Nick Redfern of Mysterious Universe has posted his review of my new book Shadow Cats: The Black Panthers of North America. Check it out by clicking here.
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Book Review: Nick Redfern
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New Study Area in Hunt County, Texas
After months of working on and finishing up my book, then arranging various types of publicity to support the release (radio and podcast interviews, speaking engagements, etc.), I was thrilled to actually get out in the field yesterday.
A while back, a reader of the blog and Facebook page contacted me with a black panther sighting report. The family owns approximately 300 acres of hardwood bottomland along the Sabine River in Hunt County northeast of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The area is rich in food and water resources. Not only does the property sit along the river, it features a large tributary creek that winds through the land before emptying into the larger Sabine. Feral hogs, white-tail deer, foxes, coyotes and various other possible prey species are present in abundance. The property provided an absolutely perfect habitat where a large cat could remain virtually undetected. The property was so large that it presented a problem for me. I have only two game cameras available at this time and the entire area looked so promising it was difficult to pick spots for them. I finally chose a spot where wildlife was clearly crossing the creek and passing through a break in the brush into a more open area on the other side. It was a natural funnel and I expect to get a lot of photos from the camera posted at this spot. Hopefully, one will be of the cat I seek. The second camera was placed on a tree that stood at the intersection of three different game trails. The trails formed a “Y” and the tree that I posted the camera on was in the middle of the v-shape at the top of the “Y.” The trails obviously are heavily traveled – mostly by hogs, no doubt – and this camera should provide a lot of photos.
The landowner and her family could not have been more hospitable. They are good folks who love and know their wildlife. They told me that they have seen two mountain lions on the property in the last 5-6 years and that what was seen a few months ago was very different. It was very large, had a very long tail, and was solid black. The family member who saw the cat initially spotted it about 10-feet up in a tree. Upon being seen the cat leapt down and ran toward the Sabine. The family member got a good look at it and is sure it was no cougar. The family feels a real sense of relief that the cat chose to run away and that no confrontation took place. They just want to know what prowls their property and I hope to be able to provide some answers.
I will be refreshing the cameras – and hopefully adding more – in 5-6 weeks. Keep your fingers crossed.
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How To Contact Me
Just a reminder on how to contact me if you have a question or report and would like me to respond. Please email me at Texascryptidhunter@yahoo.com for such queries.
Many people of late have asked questions in the comments section of a post. Many have done so and remained anonymous on their comment. Please note that I cannot answer you directly after you leave a comment unless it includes your name, email, and/or phone number. I understand why someone would not want to leave contact information in a comment that anyone can see so the email is a better choice.
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Historical Widman Account From Tennessee
One thing I have always been interested in when it comes to the sasquatch/wood ape phenomenon is historical newspaper accounts of “wild men.” The accounts I am most interested in all occurred years – often decades – before Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin filmed what might very well have been a living breathing sasquatch at Bluff Creek, California or Jerry Crew found huge footprints surrounding his bulldozer near Willow Creek (an event which was heavily publicized and thought by many to be the moment bigfoot was “born”). NAWAC Chairman Alton Higgins brought the following historical report to my attention today.
The article in question was published on Friday May 5, 1871 in the Hagerstown Mail. The article concerns itself with sightings of a “strange and frightful being” that was seen off and on in McNairy County, Tennessee for several weeks in the spring of that year. Following is an excerpt from the article:
“We learn that between Sobby and Crainsville on what is called Piney, in McNairy County, TN a strange and frightful being has been observed for several weeks.
He is said to be seven feet high and possessed of great muscular power. His eyes are unusually large and fiery red; his hair hangs in a tangle and matted mass below his waist, and his beard reaches to below his middle. His entire body is covered with hair and his whole aspect is most frightful. He shuns the sight of them but approaches with wild and horrid screams of delight every woman who is unaccompanied by a man.
He sometimes with great caution, approaches houses and should he see a man he runs away with astonishing swiftness, leaping the tallest fences with the ease of a deer, defying alike the pursuit of men and dogs. He has frightened several women by attempting to carry them off, as well as by his horrid aspect and the whole country around Sobby is in consternation. The citizens are now scouring the woods and are determined either to capture or drive off the monster.”
“We learn that between Sobby and Crainsville on what is called Piney, in McNairy County, TN a strange and frightful being has been observed for several weeks.
He is said to be seven feet high and possessed of great muscular power. His eyes are unusually large and fiery red; his hair hangs in a tangle and matted mass below his waist, and his beard reaches to below his middle. His entire body is covered with hair and his whole aspect is most frightful. He shuns the sight of them but approaches with wild and horrid screams of delight every woman who is unaccompanied by a man.
He sometimes with great caution, approaches houses and should he see a man he runs away with astonishing swiftness, leaping the tallest fences with the ease of a deer, defying alike the pursuit of men and dogs. He has frightened several women by attempting to carry them off, as well as by his horrid aspect and the whole country around Sobby is in consternation. The citizens are now scouring the woods and are determined either to capture or drive off the monster.”
As is often the case, there is little to nothing in the way of a follow-up to this article. What happened to the Wildman of McNairy County, Tennessee I cannot say. The most likely answer is nothing. My guesswould be that the sightings and encounters ended as suddenly as they began. The likely explanationforthis is that the creature/Wildman moved on to other less populated areas.
What fascinates me most about these old accounts are the descriptions given of physical appearance and/or behaviors observed. The descriptions seem to match up very well when compared to what has been described by modern sasquatch/wood ape witnesses. In this short article alone there are numerous examples of this.
- The subject is described as seven feet tall
- The subject is described as heavily muscled and powerful
- The subject’s eyes are described as glowing and red
- The subject is described as being completely covered in hair
- The subject is said to scream in a horrid way
- The subject is unnaturally fast and agile
- The subject has the ability to leap fences like a deer
- The subject has the ability to elude even dogs sent to track it
- The subject is said to have attempted to kidnap women
Notice anything familiar? The observations/descriptions from this 1871 article are things commonly reported today by modern sasquatch/wood ape witnesses. Not all contemporary witnesses describe everything mentioned above, but it is a safe bet that modern sightings feature many of these same details.
I realize that many of you out there who are interested in the bigfoot phenomenon already know about a lot of the historical reports out there (many of which are detailed in Chad Arment’s book The Historical Bigfoot). There is no new news here for many of you. Many, however, are unaware of just how many similar articles appeared in newspapers in the mid to late 1800’s and into the early 1900’s; a time long before the term bigfoot was popularized. The fact is one of the things that convinced me years ago that there was something to this whole sasquatch mystery.
