bear but she insisted that it had a long tail.
West Bend, Wisconsin.
I was walking on a Conservancy trail yesterday (Dec. 2, 2017). The Conservancy trail is located between West Lake Dr. and Hwy. 144 by Big Cedar Lake. I saw ahead of me what I thought was a huge black dog. I was waiting to see the owner behind it, but saw there was nobody. As the animal got closer I saw that it was a huge black cat with a shiny coat and long tail. I stopped walking and froze. I could not believe my eyes. I was at a point on the path where it split. Thank God it went on the other path instead of toward me. I wasn’t too far from the road, so when the cat was out of sight, I walked forward. I then saw it further down on the other path just stopped. I tried to take a photo, but it did not turn out very well because I was scared and just wanted to get out of there! You can tell in the photo that the animal was big and black though. I am 100 percent sure that it was some sort of cat. It absolutely was NOT a house cat. I thought it was a jaquar or mountain lion or something. I was within about 90 to 100 yards of it, so I saw it perfectly. I have a cabin in northern Wisconsin and have seen bears, f ishers, coyotes, and wolves. This was a huge cat. It walked slow and sleek. I posted my experience on Facebook and several other people came forward and said they saw the same thing in the Conservancy and nobody believed them. Well I sure do now!!!
In 1994 I was driving from Twin Cities MN to Duluth passing through some very thick wooded forest area. I saw a lot of different types of wildlife. Around Moose Lake a large black cat crossed I35 running, I’ve seen cougar in the wild, this was larger, longer, in full stride, sleek. Amazing.
My daughter and granddaughter were driving south of Lebanon, OH on SR 48 last evening around 10:30pm (8/13/17) when a “very long, low, black cat-like” animal whooshed across the road in front of them at an incredible speed. Not running as a big dog or other animal common to the area would, but almost “gliding” across the road. They both agreed it looked like a panther.
I live in Mackeyville PA, and today I saw what looked like a Large Black Panther. However after doing some research and discovering no Black Panther has EVER been recorded in the United States, I did discover that Mountain Lions are prevalent in PA and that many have very dark coats leading people to think they are black. I am sure this is what I saw today. I was positive it was black. But It may have been a very dark (looking black) mountain lion. It was awesome.
When I saw a very large black panther August 21, 2016 in McKean County in north central Pa, it was without a doubt a glossy black and in bright sunshine. When someone returned my call to the game commission, I asked if there were any private zoos missing an animal like this and he responded that they surpervised them carefully. Well, I do not know what to think as a neighbor down the road has now had what a ranger called a juvenile black panther at her stable three times this spring/summer. She is concerned as she has a couple elderly ponies she rescued and they do not move very well. The ranger put up a camera. We had a camera up at the stable but it has been stolen. As it was chained to the tree it would have required bolt cutters to remove it.
In addition to these black panthers currently around, in April of this year (2017) my husband and I watched a large tan mountain lion walk into our horse pasture in broad daylight.
I have been replacing some exterior half doors and windows with bars and am redesigning one of the large sliding doors so the horses can get fresh air. They have an indoor turnout area. They are outside each morning for a period while my husband guards them. He is always armed.
My in-laws just saw a cat that matches this description yesterday in their backyard and today walking down the dirt road (Paperdale Road) in Stillwater, Columbia County, PA !
I live on the coast of northern California. I spend a lot of time in the woods hunting. I’ve seen mountain lions many times. They have all been a different color. Tan, brown, Chestnut, and grays. But yesterday hunting for morels at 3kft in a burn, so black charred trees every… I saw a sleek all black mountain lion. It’s coat was shining in the sun. It was beautiful. The lions I’ve seen here typically look dull like the dirt and leaves. The hair seemed shorter and made its muscles really stand out. I thought perhaps it was some sort of large mastiff dog, but as it turned to walk off its long tail trailed just above the ground.
When I was out about six weeks earlier, to check the snow line I found tracks. I will be picking up a color game camera to try to track this lion down. It was incredible.
In 2002. I spent some time in Maryland.One hot,August day,late afternoon,around 5 P.M. I was in Rock Creek Park,seating in backyard of Ohr Kodesh Congregation and watching trees and bush line more than hundred yards away from me. Suddenly two,black large cats came out from the forest and set down on the meadow facing each other.Like I said they were more than hundred yards away and I couldn’t believe how big they are and what I just saw!They stayed like that fore 5 0r 10 minutes and then with no rush one by one vanished in the bushes.I newer told to anyone what I saw but years later I watched some documentary about people seeing this cats in Maryland and DC area so I start to read more about these events.
Big Black Cat in Gilbert, PA… 20 years ago, I lived at Weir Lake, and every night used to walk our dogs up a path thru the woods, and into a large long corn field. The West End Fairgrounds was to our right. The sun had started to go down…when we reached the open corn field, which has now been cleared, I left the dogs go…off they ran, like always, when I looked to the right, a huge black cat the size of a cougar, was stretching….and started walking slowly out into the corn field. I frantically called to the dogs, and fortunately they didn’t see the cat….by the time they got to me, I saw the cat’s tail, which hung down to the ground and curled. We literally ran all the way back to the house. I tell you true, the cat’s coat was gleaming like it had been waxed….beautiful!!! Anyway, as soon as we got back to the house, I phoned the police and they laughed at me, never even offered to come out.
In the spring of 2016, we burned our garbage behind our house as we normally do. We live in West Sunbury, PA, 10 min. from Slippery Rock, PA. I stay up late watching tv. I jogged in front of a bear by our home prior to that, and we have coyote packs nearby so I was up late, and decided to shine my spotlight flashlight into the field behind our house to see if I’d see anything. I saw something black pouncing around in half circles back and forth on the garbage pile. I was like wtf is that. I focused in, and saw black fur, about my 72 lb dog size, and a long thick tall like a mountain lion’s. We had one chicken in a coupe with a dog kennel around it nearby. For some reason I was worried about it, so I shined the light off the cat towards our chicken. The freaking cat chased my light over to our chicken pacing near it’s pen. Then it ran super fast into our woods. Probably near 1 AM. Our house is near huge mountain like hills. A few weeks later, my sons were playing in the woods where it ran, and saw a black animal lying down, and my son said it looked like it was kicking its paws. They got scared, and came home. They didn’t go near it. About 7 years before on our same road, I was flying in my car, and looked to my right. I saw a black mountain lion sprawled out running top speed beside my car, and it quickly ran into the weeds near a horse farm. I thought I was seeing things in disbelief, taking a 2nd look before it bounced off. I heard the horse farmer sees them too. I thought I was seeing something. Some people don’t believe me, and say it’s a fisher cat. What I saw was a large black cat, it looked nothing like a fisher. It’s tail just like a mountain lion. I looked fishers up online. I sometimes hear cat type screams outside too. My dad recently saw a black animal to take something out near us. He brought it up during Thanksgiving this year 2016. Maybe I have a lot near me?? :/ I wrote the Game Commision who said they’ve never seen any, although they get reports. They pretty much told me it would have to be a fisher cat. I completely disagree, no way!! I just bought a trail cam. I’m setting it up, and will let you know if I get one in it. I’m trying hard.
Jackie, I had a sighting in hooker PA. It is not vary far from you, 20 maybe 30 miles. A guy I work with asked me if I wanted to turkey hunt his dad’s place. They been seeing 20 or so turkeys in this field, so I got there an hour before daylight. In the corner of this field was a large tree cabin that they hunted deer from. I got up to the corner of the field. It was still dark out and it started to rain, so I got under that tree cabin so I wouldn’t get wet. So I am sitting there for an hour in the rain and it just got light out. I could see good, there was a logging road about 30 yards from me. I was in full camo, face mask too. All of a sudden here come two very large black cats walking side by side in stride with each other. I just sat there in shock. I couldn’t believe it. They were as big as a german shepard. Their tails were 4 ft long, jet shiny black. Everyone asks me why I didn’t shoot. I had my shotgun on them, but just sat there in shock. I couldn’t believe it!
I live in Maryland but grew up and hunted Pa in Cambria Co. all my life. In 2015 during the first day a antlered deer I saw a very large black panther around 10am in the morning, I had a good look at the big cat at about 40 yards, I was in a ground blind. It was on State Game Land near Cardiff Pa. I reported the sighting to the Game Commission. After a few days went by I heard that a female hunter about 8 miles away had taken a shot at a big black cat and missed and it ran off while she was hunting. Most people do not believe me but I know what I saw. My cousin also has a photo of a mountian lion track about 5 miles from where I hunt.
I believe I saw a panther between Englewood and Brookville Ohio. I have seen bobcat and coyote yearly but this was taller and longer and very dark in color. We slowed down as we spotted 1 deer in field to left with 1 crossing road and 3 more in field to right. We stopped completely about 15′ away and watched the deer cross with some large cat in pursuit. It was bigger than my lab and had a very long tail but not a dog snout.