For those interested in historical Wildman accounts, the Chad Arment book mentioned above is a great place to start. If nothing else, these old articles prove that tales of huge, hairy, upright man-like creatures go much farther back than the 1950’s-1960’s.
Sometimes, much farther…
Sources:
McClean Scott. "The Tennessee Wild Man...1871."Bigfoot Encounters, www.bigfootencoutners.com/articles/mcnairyTN.htm.
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The Latest Black Panther Sightings From Texas
Over the last half a year, or so, I have been busy working on getting my book, Shadow Cats: The Black Panthers of North America, finished out and published. I have spent so much time on it that the blog has suffered a bit. Now that I have completed the book and it has been published I am going to do my very best to get caught up on a back log of many things, not the least of which are new sightings of large, black, long-tailed cats in the Lone Star State. Below you will find the latest reports, a couple of which include video or a photograph shot by the witness.
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10/6/17
“I have a place about 6 miles southeast of Graham, Texas. In the past 20+, I’ve seen cougars and bobcats on the property and always enjoy getting to see their impact on the smaller critters and even found a good-sized buck that had been pulled into a tree by a cougar a few years back.
In 2004, I walked up on a large black cat with a long tail that didn’t taper at the end, it was as thick at the end and rounded. I startled it as much as it surprised me and it quickly went down into a gully that it may have just come up out of when I came along. I was so shocked by its size and color that I actually followed down the large rocks (pretty stupid) until I realized that I was not being very bright.
I told some TPW about the sighting, they looked at me as if I’d seen a pink panther and stated that no such animal comes that far north in Texas. When I told a local, who had originally thought me ‘crazy’ when I told him there was a cougar on the place, which was later verified, he immediately perked up and shared that a woman feeding her houses had seen something similar at dawn a few days earlier a few miles away.
The animal was dark, I’d say black, but did have a pattern of lighter brown ‘honeycomb’ markings on its side and even tail.
I set up a game camera but never got a photo and I have not seen a dark big cat since. Still get a cougar every few years and had several bobcats that came around but I think someone on surrounding properties killed them. People are afraid cats will kill their pets, goats, or calves and tend to kill them.
Know it’s been too long to really mean anything. Just wanted to let you know that, regardless of what TPW says, there are large black cats out there.”
- James Shelton
TCH Comments: James, thank you for sharing your story. Based on the description, there are really only two animals James could have seen: a melanistic jaguar or leopard. Jaguars are, of course, native to Texas while leopards are Asiatic and/or African cats. Graham is in north central Texas to the west of Fort Worth in Young County. This is pretty lonesome country and there is plenty of room for a big cat of some kind to roam. There is a more than adequate prey-base in the region and water sources include Flatrock Creek, the Brazos River, Graham Lake, and Possum Kingdom Lake. The area is one from which cougar sightings are becoming more common (a huge male mountain lion was recently road-killed outside of Mineral Wells which is just to the southeast of Young County’s borders).
10/14/17
“Hello! I discovered your blog while trying to validate sighting a black panther. I felt the need to add another sighting to your lists. We have property in Limestone county. Specifically, between Mart and Groesbeck. Last spring, March 2017, my Great Danes rushed out of the yard into our pasture after something towards the wooded creek. I was watching closely as we have had several young calves and yearlings go missing. Those of us in the area are aware we have a predator.
My dogs are both over 130 lbs. but they went to the creek and into the woods along it. They promptly hightailed it back into the fence and me. I thought at first it must have been a false alarm but then saw a large black cat. Slowly, serenely walking along the edge of the woods. It walked across the gravel road and continued into the creek area. It was without a doubt a cat. Black with a long tail (the tail was nearly as long as the body of the cat). I would estimate the size of the cat to be about 75 lbs. roughly the size of a full-grown Labrador. Not as big as my Danes, but big enough to send my them scurrying away.
That was my eye witness account. When I was speaking of it with one of my neighbors she told me that everybody knows that there are black panthers in the area. (We are fairly new to the area.) Her husband and a laborer got too close to one building a fence near their woods/creek line. She said they were putting in posts and heard a ‘little rumble’ they looked up and in a tree not 15 feet away was a black panther watching them. She said they commenced to backing away, yelling and waving their arms. The panther jumped about 10 feet out of the tree the other way and walked deeper in the woods. She just laughed and said they took a long lunch and came back with guns on their hips. But they didn’t see it again.
She didn’t tell me when that happened. She was so casual about it. I didn’t think there was anything unusual about it until I was looking to see if there are panthers in the Gatesville area. Only to find out the existence of what I saw, and what the locals accept as common knowledge, is denied! LOL
Good luck to you in obtaining evidence!"
- Kristi
TCH Comments: Limestone County in central Texas and the counties that surround it have been the source of many black panther reports over the years. The area is rural and farming and ranching dominate economic activity. There are also large tracts of land owned by mining outfits that are off limits to the public. All in all, there is a lot of space for a big cat to roam. In addition, there is a healthy population of the usual Texas prey species (deer, hogs, rabbits, etc.). Kristi’s description of a solid black cat with a tail “nearly as long as the body” is consistent with most of the reports I receive. I can personally attest to the fact that many residents of Limestone County have no doubt that some kind of large, long-tailed cat roams the area.
10/19/17
“I encountered what could only be described as a black panther on Wednesday morning 10/18/17 at around 6:15 a.m. in Euless,Texas.
I was taking the dog out, leashed with her in the lead, and as we walked down the front steps she suddenly planted her feet and began to moonwalk backwards. I looked up and screamed because less the 7 ft. from us, was an ink black, powerfully built animal, I screamed and it glided across the driveway as we of course ran back into the house.
An hour or so later, when the sun was up I went outside to look at the grass where it had crossed and it was bent sideways and smashed down quite deeply indicating the animal had to have had significant body weight. I am wondering due to the circumference of grassy area that has been disrupted if it had been crouching in that spot when my dog became aware of it. Yikes!
So glad I found your blog when I googled trying to find information about what I knew I had seen but thinking was impossible.”
L. Debilzan
Euless Texas
TCH Comments: Euless is in Tarrant County just north of and between Fort Worth and Dallas. At first glance, this seems an unlikely part of the state to see any kind of big cat, but past experience shows me that simply is not the case. Tarrant County has been the source of no less than six (counting this one) black panther reports that I feel are credible. There have also been several reports of tawny-colored mountain lions in the county. Bobcats have become almost commonplace in the area. How are these cats finding their way into such an urban area? There are numerous small creeks that provide greenbelts which the cats could use as transportation routes. There are also golf courses and large parks that provide wooded areas. Perhaps the most intriguing idea is the possibility that some kind of big cat is living on, or near, the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The airport occupies a very large piece of land in Tarrant County. The Dallas-Fort Worth area is heavily populated and urban but becomes rural very quickly on the northernmost edges of the Metroplex. There is no reason a stray cat could not find its way into more populated areas for at least a short amount of time. Another possibility is that predatory cats are learning to live in more urban areas. The theory of urban big cats is something I have been intrigued with for a while and is discussed in my book.
10/19/17
“When I worked at Alcatel in Plano around 2008 or 2009 I saw the ‘black panther". I was smoking by the picnic table that is about 10 feet from the greenbelt right there at the edge of the parking lot. I was standing on the building side of the table facing the building - alone. As I turned around to put out my cigarette, something moved right at the treeline of the greenbelt and as I looked up I saw what I called a "mountain lion" at the time walking away from me and disappearing into the greenbelt. So basically the thing was about 8-10 feet away from me while I was having that smoke and when I turned around it took off into the woods in towards Independence. I saw it go 20-30 feet before it disappeared into the woods. I got a pretty good look at it. It was definitely male. The body was about 5 feet long and it was short of stature but very heavily muscled. It was black, but not true black because it had spots visible underneath the black. I'd guess it weighed about 120 lbs give or take. I remember it very clearly as it isn't every day you encounter something like that. Upon further review, it was definitely a melanistic jaguar. I don't know what the hell it was doing there, but it was definitely there. I never saw it again, but you can be sure I paid more attention when near that green belt after that incident. See below for exact location circled in red. The location is a ridiculous place to see that animal, but I most definitely saw it there. Not a bobcat. Not a couger. Definitely a melanistic jaguar.”
- James Stegmaier
TCH Comments: Alcatel-Lucent sits in the heart of Plano just north-northwest of Dallas. Most of the city sits in Collin County with a portion lying in Denton County. The area is urban and heavily populated; however, like Tarrant County to the west, it is a veritable hotbed of black panther sightings. Cougar and bobcat sightings have become much more common in the area as well. The sighting location sits next to a greenbelt that eventually connects to Prairie Creek to the west. This creek meanders about and connects to several tributaries that eventually lead to Lake Lavon to the northeast and Lake Ray Hubbard to the southeast. Interestingly, the Alcatel-Lucent location is only 5-6 miles to the east of the Arbor Hills Nature which has been at the center of several black panther reports over the last few years. It is an odd location for such a large predator to be seen to be sure; however, the urban big cat theory may come into play here as well. Time will tell, hopefully.
10/31/17
“Dear Sir,
Our 300-acre ranch backs up to the Sabine River east Of Greenville. It is surrounded by large farms with much wild wooded areas. We have seen 2 cougars in the last 5 years , both in the pasture and are sure they were not bobcats.
Yesterday, my daughter heard something as she was walking down in the woods between the pecan orchard and the wilder area.. She looked and reported a cougar-like cat - large with a long tail - in a tree. She was near a group of wild hogs (we have hogs, deer, and a big herd of horses). We have had 2 injuries in the past 10 years of 1-2 year olds (horses) with large paw ripping marks down their sides... no other animal but big cat would do this.
I’d love you to put a game camera up. We were given some smaller ones (2) and you can put them up as well . We can show you the area in a gator. It is pretty remote and wild.
We had wild turkey release a few years ago and saw a hen and a gobbler last year. Had 2 reports of local famers nearby running over a hen with a tractor on the ground on a nest. Too bad. We are a wildlife haven!!!!”
- Anonymous
TCH Comments: Greenville sits in Hunt County about 25-30 miles east of Lake Lavon. The property where the sighting took place sits on the Cowleech Fork of the Sabine River. It covers 300 acres, much of it covered in native hardwoods. I took the owner up on her invitation and visited the property a bit over a month ago. I deployed two game cameras and was impressed with how wild and remote the property really was. If there were ever a place where a big cat – oe almost anything else – might be hiding in Texas, this could very well be the spot. After seeing the property and visiting with the family, I am convinced the sighting is credible. I am due to return to the property and check on the cameras in the next 3-4 weeks. I am excited not only by what images my cameras might have captured over the last month or so but by the long-term possibilities of what I might get a glimpse of if I am able to leave the cameras in place for a longer period of time. An update, hopefully with photos, should be upcoming in the next few weeks.
12/30/17
“Shot this video (see below) yesterday in Stephens county Texas. Was trying to figure out what it was and came across your site.
This is at least 40 yards with a crappy iPhone video.
My guess is cat was 2.5 feet long plus a 2-foot tail. At least 35 lbs. My guess is closer to 45-50. The grass in the video is easy knee high.
Been an avid outdoorsman for 50 years. Looked at tens of thousand of trail cam pics. This was pretty shocking.
I apologize for the coarse language. I didn’t even realize I was talking to myself
Appreciate any thoughts?”
- Kapt Jack (Insert video)
TCH Comments: The video is interesting to be sure. As is the case most of the time, there is little in the video to provide us with a firm idea of scale. The grass does seem pretty tall. IF we speculate the grass is 18-inches high (approximately knee high for most adults) then the cat could be very large. As I’ve looked more closely at the video, it seems the cat is actually making its way across an area where the grass is low or bent down (the taller grass appears to be in front of and behind the cat); perhaps a trail? You can see too much of the cat’s body for it to actually be in the middle of the tall grass. Too, I find the head of the cat interesting. It is very reminiscent of the head of a domestic/feral. I think there is a distinct possibility that is what we are seeing in the video: a domestic/feral cat. That theory does NOT mean I do not believe the witness’s estimation of size and weight (2-feet high and 35-50 lbs.). This is exactly the sort of cat-like animals being reported in Australia on a regular basis – a continent that has no native species of cat. The prevailing theory there is that feral cats are growing to exceptionally large sizes – some the size of small leopards. If it is occurring in Australia there is no reason to think it could not be happening here as well.
1/6/18
“Found your web page Googling for possible panther sightings in Oklahoma.
I caught this interesting photo (see below) on my game camera early this morning and thought I'd share it. If you'll look to the left side of the image, there is some kind of slender black animal walking toward the camera, seemingly looking off slightly to the right side of the photo (only one eye reflection visible). It looks like the front left leg is obscured by the front right leg. I've shown it to several friends, and we can only guess what it might be. I get pictures of hogs, deer, bobcats, etc., but haven't ever caught something like this. I'm just west of Seminole, Oklahoma. I put out some tuna out there to hopefully lure it back tonight (lol). Any guess at what it might be?
Thanks.”