Camping in Cowans Gap State Park in Fulton County. We were driving on a logging road and spotted a large black cat on the road in front of us. The cat became frightened by our vehicle and turned sideways to run off. We noted that it had a longer than usual tail with a large stature. Definitely much larger than a domestic cat.
Many Years Ago, I lived in Kunkletown, Monroe County. I had 3 dobies, which I took out every evening for a run in the fields behind the West End Fair Grounds. One evening, we walked up the path thru the woods, as usual, and out into the open field. This particular year, the farmer had planted soy in that field, and the dogs took off running. All of a sudden to the right of the field, up stood a big black shiny black panther. It was so shiny, it looked oiled as the sun hit it’s coat. It stretched out, like a cat would do after a nap, it’s tail was long like that of a cougar’s tail; and then sat there, looking like it didn’t have a care in the world…immediately I screamed for the dogs, thank God they didn’t see him….they quickly came to me, and I took off back down the path to my home. I really feared that cat chasing us…and ran like anything. When we got home I called the police, and they laughed at me, probably thought I was drunk? It was an experience I will never forget, and to this day, b/c the cat seemed so calm, so unafraid, I thought maybe it might have been someone’s exotic pet that perhaps got away?
My name is Scott and I’m from just out side of Duluth, Minnesota. Back in late February of 2008 I woke up at 0830 like I normally do and when I wake up first thing I do is look out my back window. I immediately noticed something very dark of color moving slowly through the woods in my back yard. I thought to myself “a black bear roaming around this time of year?” So I grabbed my glasses and put them on and was amazed at what I saw. A big black cat. With snow on the ground it was very easy to see this cat in the woods. The head was the shape of a cougar. But it honestly seemed bigger than one. The cat’s belly was just barely off the ground as it lurked along. Also the tail was very think and long. This thing was at least 160 lbs if not bigger. The tail was dragging on the ground behind the cat as it walked. I wish I would have had my smartphone then because I would have been recording that instantly. But knowning I had no way to record it I though “footprints!” After waiting about 15 mins I loaded up a shotgun and headed out back to where I saw it. Just so happened the snow had melted a bit then refroze the following night. It was rock hard…. so no prints. I looked for fur, poop, tracks, anything. All that and nothing. I spoke with a local DNR officer and he stated that he had also heard stories of a large black cat in the area but also none of the stories were validated with any type of proof. It still to this days just kills me that i couldn’t record it or find anything. I feel like people do not believe me when I describe to them this creature. I know what I saw. I’m an avid hunter and have seen lynx, bobcat and also a couple cougars (which were both tannish colored). The only thing I can guess is that it was either a pet of someones OR that it had escaped from the Lake Superior zoo which is about 8-10 miles from my property. I’m glad that there are others with this similar experience, and also I never go outback without a gun after that!
My wife, another couple and I were up on Winslow Mountain near Benezette Pa seeing the Elk. There is a property up there selling lots for vacation homes and hunting camps. We saw an Elk up above the entrance and drove in as we all like camping and wanted to see both the cow and the properties. After seeing the Elk we drove in and on the left was a camp and out from behind it walked a cat I estimated to be over 20 pounds and very long with a tail as long as the body. It was black and simply moved with purpose back into the taller grass and disappeared.
I rolled down the window and made a dying rabbit call and the cats head only appeared through the grass. We saw the cat for about 5 seconds clearly and the head for another 10 seconds. This was no house cat and appeared to be a juvenile panther. It was in very good shape yet not muscular or fat.
Later, when I asked each of them seperately what size they thought it was, my wife thought it was as long as her piano bench with a tail nearly equal in length. The other couple each estimated the length at about 2.5 feet with a tail that matched. I also estimated it to be about 2.5 to under 3′ in length with a long tail that was pretty much the same length as the body. We were at first no more than 40 yards from this cat and when it was looking at us through the grass it was no more than 60 yards and I was looking at it at that time with Steiner military surplus issue binoculars.
Now, I’ve hunted several states and was one of the first people in Pa. to witness a Fisher here. I archery hunt and used to be a punter in football so my yardage and guesstimating ability is pretty sharp. The Fisher I saw was off of Route 6 about 20 years ago in Benson Swamp when I was archery hunting. When I questioned the deputy warden who lived near the swamp about the Fisher, he denied their existence. When I gave him the green tag number under PGC that I saw with my Nikon binoculars as it moved through the swamp, he got a sheepish look on his face and said something about the PGC introducing them in central Pa. to curb the porcupine population, but there weren’t any he knew of around here, I laughed and said, “Ya right.”
Finally I went to college and played baseball with a guy who later became an attorney. Later he became a Commissioner on the PGC board over most of NW Penna under the Rendell Administration. When I questioned him about a big cat like animal (yellow) that moved across the back of a long field at about 400 yards from me and it being bigger than a yellow lab with a tail as long as it’s body, his reply was very telling. He replied that the PGC’s position is that mountain lions are extinct in Pa. When I pushed him on what I saw, he repeated the PGC’s official position and then stated that hypothetically that, “If there were mountain lions, and there are not, then the Pa. Game Commission would have them on the endangered species list and would need to then protect them. If the PGC had to then protect them, then it could take upwards to half their total budget to do so. ” He concluded with the statement one more time that the PGC’s official position is that there are no mountain lions in Pennsylvania and that they are extinct. I think you get the picture…
There was another sighting in Clarksville PA Greene County. It was right along the side of the road with a deer in its mouth. I can send the pic if you ask.
Hello everyone and the kool people here at .
Deer hunting guide ….Just wanted to say thanks for the overwhelming responses to this post. I just want to say I haven’t seen another one but love all the stories …. so I’am not alone….. Thanks again B.R.Yanney
Mount Cobb, PA. 2000. We are located in Northeast Pennsylvania. It was evening during the Summer. We saw a Hugh black cat sitting under an apple tree near the woods in my back yard. My father couldn’t believe what we were seeing. He called and reported the sighting he said he saw what appeared to be a Panther but since we never heard of any around our area we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. We were informed we were not the first to see what others around the state also described as a Panther. So in light of that I know they are certainly in Pennsylvania!
I live in northcentral PA.. Specifically outside Smethport in McKean County near Farmer’s Valley. Our home is set back from the road surrounded by fields with brush along the edges. My brother-in-law owns a large house and yard next to us that is empty.
Last Sunday, August 21, 2016, I walked across the culvert to the stable to feed our two horses. The culvert, stream, abd stable have brush around. When I entered the stable my 25 year old horse with access to a back paddock was going crazy. He was trying to leap the interior gate. I calmed him down (I thought) and eventually fed the horses. It was about 8 pm and bright sunlight still. I went to look at the field on the side of the stable away ftom our house.
I nearly passed out. A huge black panther was casually walking away to the far woods. I think he had been closer and my horse calmed down because he was walking away.
I say “he” because of the size. We had a female raise her cub at the empty house next door several years ago. She screamed nightly. Then she moved her cub down the road to my father’s place where they left tracks in the snow – mom and baby. Since the PA Game Commission so definitely denied their existence we thought it was a rare one-time experience. Now I don’t believe that. And this time the official response to my black panther was that there is not a breeding population. So of course I brought up the mother and cub, which were the traditional colors.
This has changed my whole life. I drive the 100 feet to my stable and run inside. The horses are inside unless they are turned out in the paddock on the side facing the house and my husband is guarding them and armed. We do have a large space inside they are using for exercise.
I am installing fans, we have cameras outside, and brush is scheduled to be removed which will take a long, long time. One smaller exterior door is being replaced as the weather has been hard on it. I am picking up some extra wheelbarrows so if my husband doesn’t have time to be at the stable I can clean and then dump all the wheelbarrows one after the other in the manure pile while he guards me. The pile is surrounded by brush and removed by gardeners. I thought it great to hide the pile but not anymore. That is the first thing getting exposed.
A park ranger I ran into yesterday was very helpful, definitely knows the mountain lions are here, is not impressed with the game commission, and gave me good advice.
Clear sight lines. Turnout for livestock in daylight under supervision. Suggested a shotgun as I have no experience with weapons. Wants me to practice so I will actually be able to protect myself if attacked. I really just want to have my husband armed and there!
Syracuse, NY- I was driving to Syracuse Airport in September of 2014 to catch a early flight and saw a dead Black Panther on the side of 81N.
Larger than a big dog with very long and thick black tail. Had a shiny black coat that appeared to have a silver under coat. Must have gotten hit during night. Reported it to DEC.
Came across this post by some google searching and am floored. My boyfriend took my jeep out and was driving past a pipeline. He said he was looking and whistling at a deer in the distance and then noticed a completely black, large cat looking animal stalking behind the deer. He said in the 20+ years he’s been in this area, he’s never seen anything like it. We live about an hour east of Pittsburgh.