- Jonathan
TCH Comments: Thanks for taking the time to send the email and the photo. I've lightened the photo up and zoomed in but it gets pretty blurry and pixelated when I do. I'm really not sure what animal we might be looking at here. It could be a cat of some kind but it is just impossible to say for sure. Your idea of baiting out the spot is a good one. I would also set your camera to take multiple shots when triggered (if this is an option). If you can get multiple shots of a target it makes it easier to determine what it is. Please let me know if you get anything else photographed. Good luck.
1/10/18
“I live in between Devine and Moore, TX. I saw in Aug 2017 what I say is a black panther. It was 8:30 pm at night and I opened the back door, which faces wooded property no one lives on. I was putting out a trash bag until morning when I would place into the trash can. I looked 50-feet to the edge of our property and my eyes met this large black cat with yellow/green eyes. It was much larger than my Texas Heeler dog, it was 3-feet tall and around 85-100 lbs. It has round ears and it slowly turned around and walked away, while I am yelling for my husband. It had a long black tail about 4-feet long. It did not seem to be afraid with it slowly turning around and leaving. My husband did not believe me until someone else saw a black cat, same description going over to a pond in the neighborhood in the evening a week later. Then a week after that my neighbor across the street saw a big black cat, same description in their yard, early hours in am. We moved into a new rural neighborhood that is crawling with wild animals from coyotes, hogs, bobcats, deer, scorpions, roadrunners and snakes and now black panthers. Everyone needs to be careful and aware.”
- Sara
TCH Comments: The area in question sits right at the point where Frio County and Medina County meet. The region is what would be considered the southernmost part of the Texas Hill Country. This area has been the source of multiple reports of large, long-tailed, black cats in the past. The witness compared the size of the cat seen to that of her Texas Heeler. As the name implies, the Texas Heeler is a working dog found most commonly in the Lone Star State. It is usually a cross between an Australian Shepherd and an Australian Cattle Dog. They are medium-sized dogs that weight between 25-50 lbs. and stand roughly 18-24 inches tall. The witness describes a cat significantly larger than her dog. This fact, along with the long tail described, effectively eliminates the bobcat as a culprit. The yellow/green eyes are a characteristic that I have heard described on multiple occasions. The area is rural and lightly populated. It holds an abundance of rabbit, deer, hogs, and other potential prey-species. While fairly arid, there are rivers running through the area. A big cat sighting here is not surprising; only the color described is a head scratcher.
1/30/18
“I saw your blog just now and would like to add my experience.
In 1971, late one night my friend and I were riding a motorcycle in rural southeast Dallas County. Crandall, Texas, to be exact. The area we were in was a heavily wooded levy and to the northwest of us there was a large flat plain between Crandall and Seagoville. When we got to the levy we turned onto the lane at the top and we saw what we thought were yellow tail lights on a parked car. My friend who was driving decided to go check out who was parking down there. We got within 15-feet of it before we realized it was not a car, but a black panther. The headlight was beaming straight at it. It was standing still, sideways to us, in the middle of the levy, and seemed to be just watching us come closer. The panther was totally black, with no spots and very big; certainly not a domestic cat. It was about the size of my black lab and he can stand with his paws on my shoulders; I'm 5'7". My friend, whose right leg was in a cast from his knee to the middle of his foot, made me get off the bike so he could turn it around. I stood there, in the dark, scared to death the panther would jump on me before I could get back on. Whatever we saw, it was definitely not a mythical creature.”
Cathy K.
Dallas, Tx.
TCH Comments: Crandall, Texas actually sits in Kaufman County. Kaufman County gives way to Dallas County west of Crandall (near Seagoville). Based on the description of the area given, it seems more likely that Kaufman County was the actual location of the sighting (both counties have been the source of black panther reports in the past). Regardless, the witness is adamant that what he saw was a cat far too large to be a domestic/feral. If she really did get to within 15-20 feet of the cat, she got a pretty good look and her belief the cat was extremely large should not be discounted.
2/12/18
“I was with a couple of my buddies down in good ole Sutton County. We were calling us up some bobcats but out of the darkness we saw a black figure come into the spot light. Although we only saw it for a couple of seconds, but there is no doubt in our minds it was a black panther.”
- Anonymous
TCH Comments: Sutton County sits in southwest Texas between the towns of Junction and Ozona and is bisected by Interstate 10. It is big country and sparsely populated. As of the 2010 census only 4,128 people lived in the 1,454 square-mile county. That works out to only about three people per square mile. Mountain lions do inhabit the area and the county is less than 100 miles north of the Mexican border. This proximity to Mexico makes a melanistic jaguar a possibility in this case. I will not be placing this report on my sightings distribution map. I have no reason to doubt the witness but the fact that it was dark and there is little detail as to how far away the cat was, how powerful a spot light was being used, etc. leaves too much room for misidentification.
2/14/18
“Was afraid to tell anybody what I saw close to Coldspring, TX. I’m 81 years old, very active, and don't take any kind of drugs. I reported it to the game warden. He thinks I'm seeing things. I saw it in the middle of the day 5 miles from Coldspring about 11:00 p.m. I saw a large cat about 30 to 50 pounds; looked charcoal in color and had a long bushy tail. It crossed the road in front of me about 300 feet away. I don't drink but fixing too start.”
- Anonymous
TCH Comments: Coldspring is in east Texas and abuts the Sam Houston National Forest. It is an area from which black panther reports have come in the past. Even so, I will be leaving this report off my sightings distribution map. The witness claims to have seen the cat in “the middle of the day” but later says the time was “11:00 p.m.” This could be a simple typo but the discrepancy as written is too big to ignore.
2/16/18
“On February 14, 2018, around 1 pm my sister and I went to the Japanese Garden by the San Antonio Zoo. We walked around the garden and then started walking down a path. Moments later ahead of us on this path a large, muscular, shiny, jet black panther crossed our path. His paws were large and his tail was long. He was about 2'x 4' in size. He was slowly walking. He was looking in the opposite direction of us so we did not get to see his eyes. Concerned for our safety, we immediately started walking back toward the restaurant. We went into the Tea House, and we told a woman who was working there what happened. She told us that this is the third time in one year that someone reported seeing something similar. I only wish now that we would have stood still and took a picture so we could identify what it was. It's heavy, strong, muscular body resembled a black jaguar or panther, and it's graceful, slow movement, rules out other less graceful creatures.”
- Michelle Schlenker
TCH Comments: As odd as this location seems to be, I cannot ignore it. I have now had multiple witnesses claim to have seen large black cats in the park area in the immediate vicinity of the San Antonio Zoo. I do not feel that whatever is being seen is some sort of escapee from the zoo (that assumption seems intellectually lazy, in my opinion). That being said, I do not know what a cat 2 feet-high and 4 feet-long would be doing in this area. Could the zoo be involved in another way? Could some sort of cat be attracted to the scents emanating from the animals exhibited there? The zoo is in a heavily populated and urban area but there are a series of parks and golf courses (San Antonio Country Club, Olmos Park, the Quarry Golf Course) with creeks and greenbelts that extend back to the north all the way to the San Antonio International Airport. Just north and east of the airport another series of parks (McAllister Park, Lorrence Park, and Mud creek Park) create a green belt that, while not quite contiguous, reach almost to the outer loop (1604) of the city. Things get very wild and lonesome pretty quick once north and west of the outer loop. Admittedly, it is a stretch to think that a large predator would come this far into a major metropolitan area, but there is some evidence that suggests leopards in India are doing this very thing. Not only are they surviving in cities, they are thriving there. Could it be happening here, too?
2/19/18
“I spooked a jaguar on a pronghorn kill Friday, 2/16/2018, morning a little after daybreak. It ran right back out in front of me so I had a good view of it for 4-6 seconds. I was traveling east and was about 5 miles west of Gail Texas.”
- Anonymous
TCH Comments: This would really be something if it could be confirmed. Gail sits in Borden County south of Lubbock in some pretty lonesome country. The occasional cougar is seen in this area but a jaguar would be huge news. If possible, I would like this witness to contact me. I have some additional questions I would like to ask.
3/4/18
“I SAW a FULL GROWN LION 03/03/2018 (MOUNTAIN LION) SOUTH-EAST OF LAKE RAY ROBERTS ON A POWER LINE CLEARING. HE WAS A REALLY BIG CAT. I WOULD NOT WANT MY CHILDREN OR LIVING STOCK IN THERE! I HAVE SEEN CAT BEFORE.”
- Anonymous
TCH Comments: Lake Ray Roberts is located north of Dallas/Fort Worth and not too far south of the Red River which forms a large part of the Texas/Oklahoma border. I am not surprised at all to hear of a mountain lion in this area. I will not include this sighting on my distribution map as it was a tawny lion that was spotted but felt it was important to point out that large cats are being seen in the area. This could provide clues as to the identity of the black panthers of Texas.
3/21/18
“I live in the Lindale (Red Springs area) of East Texas. We definitely have large cats around here. I have seen a brown one 3 times in the last few years. I would guess it weighs about 45 lbs. and is almost 3' tall. It is brown with spots (not like a leopard but similar). I believe it attacked and killed a Shetland pony on my property. If I had one word to sum up the entire ordeal it would be ‘evil.’ I am not trying to go into gory details. The reason I am posting this is because I want to know if anyone else has had something like this happen. The part that I can’t seem to forget about is the fact that she didn't seem to have any blood loss with the deep wounds on her neck and face. There was no blood on the ground or in the pasture she was in. Anywhere. Please feel free to contact me if you have any idea what could have happened to my little pony. I didn't go into much detail because it is gory and hard to relive.”
- Holly Long
TCH Comments:. Lindale is in east Texas just to the north of Tyler. As is the case in most of the eastern portion of the state, the area bordering Lindale is wooded, has plenty of water resources, and is a wildlife haven. Reports of big cats of different sizes and color have come from this area in the past. The description of a brown cat with spotted markings standing 3-feet high is telling. On a side note, we all need to try to keep in mind that predators take other animals. It is how they survive. They are not evil. They are just doing what they were made to do. As humans continue to encroach on their habitat, it is an unfortunate certainty that incidents like the one described by Holly will occur. The lack of blood can most likely be explained by settling. Once blood pressure is lost, blood stops flowing. It will settle to the ground side of the carcass and coagulate there inside the body. It is not unusual to see a kill without much blood on the ground.
4/1/18
“Saturday Sept 2, 2017, 6:54pm about 4 miles north west of Bertram, Tx, on Ranch Road 1174, a Jaguarundi ran across the road in front of me. It stopped for a couple of seconds before it squeezed under the fence. There was no mistaking that it was a jaguarondi. Too big to be a domestic cat, too small to be a mountain lion, and it was a dark chocolate brown or black, and that long thick tail. When it stopped, I got a good look at its face, and there is no question it was a jaguarundi. On Monday Aug 21, 2017 at 7:30 pm I had a mountain lion cross the road in front of me on Ranch Road 963 about 6 miles north east of Burnet, Texas. Maybe about 70-80 pounds, normal light tan color. In both of these cases, they were crossing the road at the top of a ridge that was wooded on both sides of the road, and I was just cresting the hill in my car, so I must have surprised them as I came over the hill. The mountain lion jumped the fence, and the jaguarundi squeezed under the fence. I reported to the TPWD Wildlife biologists in my area, but they were not interested in my sightings.”
- Anonymous
TCH Comments: I am not surprised by the mountain lion sighting. Cougars have been reported on a semi-regular basis in the Texas Hill Country over the last few years. The jaguarondi sighting, however, would be big news as the Burnet area is far north of the accepted range of the species. The sighting area is just north of a pretty substantial protected area called the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. Formed in 1992, the refuge was intended to preserve the endangered golden-cheeked warbler and black-capped vireo and to provide habitat for numerous other Hill Country wildlife species. Only 3,000 of the refuge’s 27,500 acres are open to the public. That being the case, there is plenty of room for a species of predatory cat to roam.
4/2/18
“Hi there – I saw your blog and wanted to report a sighting from this past weekend. My dogs are fenced and were going crazy early (4:30-5:00am) on Friday morning (3/30/2018). When my husband went out on the back porch to check on them he saw 2 black panthers on the immediate outside of our iron fence. When they saw him, they ran but they certainly were not afraid of our barking dogs.
They were definitely black, with long tails. They were as big or a bit bigger than my dogs who are both 85-90 pounds.
We are at the edge of Rockwall county and Collin County on highway 205.
3 or so years ago one ran in front of my car on 205 and crossed into the bottoms between Lake Lavon and Lake Ray Hubbard. I called the Corp of Engineers to tell them what I saw because I knew it was not a bobcat. They told me they knew of a black panther in that area at the time because they had seen paw prints.
About a year ago a mountain lion jumped out of one of our trees in our yard and killed a rabbit while we were on the back porch watching the whole thing.
I feel so sad for these animals with developments running them out of their territories. They really haven nowhere to go.
- Megan May
TCH Comments: The Collin County/Lake Ray Hubbard area continues to be the source of numerous black panther reports. The area of this sighting is northeast of Dallas. While urban sprawl has swallowed up many areas that used to be very rural, this is the region where the “city” ends and the “country” begins. I have a couple of game cameras up not too far to the east of this sighting location (outside of Greenville).