So tonight I was fishing my girlfriend’s family pond on Pine Hill Rd, near Berlin in Somerset County. It was approximately 7:30 pm and still completely daylight. As I was fishing the breast of the dam I heard something cracking dry grass in the swampy area behind me. I turned around and noticed a black figure creeping slowly through the grass. It was walking parallel to me and moving very slowly and deliberately as if trying to go unnoticed. My first thought was black bear but as it stepped into a small clearing under a small willow about 15 yards from me it stopped and looked at me. We made eye contact long enough for me to muster the thought in my mind that “I need to get the hell out of here!” It turned its head as if telling me he was going to go his way and I should also go mine. I watched the back of his head go back into the grass and watched its entire body disappear from view ONLY 15 YARDS FROM ME!!! I grew up in Glencoe, PA. There aren’t many places more country than that. Im 27 years old, hunted my entire life and seen all kinds of shit and I’ve seen a mountain lion before with my family. This cat was not a house cat. It was not a bobcat. It was not any other thing anyone can make an excuse for. The only explanation in my mind after thinking about it for 2.5 hours is it was a black mountain lion. It looked to be around 5-6 feet long and had a long thick tail. I know what I saw and I am not crazy. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life.
Okay here goes it was probably about 20 years ago but I remember it like it was yesterday. Two of my children were very young playing in the yard I live in a rural part of Greene County and I Owen quite a lot of acreage. One day my daughter came up on the porch to the screen door and said the dog was way up on the hill so I went outside to where she pointed at the tree line near the ridge, at the time there were young trees maybe 15 feet high if that I have seen the dog up there before so I proceeded to call him he was a large black lab. As I stared and focused in I realized this was much larger than my dog it’s back against the tree line was at least a foot or more higher than my dog. I thot oh it’s a black bear and had my children go inside but as I stared at it I saw it had a long tail. It did not respond to my calling out when I thought it was my dog it never skipped a beat. As I watched it I realized this is a big black cat. It was far enough away that if it started coming down the hill I could just run in my house so I stood there for quite some time watching it just walk along the tree line I almost didn’t believe my eyes this is not supposed to be here. As it was walking off I went into the house and ran upstairs to get a better view out of the back window as I watched it it turned into the tree line. I know what I saw I’ve never told anybody for fear of ridicule. When my husband came home the kids told him we saw a black bear because that’s what I told them it was, when I pulled him aside to tell him what occurred earlier that day he laughed and said okay. So that clinched it for me if I couldn’t get my own husband to believe it I wasn’t going to tell anybody else. Ever since I have always been on the lookout sometimes. if I ever see it again someone I hope another adult will be with me. I know what I saw and I’m not crazy. I don’t care if the world leaves me I would just like to have a witness so I could say I told you so. Also coming home from shopping one late evening about 10 years ago it was dark and I was driving home on a rural Road as I was coming around the bend there was a guardrail I could see to eyes reflecting back at me and I could see from the car lights as I got closer its eyes peeking over the guardrail I thought oh it’s a bobcat so I slowed down as I passed in case it decided to jump across the road as I was passing I was staring at it it must have been crouched down. I was almost at a standstill it was the same color is a bobcat however when his head popped up over the guardrail I realized this is not a bobcat it’s too big. Still have no idea of what I saw but it wasn’t a bobcat. I did tell some of my family when I saw this but they kept telling me it was just a probably a large bobcat. If this was a bobcat it had some serious growth hormone issues. It doesn’t matter who believes me about these stories what matters is I know they were real.
i saw a big black cat that I thought was a panther….It was in the fall of 2014. I was on the Martz bus coming home to Albrightsville, Pa which is about 45 minutes from the Delaware Water Gap …just by East Stroudburg, PA. The bus let off the passengers at the Water Gap and I stayed on to go to Blakeslee which was my stop. As the bus passed the Water Gap into Stroudsburg…I saw the big black cat climbing up the rocks. I thought I was seeing things but there it was. I couldn’t get my camera out fast enough to take a picture …but I know what I saw and will never forget it!!!
So I also have a story from around 2008. At the time I was only 12 years old. My parents were building a house in west Wyoming, PA, which is basically right across from the woods. My dads parents lived only two streets away, even farther up the hill. I was with my friend, walking to my grandmothers because the house was still being built etc. At the top of my grandmothers street we saw a MASSIVE black cat come out of the woods. It’s tail had to have been at least half the size of my body, if not the same size at the time from what I can remember. After we both realized that it wasn’t a regular house cat we ran, not our best decision in the world but we were pretty panicked and pretty young. When we ran back down the hill to my parents house we both were crying just because this thing was so big. We weren’t extremely close but not extremely far either. My dad calmed us down trying to tell us that it was only a house cat. But, as the gentleman before said, I watched a show I forget on what channel but they showed where jaguar sightings have occurred in America and it was right over NEPA. I firmly believe in what I saw. I know I was young but until this day me and my friend are pretty confident that it wasn’t anything like a house cat. I’m just glad I can drive now and I don’t have to walk to my parents or grandparents haha
Woops I didn’t mean a jaguar, but it was a big black cat that was the first thing that came to my mind to describe it. I’m no wild cat expert but I can defienetly say it wasn’t a house cat, and as I’ve gotten older and learned more about things like this my mind still has not changed about what I saw.
I can’t believe so many people have seen black mountain lions in PA and especially around where I live in East Brady, PA. I say this because I saw a black mountain lion or panther in the country side of Ford City, PA Armstrong Count about 10 or 12 years ago around 2004 to 2006 summer. I saw the lion laying in the middle of the road in a country wooded area of Ford City. It was about a hundred yards from me with its long black rope tail wrapped around in front of it as it lay warming itself on the pavement. It filled between one third or one half of the road and was no house cat. It was pitch black and staring straight at me. I was crossing the road in front of a farm house I was working on. I turned to walk back to the house for binoculars or a camera, but when I returned, it was gone. I was only gone from its sight for a minute. I researched cougars and mountain lions and Panthers in PA shortly afterwards. I found that when cougars and Panthers were found in PA that on occasion, some were born with excess pigment and so they were black instead of brown. This is called melanism and is found in jaguars. Either these ones are like that or have migrated from Florida or have been set lose by owners who had them as pets.
I believe them, because I myself saw one, while walking my dogs, some 30 years ago, behind the West End Fair grounds in Gilbert, PA….I think it’s rather narrow minded of anyone to try and discredit the fact that all these people have been spotting them over the years…the one I saw was so black and went about 70 to 90 lbs. and had that long beautiful tail trailing behind it. I also believe it’s rather narrow minded to make a blanket statement that all cougars were erradicated from Pennsylvania’s forests years ago…that is an impossible statement to make. While I’ve never seen a cougar, I’m sure they exist in some of the most heavily forested areas of PA. When I saw the panther, I suspected it had been someone’s pet that had escaped as it showed no agression what so ever. We simply had interupted the cats nap, by going up there in that field, and it woke up, stretched and looked at us like we were common in it’s life, although I ran all the way back to the house, dogs running with me. Thank God they didn’t see the cat….but don’t allow anyone to tell you you didn’t see what you saw….if you saw it, then it’s true, and I do most certainly believe the so many who have spotted them, as I did.
We just saw a huge ‘black cat’ today lying in the sun while we were traveling interstate 81. This was not a house cat. My daughter was able to get a better look since she was in the passenger seat, she said its eyes were glowing green, When traffic dropped from 75 mph to 45mph, I saw brake lights, I thought there was an accident but that wasn’t the case. This cat was big enough slow traffic. I wouldn’t have believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes.
We were traveling along a wooded section of roads near Kunkletown, PA midday 8/2/2015, as we headed to my sister’s house. We traveled Merwinsburg Road and then Jonas Road heading west approximately a mile or two east of the Old Jonas Hotel. A large black panther-like cat crossed the road from south to north in front of our car and headed into the woods. It was black, sleek and shiny, not fluffy. Its length covered 1/3 – 1/2 of the road including its long tail. It seemed low to the ground possibly due to its length, and seemed to crouch. It moved quickly without turning its head to look at our car, and disappeared into the woods. I had no idea what this could be and was brought here by my search for large black cat in this area. We also sent a report to http://eprn.homestead.com/ Eastern Puma Research Network. Did we see a panther? We still can’t believe it!
(** This is a repost as I can’t see the post which was previously approved. Sorry if this is a duplicate, but I don’t see my original.)
Hi Joe, I believe you, I saw one in Gilbert, behind the West End Fair Grounds….might have been the same cat I saw….beautiful and so black, it shone in the sun…sleek with a very long black tail. If they’re in Florida, they could very well be in PA….I now live in Kentucky and find it odd that people are surprsed to see black bear….a lot of people owned exotic animals years ago, that most likely got loose or were let loose. I know of a man who owned a huge cougar in Saylorsburg….so pumas or panthers do exist, in PA…
Silverlake/sand dunes/mears /michigan 2010 / Adult/male/cougar/140 lbs./ 8 in. Snowfall that night/ going south on B15/RIDGE RD./LEAPED ACROSS road/RAN DOWN gravel driveway/ stopped /bout 70 yds./turned around /and then sat on his butt and/calmly looked around/from side 2 side .remained there for 20/30 seconds/got up/and proceeded into timbered area.AMAZING EXPERIENCE/thank you.