4/9/18
“My husband works as a Police Officer in New Summerfield, Texas. He was headed down 110 and saw 2 big black cats. He said they were bigger than a dog and they ran across the street and disappeared into the woods. This was about a week ago.”
- Terry Land
TCH Comments: New Summerfield sits in Cherokee County south of Tyler (not to be confused with Summerfield, Texas in the Panhandle). As mentioned previously, the greater Tyler area has been the origin of many black panther – and other big cat – reports. I am going to hold off on adding this sighting to my distribution map as it is second-hand in nature. I have no reason to doubt Terry but would like to hear from her husband as he is the actual witness before adding the sighting to the map.
I will be updating my black panther sightings distribution map within the next day or two. I have now amassed over 150 total sightings of large, black, panther-like animals that I feel are credible.
In addition, I will be checking on my game cameras outside of Greenville, Texas within the next month. These cameras are in an absolutely amazing area along the banks of the Sabine River. I have high hopes that they will capture something of interest over time.
Please continue to email sighting reports to me at the following address: Texascryptidhunter@yahoo.com. It is very important that you email if you are hoping to hear back from me. I cannot reply directly to you if you leave a report as a comment on another post.
If you would like to read more about the black panther phenomenon, please pick up a copy of my book, Shadow Cats: The Black Panthers of North America. It is available on the Amazon and Barnes & Noble sites. I would very much appreciate it.
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Black Panther Sightings Distribution Map Updated
I have charted the latest round of black panther sightings in Texas and the updated black panther sightings distribution map is now ready for viewing.
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I will be the first to admit that sighting reports are strictly anecdotal in nature, unless they are accompanied by physical evidence or photos/video. Anecdotal evidence does not constitute proof that the black panthers of Texas and the American South are real flesh and blood creatures. To dismiss sighting reports outright, however, is folly. Many species have been "discovered" after biologists and explorers took the time to listen to indigenous people and follow up on the stories. The mountain gorilla and okapi are two good examples. I am hopeful that my efforts in documenting the sightings I deem credible will lead someone with greater resources to investigate this phenomenon and find out exactly what people are seeing out there.
Just click here to go to the interactive map. Once at the site, you can click on any pin to get a brief description of what occurred there.
I hope you take the time to peruse the map. Please feel free to email me with any comments, sightings, or potential camera locations at Texascryptidhunter.blogspot.com
I will be the first to admit that sighting reports are strictly anecdotal in nature, unless they are accompanied by physical evidence or photos/video. Anecdotal evidence does not constitute proof that the black panthers of Texas and the American South are real flesh and blood creatures. To dismiss sighting reports outright, however, is folly. Many species have been "discovered" after biologists and explorers took the time to listen to indigenous people and follow up on the stories. The mountain gorilla and okapi are two good examples. I am hopeful that my efforts in documenting the sightings I deem credible will lead someone with greater resources to investigate this phenomenon and find out exactly what people are seeing out there.
Just click here to go to the interactive map. Once at the site, you can click on any pin to get a brief description of what occurred there.
I hope you take the time to peruse the map. Please feel free to email me with any comments, sightings, or potential camera locations at Texascryptidhunter.blogspot.com
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Sasquatch Classics: The Davy Crockett Incident
Few men are as revered in my home state of Texas as those who held off the mighty Mexican Army – led by the self-proclaimed “Napoleon of the West,” dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna - for 13 long days in the spring of 1836. The blood sacrifice of men like William Barrett Travis, James Bowie, James Bonham, and David Crockett bought precious time for General Sam Houston to train and prepare his ragtag troops for a final confrontation with what might have been the mightiest army in the Western Hemisphere. The tale of the defenders of the Alamo is as interesting as it is tragic, but that is not the story I want to share with you today. Instead, I want to share a little-known tale about arguably the most well-known of the Alamo freedom fighters: David Crockett. It is a story with which most Texans are not familiar, much less anyone outside the Lone Star State. As a matter of fact, it is a tale I had never heard until very recently. It is incredibly strange, but undeniably fascinating.
By the spring of 1835, lured by empresarios like Stephen F. Austin and Green DeWitt, more than 20,000 American settlers had migrated to Texas in search of cheap land and the promise of prosperity. Around this same time, David Crockett, who had served as both a Tennessee State Representative (1821-1823) and a U.S. Congressman (1827-1835) had declared himself done with politics and was pondering what to do with the next phase of his life. The allure of Texas proved too much for him to resist. On November 1, 1835, Crockett, his brother-in-law Abner Burgin, William Patton, and Lindsey K. Tinkle set out for Texas. It was at a stop along their trip – in Memphis, Tennessee – that Crockett uttered his famous line, “Since you have chosen to elect a man with a timber toe to succeed me, you may all go to hell and I will go to Texas.”
The group traveled west and eventually made their way into the Mexican province of Texas. Upon arriving in the San Augustine/Nacogdoches area the group was told that each individual would be required to sign an “Oath of Allegiance” to the government of Mexico. Two in the group, including Crockett’s brother-in-law Abner Burgin, refused to sign the oath and decided to return to their homes in the U.S. Crockett and Patton, after some negotiation regarding the wording of the oath (men took their oaths more seriously then, it seems), signed and were allowed to continue their journey. It was at some point soon after this that things got strange for Crockett. In a letter addressed to his brother-in-law, Burgin, Crockett detailed the following experience:
“William and I were pushing through some thicket, clearing the way, when I sat down to mop my brow. I sat for a spell, watching as William made his good and fine progress. I removed my boots and sat with my rations, thinking the afternoon a fine time to lunch. As the birds whistled and chirped, and I ate my small and meager ration, I tapped my axe upon the opposite end of the felled tree I rested upon.
“Whether it was the axe’s disturbance or possibly the heat of the sun which caused an apparition to slowly form in front of my eyes, I know not. As a Christian man, I swear to you, Abe, that what spirit came upon me was the shape and shade of a large ape man, the likes we might expect among the more bellicose and hostile Indian tribes in the Territories. The shade formed into the most deformed and ugly countenance. Covered in wild hair, with small and needling eyes, large broken rows of teeth, and the height of three foundlings, I spit upon the ground the bread I was eating.
“The monster then addressed a warning to me. Abner, it told me to return from Texas, to flee this Fort and to abandon this lost cause. When I began to question this, the creature spread upon the wind like the morning steam swirls off a frog pond. I swear to you, Abner, that whatever meat or sausage disagreed with me that afternoon, I swore off all beef and hog for a day or so afterward.”
Less than six months after the writing of this letter, Crockett was killed at the Alamo along with approximately 190 others who dared stand in Santa Anna’s way as he and his Mexican Army swept north and east in an attempt to snuff out the Texas Revolution. That being the case, no clarification on the information in the Burgin letter was ever given. Most historians feel that the account in the letter was just an attempt by Crockett to entertain his brother-in-law. Some, however, feel differently. Many point to the fact that Crockett “swore” his account was true not once, but twice in the letter. They also point to how Crockett had insisted on changing the wording of the “Oath of Allegiance” as evidence that he took his honor seriously (The wording changed in the oath included the addition of the word Republican before the word government. That way Crockett would not have been obliged to defend a rogue government run by a non-elected dictator. It is this very change in the agreement that allowed Crockett to fight against Santa Anna with a clear conscience). Would Crockett have sworn the tale was true in writing if it did not occur?
The entire matter of the creature/apparition appearing and verbalizing a warning to Crockett is about as bizarre an incident as I have ever come across. Certainly, the description of the creature given by Crockett matches the classic description of a wood ape or sasquatch. The "ugly countenance, covering of wild hair, and the small and needling eyes" described all sound familiar. So does the estimated height of "three foundlings" (while there is no exact height of a foundling - a small abandoned child - most agree a safe estimate for this description would be somewhere between 7 and 8 feet). That is where the similarities between Crockett's creature and credible modern bigfoot accounts end. The claim of Crockett that the creature spoke to him and actually warned him to leave Texas is utterly unprecedented. I simply do not know what to say about it. Crockett's description of how the apparition slowly formed and later disappeared, "like the morning steam off a frog pond" makes the entire incident seem more likely to have been a lucid dream or hallucination of some kind. Again, it is all very strange.
What did David Crockett see in the woods near Nacogdoches in 1836? The likelihood is that we will never know. Something telling, however, is how few people have heard of this account. So many of Crockett’s feats and experiences have been trumpeted and blown up to mythic proportions through the years that it seems strange that this tale has fallen between the cracks and remains largely untold today. On second thought, maybe it isn’t so strange after all. Americans like their heroes, especially those in the distant past, to be without blemish; perfect images chiseled in marble. These heroes, men like David Crockett, are revered to this very day and held up as icons. The legacy of such a man might be tarnished if such a story leaked out and became well known. Better to dismiss the tale as nothing more than a bit of “yarn-spinning” on the part of good old Davy than to attempt to come to grips with the possibility that something genuinely strange happened in the deep woods of east Texas in 1836…something very strange, indeed.
Sources:
Xerxes, R. John. “1836, Nacogdoches, Texas: Davy Crockett and the Bigfoot's Prophesy.” Bigfoot History, Wordpress, 15 May 2012, bigfoothistory.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/1836-nacogdoches-texas-davy-crockett-and-the-bigfoots-prophecy/ .
“The Burgin-Crockett Connection.” The Burgin Family, theburginfamily.org/crockett.html.
Stewart, Jeff. “Bigfoot in Texas? Read This.” Fish and Game, May 2017, fishgame.com/2018/05/bigfoot-in-texas-read-this/.
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The Concho Casino Flap Sixteen Years Later
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of traveling north to Lexington, Oklahoma in order to promote my book Shadow Cats: The Black Panthers of North America and to give a couple of presentations at Glen McDonald’s Anomalist Books & Brews bookstore. The gathering was small but I had a great time and had the chance to meet some really nice people. If you get the opportunity, I would encourage you to visit Glen’s store; it is a charming, quirky, and all together cool place. There was an added benefit to this trip as well. I stayed with my good friend and NAWAC Chairman, Alton Higgins, at his home in Oklahoma City. I have been pestering Alton for years to take me out to Concho, Oklahoma in order to visit the site of the infamous “casino footage,” allegedly captured on Cheyenne-Arapaho lands in 2002. My visit this past weekend finally provided us with the opportunity to do just that.
It has been a while since the Concho flap took place so I will do my best to summarize the series of events that have become so well-known among those who are interested in the bigfoot phenomenon. It all started when footage shot by security cameras at the Lucky Star Casino in Concho captured a very large and dark figure approaching and passing by a dumpster-style grease trap at the rear of the building. I will tell you right up front that I have never seen the footage. I do, however, know several who have and they all give pretty much the same description of it. Basically, a very dark, tall, and bulky figure appears in the back parking lot and walks up to the previously mentioned grease trap. A lot of people say the figure paused and rummaged around in the grease trap, but people I talk to deny this. The figure may have slowed its pace a bit as it arrived at the trap but it never stopped. There is a security light on a pole right next to the grease trap. The most popular version of the story is that the figure had to duck in order to walk under the light. Others say only that the head of the creature was very close to the bottom of the light. Either way, this subject was immense in bulk and extremely tall. No details regarding anatomy or facial features were able to be gleaned from the video as the black and white footage was too grainy. Below is a recreation of the footage that was made for a television special a while back. I am not sure how close it comes to the real footage but it gives you some idea of what we are talking about with the incident.
The video footage was just the beginning of the weirdness on these tribal lands in Concho. Around this same time a young man claimed to have come face to face with a wood ape outside of his home which sits approximately a mile from the casino. The story, investigated by Alton Higgins and others, is that the young man was outside in the backyard of his small wooden frame house. There was an infant inside the home that began crying. The young man, who had been left in charge of watching the baby, went inside and retrieved the infant. He then carried the baby, still crying, with him back outside. As he emerged from his backdoor the young man saw a large, hair-covered creature matching the classic description of a sasquatch approaching him. The youth fled back into the house and the creature left the scene. Many have speculated that the ape was attracted by the cries of the baby, something that has been discussed in other incidents throughout history as well. Investigators located a trackway in the soft tilled-up soil of a garden in the area near the home. They also found what appeared to be a massive handprint on the top of an old junk car near the property. Investigators thought so much of the handprint that they cut the top off the old car and took it with them to be analyzed. What happened to this evidence, I cannot say. The trackway and the handprint on the car were found between a heavily wooded area and the house. If one were to connect the dots – wooded area to handprint to trackway to house – the route would have formed an almost straight line.