Live in Cresco, PA and saw a large black (wild) cat two houses down from mine when driving to do some errands. We live on a rural mountain road with deer living on all of our properties (among other animals). He crossed the road in front of me and first I just saw some black back legs and wondered why a bear would be active at this time. When I came to pass where he crossed I clearly saw him from behind, LARGE – BLACK – CAT! He was creeping through some tall grass down into a more open pasture.
Couple nights ago I heard this weared noise, and then seen a black cat off the road side when I little got closer it was gone in seconds. This happened in ohio close to my house
Driving on 9N today, north of Bolton and Silver Bay, up a mountain with dense forest on both sides when I thought a black bear was emerging from the woods to cross the road. But it turned out to be a large mountain lion type of cat but completely black. I should have stopped and tried to take a photo bc I was the only one in my lane but i had to slow down and became mesmerized just observing it and it was a pretty quick moment in time. It wasn’t a fisher cat. They are stocky and have different types of ears and tail. It was a big cat with a long tail that dips and turns up at the end, like a mountain lion’s. I know what I saw and it was amazing!
In 2018 (or 2017, can’t remember now) my husband and I were turkey hunting in sgl 226 north of Millville PA, in the north east corner near the cell towers. We were following a trail and had found some signs of turkey, we came down into the bottom, I was a few feet ahead of him and was creeping around a curve in the path and in front of me, I saw the most majestic creature, so graceful, easily ascend a large embankment with it’s long shimmery tail sway gracefully behind it. My husband saw nothing…. He actually more or less told me I was crazy and that no large black cats are in pa. He is a dcnr employee and gave me some weird response and tried to convince me it was a house cat. A house cat could not have climbed effortlessly and gracefully over the 3 ft embankment…….It drives me nuts to this day. I know what I saw. I made us sit with our backs against trees facing the direction it went for 30 minutes before I was ready to move on. I was on high alert, but it left us alone. Needless to say, we did not go back down at sunset to find the roosting turkeys …… I actually never hunted there again.
Coolest thing I’ve ever seen though, even if no one believes me. I know what I saw and am sure it will find me again some day. 🙂
Years ago, (2003-2004) I was living on a naval base in Great Lakes, Illinois. Me and a buddy were out at 3-4am running to get in shape for the dive motivator program. We were rounding the corner by the old marina, and spotted a giant black cat. There was a single street light about 75 yards up the road from us with a lower bank on the left side of the road, and a higher bank on the right side of the road which led up to a hill. This cat leaped probably 40’ onto the road and then jumped another 40’ up the hill to our right. We both stopped dead in our tracks, scared the shit out of us. We didn’t know whether to turn around and run which would have probably been 2-3 miles back to a building or keep going on the path we were on which was only about a mile. After a quick whispering debate we decided to stay on the path we were on. No matter the direction we stood no chance of getting away if the cat came after us. We both ran as fast as we could to the barracks. Never seen the cat again. We told a few instructors about the incident and nobody believed us, they all just laughed and said it was probably a house cat.
The problem is that people keep mistakenly calling them panthers. The pics are of Jaguars. Jaguars can have short tails- or long tails.. (between 18-30″ long) and can range from 180-300 pounds as adults. They can be solid black with hard to see spots. They originated here in North America, and then spread to other areas. I saw one hunting me as a child, and I drew many pictures of it because no one believed me. I also made plaster casts of the nearly 5″ pawprint in the mud next to a dead deer- that over time was parted out. The first day the brains were missing out of the jagged top of the open skull (between the ears) and most of the viscera were missing, a few days later the head and shoulders were missing a few days more and a bit of hide and one ankle were left to the flies… My dad said wild dogs killed it- but that made no sense to me, then he said I made up the paw print to reinforce my ridiculous claim of seeing a big cat prowling. So I kept my mouth shut and drew my pictures and took my notes. They are Jaguars, They originated here in the US and are intellegent shy and Big. The males can have a hundred mile range and they can live 20 years, and almost never attack humans unless injured or cornered. My son also saw one outside our house (a few miles from my parent place) when he was little (he never knew about my sightings because I never told anyone after my dad thought his little girl was a liar- But, about four years after my intial sighting (after much ridicule) Dad woke me just before dawn, apologizing deeply because that big black jaguar, (bigger than he was) jumped out of a tree next to him, turned it’s head to gaze at him, and then walked quietly into the weeds) My Dad said he was frozen to the spot, Dad 6 feet tall, strong and afraid of nothing. It scared him and I realized how violently people can react to something they don’t want to believe…. So I Know what I saw, have my detailed sketches (from before the internet) Those thick legs, huge paws, thick powerful tail, that facial structure, the placement and set of the eyes and jaw, the wide rounded ears- can only be a jaguar. They are in Ohio, maybe always have been in Ohio, ingnorance does not make something not exist… I like that they exist alongside our pompous self-importance and hide in plain sight from people who might destroy what they don’t understand. Jaguars are apex predators, but don’t bother people. We are who We should be worried about. We are the silent killers, that kill without provocation, or reason, or thought. We value the natural world, but many would kill it in a moment, and hang it on a wall to display their enormous inferiority complex…
I saw a black jaguar in wilton ny in early 2000. I get that doesn’t make sense to anyone ive talked to. Middle of winter..across the street from my house in a wooden area in the morning. Walked out to my car and this very tall shiny black haired cat with leapard print that i noticed when the sun hit it. Still confused to what i saw because ive never seen a picture of one. I started to search for it and had no doubt that what i found out was a black jaguar was exactly what i saw i watched it walk away as i stood near my car waiting for it to notice me. I made some whistling sounds but it never looked my way. This was a cat for sure in fact i was surprised when i saw its head which had the small round ears and flat looking face and kept its head even with its back. The tail was thick and long enough to touch the ground and curl up towards end. The hair was so shiny and tight to its body but the marking i saw in the sunlight were a gold color open print not spots but beautiful connected line pattern kind of what you’d see on a snake. Not a single person believes me. Especially when i show a pic of a black jaguar from internet. How i wish i could’ve grabbed my phone from my purse to take a pic but i was too focused on watching it walk into the woods.i feel now that i witnessed something no one else in the area did. I didn’t even report it because i didn’t think id be taken seriously as i still am. Lucky and blessed but wish i had shared the moment with someone else just for verification.
I had saved this site many years ago and just happened to look back at it but realize I only have posts from 2016 and before. I had my own personal sighting in 2013 in North Carolina and began on a quest that I gave up in about 2020. I have followed ever report I saw on numerous sites and have fought with the vast network of those that know they don’t exist because they have not seen one. Some are likely paid disinformation plants because they protest TOO MUCH AND TOO QUICK. I have been called everything in the book but I care not and I have given back as much insults as I could. I have spoken with over 100 people in maybe 15 states, all on the east coast, that not only reported them, but would fight over it, at least at the moment, with many close or long term sightings. There are many pictures, tracks, etc. but apparently only God or the Feds can approve them. I know these cats well and have helped more than a few understand them and verify what they know they saw. They are quite different from all the other cats unless you don’t want that to be the result. Since those that have seen them quickly fade away and don’t communicate with each other, we may never get acceptance. Only the people can solve this, NOT THE GOVERNMENT. I remain dedicated to helping the cause but even if I spoke with another 100, it would change nothing except keep me from enjoying my retirement which I worked on almost full time for 7 years, I am available at randallcullinan@yahoo.com most anytime. I have hoped I would get a lead where I could travel and get some indisputable pictures with my high dollar camera equipment, but people quickly lose interest. I have stage 4 cancer now and don’t know how long I have but I am in remission for now. When you hear the statement “You can’t fight city Hal” it pales compared to the ignorance and passiveness of the masses. In this case they wait for a Government that all of us know are liars to give us the truth.
Hey Randall,
Thanks for reaching out!
I have no doubt that what you saw and say is true.
Good luck with your fight and thanks again.
John
In December of 2014 about 4:30 am while traveling to work at Kissimmee River Lock S65A on rural county rounds I saw a black panther. It was near the road and at the edge of an orange Grove at the edge of woods. It was laying down eating what seemed to be a large kill. The next day I confirmed a deer carcass was left at the same location. This was located in Frostproof, FL in Polk County on a road that traveled the shore of the lake on TS Wilson Rd. This area is heavily wooded and has numerous orange groves. Arbuckle creek reserve as well as many other protected areas and trails join this area. There is no doubt in my mind that it was indeed a black panther. My headlights briefly caught the eating cat as I drove past.
Hey Noel,
Thanks for reaching out and sharing your experience in Florida.
I currently live in Naples Florida and I have seen Florida panthers, but I have not seen a black one.
Thanks again Noel!
John
I just started looking this up because I just seen a large black cat taking the same path that the dear take every morning. Gallipolis, Ohio. That would be crazy if it was a black panther.
Hey James,
Thanks for sharing!
John
I live in Athens County, Ohio. I saw one last year, middle of summer, in the late afternoon. It was at the end of my field, little less than a 100 yards, by the creek. I saw it walking and thought that’s strange because it was walking like a cat does but that is way bigger than any house cat. It definitely wasn’t a dog or a bobcat. This thing was jet black. It had a tail almost as long as it’s body. It protruded straight out and at about 2/3 of the way it dipped up then straight again. The tail looked to be the same thickness the entire length. I yelled at my partner who was walking out to the creek with our son who was a little over a year old and waved her back to the house. I ran inside grabbed an unloaded pellet rifle and a loaded .45 Pistol. I just wanted to scare it off and the pellet rifle let’s out a nice crack when fired empty. When I got back outside it was gone. Must have dropped down into the creek. Haven’t seen it again but I hear noises every so often. There are at least 7 confirmed adult bobcats that live in the immediate area. Needless to say I always keep a pretty good sized blade strapped to my hip when I’m outside now. And we also just got a female Great Pyrenees to help keep an eye on our chickens and us. I never imagined that I would see a large black cat like that around here. And honestly I don’t care much to see it again.
Hey Jeremy,
Thanks for sharing your experience!
I do a lot of bow hunting in Athens and Meigs County, so I am pretty familiar with that area.
I haven’t seen any big black cats, but there are definitely some big bucks in your area!
Thanks again for sharing Jeremy!
John
I have been away for some time on this site. I think it is time to try to straighten out some commonly repeated and wrong beliefs.
The Jaguar in the US has no known attacks on people since some were supposed to have happened in the 1800’s. For some reason they are much less aggressive than those in South America. They cringe at human intervention and that is why most all pictures of them are made at 100 yards or further with piss poor phone cameras.
They don’t use game trails because they would be too exposed to take prey. Animals use it to AVOID predators with the ability for speed. Predators are hunting all the time and take careful steps FROM COVER to take them down.
The tail length of a Jaguar is much less than a Mountain Lion but thicker. Most that would be at rest would touch the ground and have mere inches to spare.
They are not just black, but shiny black, as pure a black as possible. There are no other colors unless you can see the rosettes shine through the black hair if the sunlight was just right, but grown ones have a LOT of rosettes.
The head of the males is quite different from other cats with a snout necessary to clear its TEETH.
The ears are perfectly rounded, unlike the other cats, like the leaf of a 4 leaf clover.
To make it easy for identification, if it is the blackest of black and approaching 100 lbs or more than a house cat, it’s a Melanistic phase Jaguar. Most are in the east to avoid exposure on more open ground. They prefer water and elevation changes.
The Jaguar, unlike the Mountain Lion is an endangered species which has ALL KINDS OF OBLIGATIONS ON GOVERNMENT if they admit it. Follow the money.
Jags entered our country between 20,000 and 200,000 years ago and the overflow from them populating our land was the spillover through Mexico to Central and South America where they flourish IN COVER. Seems like the Govt doesn’t want you to know that.
I have spoken with over 100 of people that claim to have seen one and passed my scrutiny with targeted questions. Some are up close and personal and they still were not threatened. I had my own personal sighting in NC so I can only laugh at those keyboard warriors that KNOW they do not exist because they didn’t see one saunter through their yards. They are very rare with my best estimate on the east coast as 10% of the number of Mountain Lions but it could be as high as 20%.
Sunday, 1-17-21 we saw a LARGE Black Cat across the street in a wooded area. We were so amazed at seeing such a large cat that we didn’t think to get a camera. It leapt up about 6’high into a tree, stayed there for about 10 seconds then jumped down & walked into the brush. I keep hoping to see it again.
We live in Niagara Falls, NY. There’s wooded areas around here. We get deer, & all sorts of animals.
In November 2017, a trucker claimed to have seen three highways workers struggling to lift the body of a dead 4 foot black panther into the back of a truck in a lay-by on the A1 near Harworth .
Gene: Thornhurst, Pa. , Fall 2020. My home borders SGL 135 and is a stones throw from Pinchot State Park. Recently saw a Black Panther approximately 30-40 yards out behind the house. It was just walking through the edge of the woods. Jet Black, Long Mountain Lion type tale, bright gold eyes, estimated weight 60+ pounds. Since then I’ve spoken to two others who have seen it, one said it was seen in his back yard in Mt. Pocono and the other saw it in the Blakeslee Area where one walked in front of her car. Been hunting since I’m 12, have never see a bigfoot however after this who knows what else is out their.
I am an actual observer of a black jaguar in North Carolina and there are many other sightings as well with a first class observation and pictures taken just over a week ago. There is no serious site where those that have observed may gather and exchange contacts. Obviously Governments do NOT want this to grow in seriousness. I know BIG CATS very well and would laugh at most of the comments from those that did not have a sighting. I am only interested in Black Jaguarsin the east and hope to speak with all others with first class knowledge. The Wildlife commissions for state and Federal are there to stop all inquiries best they can. They identify large black cats as bobcats or large housecats and remain unchallenged and even unnamed by hiding behind their organizations.
I’ve also seen a big black cat in 2008 in tullytown,pa near the waste management that use to be there with a lot of open land woods n a near by lake in the area I’ll never forget it I’m from phila,pa not from bucks so I kno a street cat they run wild in the city…I was at work and are garage was in the back of are buildings right next to the woods n a fence that began waste management it was about 6oclock at night in April I was going to drop the work truck off and lock the shop up and as I pulled up r door to unlock are garage is about 15feet from the door.i pulled to the garbage as I always do and as I was getting out of the truck I heard the trees move so I looked and there it was a big a** black cat looking at me so I jumped back in the truck rolled the windows up n lock the doors haha yea I did and as I when to take a picture 2or3 deers ran by and he disappeared I think they caught him off guard because he was so focused on me……I’ve only told this story to family and friends……
A week ago today my friend and I had just eaten at Long John Silver’s, on Rt 93 in Hazleton PA, Carbon County. We had just gotten into my car to leave when we saw this large black cat walking in the woods behind LJS. We sat and watch it for a few minutes trying to decide what it was. She reported what we saw to the PA Game Commission. There are a lot of restaurants in this area so maybe the smell attracted it.
I have property in Western MD where I go to ride my wheeler. I can confirm that this is not a joke or an old wise tail. I saw a huge black cat while my buddy and I were stopped along the power lines. Can someone please get some more footage. It was the coolest shit I have ever seen.
Hoping you guys don’t think I sound crazy, but honest to goodness I saw a huge black cat today. We live on a rural farm in Chester County, Pa. I looked out my kitchen window earlier & saw a huge black cat slinking from the field into the woods behind our smoke house. I still cannot believe that I saw this creature. I’d say it was at least as big as our dog & he’s around 75 lbs. I’m just stunned. Could this really have been some sort of black panther/mountain lion? It was definitely a cat and had a long tail. We have coyotes, fishers, bobcats, and it was none of those things. Wow.
My wife and son saw a black cat outside of Hollidaysburg, PA in 2014. It was near the chimney rocks formation on the South side of town along route 36. My son immediately said “Puma” when he saw it. I kept trying to convince my wife that what she saw was a bear but she insisted that it had a long tail.
West Bend, Wisconsin.
I was walking on a Conservancy trail yesterday (Dec. 2, 2017). The Conservancy trail is located between West Lake Dr. and Hwy. 144 by Big Cedar Lake. I saw ahead of me what I thought was a huge black dog. I was waiting to see the owner behind it, but saw there was nobody. As the animal got closer I saw that it was a huge black cat with a shiny coat and long tail. I stopped walking and froze. I could not believe my eyes. I was at a point on the path where it split. Thank God it went on the other path instead of toward me. I wasn’t too far from the road, so when the cat was out of sight, I walked forward. I then saw it further down on the other path just stopped. I tried to take a photo, but it did not turn out very well because I was scared and just wanted to get out of there! You can tell in the photo that the animal was big and black though. I am 100 percent sure that it was some sort of cat. It absolutely was NOT a house cat. I thought it was a jaquar or mountain lion or something. I was within about 90 to 100 yards of it, so I saw it perfectly. I have a cabin in northern Wisconsin and have seen bears, f ishers, coyotes, and wolves. This was a huge cat. It walked slow and sleek. I posted my experience on Facebook and several other people came forward and said they saw the same thing in the Conservancy and nobody believed them. Well I sure do now!!!
In 1994 I was driving from Twin Cities MN to Duluth passing through some very thick wooded forest area. I saw a lot of different types of wildlife. Around Moose Lake a large black cat crossed I35 running, I’ve seen cougar in the wild, this was larger, longer, in full stride, sleek. Amazing.
My daughter and granddaughter were driving south of Lebanon, OH on SR 48 last evening around 10:30pm (8/13/17) when a “very long, low, black cat-like” animal whooshed across the road in front of them at an incredible speed. Not running as a big dog or other animal common to the area would, but almost “gliding” across the road. They both agreed it looked like a panther.
I live in Mackeyville PA, and today I saw what looked like a Large Black Panther. However after doing some research and discovering no Black Panther has EVER been recorded in the United States, I did discover that Mountain Lions are prevalent in PA and that many have very dark coats leading people to think they are black. I am sure this is what I saw today. I was positive it was black. But It may have been a very dark (looking black) mountain lion. It was awesome.
When I saw a very large black panther August 21, 2016 in McKean County in north central Pa, it was without a doubt a glossy black and in bright sunshine. When someone returned my call to the game commission, I asked if there were any private zoos missing an animal like this and he responded that they surpervised them carefully. Well, I do not know what to think as a neighbor down the road has now had what a ranger called a juvenile black panther at her stable three times this spring/summer. She is concerned as she has a couple elderly ponies she rescued and they do not move very well. The ranger put up a camera. We had a camera up at the stable but it has been stolen. As it was chained to the tree it would have required bolt cutters to remove it.
In addition to these black panthers currently around, in April of this year (2017) my husband and I watched a large tan mountain lion walk into our horse pasture in broad daylight.
I have been replacing some exterior half doors and windows with bars and am redesigning one of the large sliding doors so the horses can get fresh air. They have an indoor turnout area. They are outside each morning for a period while my husband guards them. He is always armed.
My in-laws just saw a cat that matches this description yesterday in their backyard and today walking down the dirt road (Paperdale Road) in Stillwater, Columbia County, PA !
I live on the coast of northern California. I spend a lot of time in the woods hunting. I’ve seen mountain lions many times. They have all been a different color. Tan, brown, Chestnut, and grays. But yesterday hunting for morels at 3kft in a burn, so black charred trees every… I saw a sleek all black mountain lion. It’s coat was shining in the sun. It was beautiful. The lions I’ve seen here typically look dull like the dirt and leaves. The hair seemed shorter and made its muscles really stand out. I thought perhaps it was some sort of large mastiff dog, but as it turned to walk off its long tail trailed just above the ground.
When I was out about six weeks earlier, to check the snow line I found tracks. I will be picking up a color game camera to try to track this lion down. It was incredible.
In 2002. I spent some time in Maryland.One hot,August day,late afternoon,around 5 P.M. I was in Rock Creek Park,seating in backyard of Ohr Kodesh Congregation and watching trees and bush line more than hundred yards away from me. Suddenly two,black large cats came out from the forest and set down on the meadow facing each other.Like I said they were more than hundred yards away and I couldn’t believe how big they are and what I just saw!They stayed like that fore 5 0r 10 minutes and then with no rush one by one vanished in the bushes.I newer told to anyone what I saw but years later I watched some documentary about people seeing this cats in Maryland and DC area so I start to read more about these events.
Big Black Cat in Gilbert, PA… 20 years ago, I lived at Weir Lake, and every night used to walk our dogs up a path thru the woods, and into a large long corn field. The West End Fairgrounds was to our right. The sun had started to go down…when we reached the open corn field, which has now been cleared, I left the dogs go…off they ran, like always, when I looked to the right, a huge black cat the size of a cougar, was stretching….and started walking slowly out into the corn field. I frantically called to the dogs, and fortunately they didn’t see the cat….by the time they got to me, I saw the cat’s tail, which hung down to the ground and curled. We literally ran all the way back to the house. I tell you true, the cat’s coat was gleaming like it had been waxed….beautiful!!! Anyway, as soon as we got back to the house, I phoned the police and they laughed at me, never even offered to come out.
I seen a black panther in big pool md about 4 years ago crossing big pool rd… I know what i seen
In the spring of 2016, we burned our garbage behind our house as we normally do. We live in West Sunbury, PA, 10 min. from Slippery Rock, PA. I stay up late watching tv. I jogged in front of a bear by our home prior to that, and we have coyote packs nearby so I was up late, and decided to shine my spotlight flashlight into the field behind our house to see if I’d see anything. I saw something black pouncing around in half circles back and forth on the garbage pile. I was like wtf is that. I focused in, and saw black fur, about my 72 lb dog size, and a long thick tall like a mountain lion’s. We had one chicken in a coupe with a dog kennel around it nearby. For some reason I was worried about it, so I shined the light off the cat towards our chicken. The freaking cat chased my light over to our chicken pacing near it’s pen. Then it ran super fast into our woods. Probably near 1 AM. Our house is near huge mountain like hills. A few weeks later, my sons were playing in the woods where it ran, and saw a black animal lying down, and my son said it looked like it was kicking its paws. They got scared, and came home. They didn’t go near it. About 7 years before on our same road, I was flying in my car, and looked to my right. I saw a black mountain lion sprawled out running top speed beside my car, and it quickly ran into the weeds near a horse farm. I thought I was seeing things in disbelief, taking a 2nd look before it bounced off. I heard the horse farmer sees them too. I thought I was seeing something. Some people don’t believe me, and say it’s a fisher cat. What I saw was a large black cat, it looked nothing like a fisher. It’s tail just like a mountain lion. I looked fishers up online. I sometimes hear cat type screams outside too. My dad recently saw a black animal to take something out near us. He brought it up during Thanksgiving this year 2016. Maybe I have a lot near me?? :/ I wrote the Game Commision who said they’ve never seen any, although they get reports. They pretty much told me it would have to be a fisher cat. I completely disagree, no way!! I just bought a trail cam. I’m setting it up, and will let you know if I get one in it. I’m trying hard.
Jackie, I had a sighting in hooker PA. It is not vary far from you, 20 maybe 30 miles. A guy I work with asked me if I wanted to turkey hunt his dad’s place. They been seeing 20 or so turkeys in this field, so I got there an hour before daylight. In the corner of this field was a large tree cabin that they hunted deer from. I got up to the corner of the field. It was still dark out and it started to rain, so I got under that tree cabin so I wouldn’t get wet. So I am sitting there for an hour in the rain and it just got light out. I could see good, there was a logging road about 30 yards from me. I was in full camo, face mask too. All of a sudden here come two very large black cats walking side by side in stride with each other. I just sat there in shock. I couldn’t believe it. They were as big as a german shepard. Their tails were 4 ft long, jet shiny black. Everyone asks me why I didn’t shoot. I had my shotgun on them, but just sat there in shock. I couldn’t believe it!
I live in Maryland but grew up and hunted Pa in Cambria Co. all my life. In 2015 during the first day a antlered deer I saw a very large black panther around 10am in the morning, I had a good look at the big cat at about 40 yards, I was in a ground blind. It was on State Game Land near Cardiff Pa. I reported the sighting to the Game Commission. After a few days went by I heard that a female hunter about 8 miles away had taken a shot at a big black cat and missed and it ran off while she was hunting. Most people do not believe me but I know what I saw. My cousin also has a photo of a mountian lion track about 5 miles from where I hunt.
I believe I saw a panther between Englewood and Brookville Ohio. I have seen bobcat and coyote yearly but this was taller and longer and very dark in color. We slowed down as we spotted 1 deer in field to left with 1 crossing road and 3 more in field to right. We stopped completely about 15′ away and watched the deer cross with some large cat in pursuit. It was bigger than my lab and had a very long tail but not a dog snout.
Camping in Cowans Gap State Park in Fulton County. We were driving on a logging road and spotted a large black cat on the road in front of us. The cat became frightened by our vehicle and turned sideways to run off. We noted that it had a longer than usual tail with a large stature. Definitely much larger than a domestic cat.
Many Years Ago, I lived in Kunkletown, Monroe County. I had 3 dobies, which I took out every evening for a run in the fields behind the West End Fair Grounds. One evening, we walked up the path thru the woods, as usual, and out into the open field. This particular year, the farmer had planted soy in that field, and the dogs took off running. All of a sudden to the right of the field, up stood a big black shiny black panther. It was so shiny, it looked oiled as the sun hit it’s coat. It stretched out, like a cat would do after a nap, it’s tail was long like that of a cougar’s tail; and then sat there, looking like it didn’t have a care in the world…immediately I screamed for the dogs, thank God they didn’t see him….they quickly came to me, and I took off back down the path to my home. I really feared that cat chasing us…and ran like anything. When we got home I called the police, and they laughed at me, probably thought I was drunk? It was an experience I will never forget, and to this day, b/c the cat seemed so calm, so unafraid, I thought maybe it might have been someone’s exotic pet that perhaps got away?
Hello all,
My name is Scott and I’m from just out side of Duluth, Minnesota. Back in late February of 2008 I woke up at 0830 like I normally do and when I wake up first thing I do is look out my back window. I immediately noticed something very dark of color moving slowly through the woods in my back yard. I thought to myself “a black bear roaming around this time of year?” So I grabbed my glasses and put them on and was amazed at what I saw. A big black cat. With snow on the ground it was very easy to see this cat in the woods. The head was the shape of a cougar. But it honestly seemed bigger than one. The cat’s belly was just barely off the ground as it lurked along. Also the tail was very think and long. This thing was at least 160 lbs if not bigger. The tail was dragging on the ground behind the cat as it walked. I wish I would have had my smartphone then because I would have been recording that instantly. But knowning I had no way to record it I though “footprints!” After waiting about 15 mins I loaded up a shotgun and headed out back to where I saw it. Just so happened the snow had melted a bit then refroze the following night. It was rock hard…. so no prints. I looked for fur, poop, tracks, anything. All that and nothing. I spoke with a local DNR officer and he stated that he had also heard stories of a large black cat in the area but also none of the stories were validated with any type of proof. It still to this days just kills me that i couldn’t record it or find anything. I feel like people do not believe me when I describe to them this creature. I know what I saw. I’m an avid hunter and have seen lynx, bobcat and also a couple cougars (which were both tannish colored). The only thing I can guess is that it was either a pet of someones OR that it had escaped from the Lake Superior zoo which is about 8-10 miles from my property. I’m glad that there are others with this similar experience, and also I never go outback without a gun after that!
The cat In the photo looks likes black house cat to me. Buck
My wife, another couple and I were up on Winslow Mountain near Benezette Pa seeing the Elk. There is a property up there selling lots for vacation homes and hunting camps. We saw an Elk up above the entrance and drove in as we all like camping and wanted to see both the cow and the properties. After seeing the Elk we drove in and on the left was a camp and out from behind it walked a cat I estimated to be over 20 pounds and very long with a tail as long as the body. It was black and simply moved with purpose back into the taller grass and disappeared.
I rolled down the window and made a dying rabbit call and the cats head only appeared through the grass. We saw the cat for about 5 seconds clearly and the head for another 10 seconds. This was no house cat and appeared to be a juvenile panther. It was in very good shape yet not muscular or fat.
Later, when I asked each of them seperately what size they thought it was, my wife thought it was as long as her piano bench with a tail nearly equal in length. The other couple each estimated the length at about 2.5 feet with a tail that matched. I also estimated it to be about 2.5 to under 3′ in length with a long tail that was pretty much the same length as the body. We were at first no more than 40 yards from this cat and when it was looking at us through the grass it was no more than 60 yards and I was looking at it at that time with Steiner military surplus issue binoculars.
Now, I’ve hunted several states and was one of the first people in Pa. to witness a Fisher here. I archery hunt and used to be a punter in football so my yardage and guesstimating ability is pretty sharp. The Fisher I saw was off of Route 6 about 20 years ago in Benson Swamp when I was archery hunting. When I questioned the deputy warden who lived near the swamp about the Fisher, he denied their existence. When I gave him the green tag number under PGC that I saw with my Nikon binoculars as it moved through the swamp, he got a sheepish look on his face and said something about the PGC introducing them in central Pa. to curb the porcupine population, but there weren’t any he knew of around here, I laughed and said, “Ya right.”
Finally I went to college and played baseball with a guy who later became an attorney. Later he became a Commissioner on the PGC board over most of NW Penna under the Rendell Administration. When I questioned him about a big cat like animal (yellow) that moved across the back of a long field at about 400 yards from me and it being bigger than a yellow lab with a tail as long as it’s body, his reply was very telling. He replied that the PGC’s position is that mountain lions are extinct in Pa. When I pushed him on what I saw, he repeated the PGC’s official position and then stated that hypothetically that, “If there were mountain lions, and there are not, then the Pa. Game Commission would have them on the endangered species list and would need to then protect them. If the PGC had to then protect them, then it could take upwards to half their total budget to do so. ” He concluded with the statement one more time that the PGC’s official position is that there are no mountain lions in Pennsylvania and that they are extinct. I think you get the picture…
There was another sighting in Clarksville PA Greene County. It was right along the side of the road with a deer in its mouth. I can send the pic if you ask.
Hello everyone and the kool people here at .
Deer hunting guide ….Just wanted to say thanks for the overwhelming responses to this post. I just want to say I haven’t seen another one but love all the stories …. so I’am not alone….. Thanks again B.R.Yanney
Hey B.R.,
Thanks for checking in and starting this story many years ago!
Best,
John VanDerLaan
On 296 Annymous. You are my neighbor. We saw that Panther in our yard by the woods!! I just read your post. We saw it in about 2000. Mount Cobb PA
Rose
Mount Cobb, PA. 2000. We are located in Northeast Pennsylvania. It was evening during the Summer. We saw a Hugh black cat sitting under an apple tree near the woods in my back yard. My father couldn’t believe what we were seeing. He called and reported the sighting he said he saw what appeared to be a Panther but since we never heard of any around our area we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. We were informed we were not the first to see what others around the state also described as a Panther. So in light of that I know they are certainly in Pennsylvania!
I live in northcentral PA.. Specifically outside Smethport in McKean County near Farmer’s Valley. Our home is set back from the road surrounded by fields with brush along the edges. My brother-in-law owns a large house and yard next to us that is empty.
Last Sunday, August 21, 2016, I walked across the culvert to the stable to feed our two horses. The culvert, stream, abd stable have brush around. When I entered the stable my 25 year old horse with access to a back paddock was going crazy. He was trying to leap the interior gate. I calmed him down (I thought) and eventually fed the horses. It was about 8 pm and bright sunlight still. I went to look at the field on the side of the stable away ftom our house.
I nearly passed out. A huge black panther was casually walking away to the far woods. I think he had been closer and my horse calmed down because he was walking away.
I say “he” because of the size. We had a female raise her cub at the empty house next door several years ago. She screamed nightly. Then she moved her cub down the road to my father’s place where they left tracks in the snow – mom and baby. Since the PA Game Commission so definitely denied their existence we thought it was a rare one-time experience. Now I don’t believe that. And this time the official response to my black panther was that there is not a breeding population. So of course I brought up the mother and cub, which were the traditional colors.
This has changed my whole life. I drive the 100 feet to my stable and run inside. The horses are inside unless they are turned out in the paddock on the side facing the house and my husband is guarding them and armed. We do have a large space inside they are using for exercise.
I am installing fans, we have cameras outside, and brush is scheduled to be removed which will take a long, long time. One smaller exterior door is being replaced as the weather has been hard on it. I am picking up some extra wheelbarrows so if my husband doesn’t have time to be at the stable I can clean and then dump all the wheelbarrows one after the other in the manure pile while he guards me. The pile is surrounded by brush and removed by gardeners. I thought it great to hide the pile but not anymore. That is the first thing getting exposed.
A park ranger I ran into yesterday was very helpful, definitely knows the mountain lions are here, is not impressed with the game commission, and gave me good advice.
Clear sight lines. Turnout for livestock in daylight under supervision. Suggested a shotgun as I have no experience with weapons. Wants me to practice so I will actually be able to protect myself if attacked. I really just want to have my husband armed and there!
Syracuse, NY- I was driving to Syracuse Airport in September of 2014 to catch a early flight and saw a dead Black Panther on the side of 81N.
Larger than a big dog with very long and thick black tail. Had a shiny black coat that appeared to have a silver under coat. Must have gotten hit during night. Reported it to DEC.
Came across this post by some google searching and am floored. My boyfriend took my jeep out and was driving past a pipeline. He said he was looking and whistling at a deer in the distance and then noticed a completely black, large cat looking animal stalking behind the deer. He said in the 20+ years he’s been in this area, he’s never seen anything like it. We live about an hour east of Pittsburgh.
So tonight I was fishing my girlfriend’s family pond on Pine Hill Rd, near Berlin in Somerset County. It was approximately 7:30 pm and still completely daylight. As I was fishing the breast of the dam I heard something cracking dry grass in the swampy area behind me. I turned around and noticed a black figure creeping slowly through the grass. It was walking parallel to me and moving very slowly and deliberately as if trying to go unnoticed. My first thought was black bear but as it stepped into a small clearing under a small willow about 15 yards from me it stopped and looked at me. We made eye contact long enough for me to muster the thought in my mind that “I need to get the hell out of here!” It turned its head as if telling me he was going to go his way and I should also go mine. I watched the back of his head go back into the grass and watched its entire body disappear from view ONLY 15 YARDS FROM ME!!! I grew up in Glencoe, PA. There aren’t many places more country than that. Im 27 years old, hunted my entire life and seen all kinds of shit and I’ve seen a mountain lion before with my family. This cat was not a house cat. It was not a bobcat. It was not any other thing anyone can make an excuse for. The only explanation in my mind after thinking about it for 2.5 hours is it was a black mountain lion. It looked to be around 5-6 feet long and had a long thick tail. I know what I saw and I am not crazy. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life.
Okay here goes it was probably about 20 years ago but I remember it like it was yesterday. Two of my children were very young playing in the yard I live in a rural part of Greene County and I Owen quite a lot of acreage. One day my daughter came up on the porch to the screen door and said the dog was way up on the hill so I went outside to where she pointed at the tree line near the ridge, at the time there were young trees maybe 15 feet high if that I have seen the dog up there before so I proceeded to call him he was a large black lab. As I stared and focused in I realized this was much larger than my dog it’s back against the tree line was at least a foot or more higher than my dog. I thot oh it’s a black bear and had my children go inside but as I stared at it I saw it had a long tail. It did not respond to my calling out when I thought it was my dog it never skipped a beat. As I watched it I realized this is a big black cat. It was far enough away that if it started coming down the hill I could just run in my house so I stood there for quite some time watching it just walk along the tree line I almost didn’t believe my eyes this is not supposed to be here. As it was walking off I went into the house and ran upstairs to get a better view out of the back window as I watched it it turned into the tree line. I know what I saw I’ve never told anybody for fear of ridicule. When my husband came home the kids told him we saw a black bear because that’s what I told them it was, when I pulled him aside to tell him what occurred earlier that day he laughed and said okay. So that clinched it for me if I couldn’t get my own husband to believe it I wasn’t going to tell anybody else. Ever since I have always been on the lookout sometimes. if I ever see it again someone I hope another adult will be with me. I know what I saw and I’m not crazy. I don’t care if the world leaves me I would just like to have a witness so I could say I told you so. Also coming home from shopping one late evening about 10 years ago it was dark and I was driving home on a rural Road as I was coming around the bend there was a guardrail I could see to eyes reflecting back at me and I could see from the car lights as I got closer its eyes peeking over the guardrail I thought oh it’s a bobcat so I slowed down as I passed in case it decided to jump across the road as I was passing I was staring at it it must have been crouched down. I was almost at a standstill it was the same color is a bobcat however when his head popped up over the guardrail I realized this is not a bobcat it’s too big. Still have no idea of what I saw but it wasn’t a bobcat. I did tell some of my family when I saw this but they kept telling me it was just a probably a large bobcat. If this was a bobcat it had some serious growth hormone issues. It doesn’t matter who believes me about these stories what matters is I know they were real.
i saw a big black cat that I thought was a panther….It was in the fall of 2014. I was on the Martz bus coming home to Albrightsville, Pa which is about 45 minutes from the Delaware Water Gap …just by East Stroudburg, PA. The bus let off the passengers at the Water Gap and I stayed on to go to Blakeslee which was my stop. As the bus passed the Water Gap into Stroudsburg…I saw the big black cat climbing up the rocks. I thought I was seeing things but there it was. I couldn’t get my camera out fast enough to take a picture …but I know what I saw and will never forget it!!!
So I also have a story from around 2008. At the time I was only 12 years old. My parents were building a house in west Wyoming, PA, which is basically right across from the woods. My dads parents lived only two streets away, even farther up the hill. I was with my friend, walking to my grandmothers because the house was still being built etc. At the top of my grandmothers street we saw a MASSIVE black cat come out of the woods. It’s tail had to have been at least half the size of my body, if not the same size at the time from what I can remember. After we both realized that it wasn’t a regular house cat we ran, not our best decision in the world but we were pretty panicked and pretty young. When we ran back down the hill to my parents house we both were crying just because this thing was so big. We weren’t extremely close but not extremely far either. My dad calmed us down trying to tell us that it was only a house cat. But, as the gentleman before said, I watched a show I forget on what channel but they showed where jaguar sightings have occurred in America and it was right over NEPA. I firmly believe in what I saw. I know I was young but until this day me and my friend are pretty confident that it wasn’t anything like a house cat. I’m just glad I can drive now and I don’t have to walk to my parents or grandparents haha
Woops I didn’t mean a jaguar, but it was a big black cat that was the first thing that came to my mind to describe it. I’m no wild cat expert but I can defienetly say it wasn’t a house cat, and as I’ve gotten older and learned more about things like this my mind still has not changed about what I saw.
I can’t believe so many people have seen black mountain lions in PA and especially around where I live in East Brady, PA. I say this because I saw a black mountain lion or panther in the country side of Ford City, PA Armstrong Count about 10 or 12 years ago around 2004 to 2006 summer. I saw the lion laying in the middle of the road in a country wooded area of Ford City. It was about a hundred yards from me with its long black rope tail wrapped around in front of it as it lay warming itself on the pavement. It filled between one third or one half of the road and was no house cat. It was pitch black and staring straight at me. I was crossing the road in front of a farm house I was working on. I turned to walk back to the house for binoculars or a camera, but when I returned, it was gone. I was only gone from its sight for a minute. I researched cougars and mountain lions and Panthers in PA shortly afterwards. I found that when cougars and Panthers were found in PA that on occasion, some were born with excess pigment and so they were black instead of brown. This is called melanism and is found in jaguars. Either these ones are like that or have migrated from Florida or have been set lose by owners who had them as pets.
I believe them, because I myself saw one, while walking my dogs, some 30 years ago, behind the West End Fair grounds in Gilbert, PA….I think it’s rather narrow minded of anyone to try and discredit the fact that all these people have been spotting them over the years…the one I saw was so black and went about 70 to 90 lbs. and had that long beautiful tail trailing behind it. I also believe it’s rather narrow minded to make a blanket statement that all cougars were erradicated from Pennsylvania’s forests years ago…that is an impossible statement to make. While I’ve never seen a cougar, I’m sure they exist in some of the most heavily forested areas of PA. When I saw the panther, I suspected it had been someone’s pet that had escaped as it showed no agression what so ever. We simply had interupted the cats nap, by going up there in that field, and it woke up, stretched and looked at us like we were common in it’s life, although I ran all the way back to the house, dogs running with me. Thank God they didn’t see the cat….but don’t allow anyone to tell you you didn’t see what you saw….if you saw it, then it’s true, and I do most certainly believe the so many who have spotted them, as I did.
Same cat S/W Indiana thin tail we live exit 12 poseyville In 8 miles from Il 20 from KY…..
I have very recent photos of two large cats in the same location in central pa. I have photos can you help me identify?
Tom I would love to see the photos to CO pare to the one I recently for on a game camera. Email to bryankelley@atlanticbb.net
We just saw a huge ‘black cat’ today lying in the sun while we were traveling interstate 81. This was not a house cat. My daughter was able to get a better look since she was in the passenger seat, she said its eyes were glowing green, When traffic dropped from 75 mph to 45mph, I saw brake lights, I thought there was an accident but that wasn’t the case. This cat was big enough slow traffic. I wouldn’t have believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes.
Got one on game camera a week ago in low lands of Fayette county. Would be happy to send a picture to anyone who ask
Could you send me one plz purplehz66@gmail.com thanks
We were traveling along a wooded section of roads near Kunkletown, PA midday 8/2/2015, as we headed to my sister’s house. We traveled Merwinsburg Road and then Jonas Road heading west approximately a mile or two east of the Old Jonas Hotel. A large black panther-like cat crossed the road from south to north in front of our car and headed into the woods. It was black, sleek and shiny, not fluffy. Its length covered 1/3 – 1/2 of the road including its long tail. It seemed low to the ground possibly due to its length, and seemed to crouch. It moved quickly without turning its head to look at our car, and disappeared into the woods. I had no idea what this could be and was brought here by my search for large black cat in this area. We also sent a report to http://eprn.homestead.com/ Eastern Puma Research Network. Did we see a panther? We still can’t believe it!
(** This is a repost as I can’t see the post which was previously approved. Sorry if this is a duplicate, but I don’t see my original.)
Hi Joe, I believe you, I saw one in Gilbert, behind the West End Fair Grounds….might have been the same cat I saw….beautiful and so black, it shone in the sun…sleek with a very long black tail. If they’re in Florida, they could very well be in PA….I now live in Kentucky and find it odd that people are surprsed to see black bear….a lot of people owned exotic animals years ago, that most likely got loose or were let loose. I know of a man who owned a huge cougar in Saylorsburg….so pumas or panthers do exist, in PA…
Silverlake/sand dunes/mears /michigan 2010 / Adult/male/cougar/140 lbs./ 8 in. Snowfall that night/ going south on B15/RIDGE RD./LEAPED ACROSS road/RAN DOWN gravel driveway/ stopped /bout 70 yds./turned around /and then sat on his butt and/calmly looked around/from side 2 side .remained there for 20/30 seconds/got up/and proceeded into timbered area.AMAZING EXPERIENCE/thank you.
Live in Cresco, PA and saw a large black (wild) cat two houses down from mine when driving to do some errands. We live on a rural mountain road with deer living on all of our properties (among other animals). He crossed the road in front of me and first I just saw some black back legs and wondered why a bear would be active at this time. When I came to pass where he crossed I clearly saw him from behind, LARGE – BLACK – CAT! He was creeping through some tall grass down into a more open pasture.
Couple nights ago I heard this weared noise, and then seen a black cat off the road side when I little got closer it was gone in seconds. This happened in ohio close to my house
There was one in downtown butler pa. He was up on a tree limb.