The strangeness was not over yet. Later in the fall, a work crew was cleaning up following a tribal function in a heavily wooded area. A member of the crew named Russell Lumpmouth snapped two photos of what appears to be an immense and hair-covered figure in the nearby tree line. The photos might be the clearest ever taken of an alleged wood ape. The first photo shows the subject facing the camera with its body at about a three-quarter angle. The face is partially obscured by a leaf in the foreground, but a deep-set right eye and a possible protruding brow ridge are visible. The second photo, taken after the subject has turned away from the camera, shows a low-set head tilted down in a manner I’ve seen in other alleged wood ape photos and videos (this is particularly noticeable in the famous Freeman footage). The chin seems to nearly sit on the chest of the figure. The face appears quite flat but specific features are hard to discern. The figure exhibits a massive barrel-shaped torso and thick buttocks that would be characteristic of a habitually bipedal hominin. According to Mr. Lumpmouth, the figure walked away once it realized it had been seen. NAWAC Chairman, Alton Higgins, wrote an article on the photos that was submitted to The Relic Hominoid Inquiry that broke down the photos and described the on-site investigation. You can read an abridged copy of that article on the NAWAC website.
Alton was kind enough to play bigfoot tour guide for Phil Burrows – also a NAWAC member – and me and showed us all of the spots where these events took place. One extra item of interest was our collection of some hair samples from an old barbed-wire fence near the spot where the handprint was found years ago. For the most part, the hairs were a deep auburn, almost orange. There were a few very long black hairs mixed in as well. The hairs seemed too long to be cow (Alton said he did not believe the tribe kept cattle) and too fine to be hair from the mane or tail of a horse. It could be absolutely nothing, but we figured nothing ventured, nothing gained. I will be submitting the hair for microscopic analysis soon and will announce the results once I know something.
Between my speaking engagement in Lexington, my visit to the site of some historic wood ape activity in Concho, and getting to visit with friends I do not get to see nearly often enough, it was a great trip up to Oklahoma.
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New Black Panther Sightings in Texas
I have continued to get reports of anomalous large, black, long-tailed cats over the last few months. I have compiled some of the more interesting and, in my opinion, credible accounts here. To repeat something I have mentioned many times previously, I know that - according to science - there is no such animal as a black panther. Black panthers seen on television and the movies are either melanistic jaguars or leopards. Despite this fact, people continue to report sightings of these enigmatic cats.
I will be the first to admit that sighting reports are strictly anecdotal in nature, unless they are accompanied by physical evidence or photos/video. Anecdotal evidence does not constitute proof that the black panthers of Texas and the American South are real flesh and blood creatures. To dismiss such sightings outright, however, is folly. Many species have been "discovered" after biologists and explorers took the time to listen to indigenous people and follow up on their stories. The mountain gorilla and okapi are two good examples of this. I am hopeful that my efforts in documenting these sightings will lead someone with greater resources to investigate this phenomenon and find out exactly what people are seeing out there. Now, on to the reports...
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I can be reached at Texascryptidhunter@yahoo.com should anyone want to report a sighting or share a photograph. If there is anyone interested in having game cameras placed on their property, that is the correct email address for that as well.
I will be the first to admit that sighting reports are strictly anecdotal in nature, unless they are accompanied by physical evidence or photos/video. Anecdotal evidence does not constitute proof that the black panthers of Texas and the American South are real flesh and blood creatures. To dismiss such sightings outright, however, is folly. Many species have been "discovered" after biologists and explorers took the time to listen to indigenous people and follow up on their stories. The mountain gorilla and okapi are two good examples of this. I am hopeful that my efforts in documenting these sightings will lead someone with greater resources to investigate this phenomenon and find out exactly what people are seeing out there. Now, on to the reports...
4/12/18
“I'm a bit late in this blog, but last year during the summer at Inks Lake state park in Burnet county, I saw a black or almost black panther or the like crossing Park Rd 4 and saunter behind their maintenance area. Looked to weigh 70 lbs., long tail that curled up and large paws.”
- Lori XXXX
TCH Comment: Lori provides a pretty much textbook description of the cat people in Texas and the American South have labeled a black panther. The sighting area – Burnet County – has been the source of sightings in the past.
4/12/18
“These cats come around 1-2x/year... I’ve shot at them but have failed to bring one down to date. Most encounters are night time, usually unprepared shots with a handgun... some are Great Dane-sized with short fur... others are more squat, with longer fur. not sure what to make of the species... hybrid vs other. One cat had a checkered type pattern noted at night, approximately 30 yards, noted under red-light... I fired with a .22 revolver and I upset it. the animal in this picture is walking from your left to right... not sitting. It is approximately 3 yards behind the cacti not right up on them. See the how the facial fur flares out like a bobcat, but they do have long tails. It doubled back so we couldn’t get another shot. Any input would be appreciated.
- Oscar Perez M.D.
TCH Comment: Very interesting photo and description. Oscar seems to have a wide variety of animals visiting his property. It is possible there is some hybridization going on, but that is strictly speculative. The photo is intriguing as it does resemble a bobcat in the face. Bobcats can exhibit melanism, though it is rare. The ears appear a bit more rounded than I would expect to see in a bobcat. If this cat has a long tail then it is certainly not a full-blood bob. The whole thing is perplexing. The cat Oscar saw with the “checkered coat” could be a jaguar, leopard, or, if it is a smaller cat, ocelot. It is hard to say as Oscar did not specify his location. The best advice I could offer Oscar would be to put up a few trail cameras and be ready, either with a camera or long gun - each time he goes out on the property. Oscar, if you see this, please email me back with your location. Thanks.
4/17/18
“It was about 8:50ish-9 pm in Gonzales county. South east to be precise, around mid-November, 2017. We were going for a cruise down back roads like we usually do, having seen bobcats, coyotes and foxes out here, we were sure we’d see something. Little did I know. While on the road, I pulled out my flashlight and looked to my right side and bam, big yellow/greenish eyes caught my attention. They were a different color, the positioning on its head too was so unfamiliar. Un-like anything I’ve ever seen. It was crouched down, it did not want to be seen. Maybe it thought we didn’t see it but I did, I tried to get my uncle to stop the truck but by the time he did we had passed him. My light was still focused on him, as were his eyes fixed on us. As we started to reverse he kept watching. Before I got closer to get a good look at him, he got up and turned to his right, then made another right running behind the brush. All I saw was his hind leg and a large black tail that curled up a bit before it hit the ground. It was fat and round, He was about 15-20 yards from the fence line. I’m 23, 5’6 with normal size arms, I’d say his tail was easily as wide as my wrist-lower arm. I had goosebumps and immediately started looking up sightings.
- Dro Hernandez
TCH Comment: Dro, thank you for submitting your sighting. The yellow-green eye coloration is something that I have heard from many witnesses in the past, especially those who had a nighttime sighting. A quick internet search for melanistic jaguars or leopards will show that a yellowish color to the eyes of these cats is not unusual. The effect could be exacerbated by the "eye shine" produced when light strikes a structure in the back of the eye called the tapetum lucidem. This structure improves night vision in animals of many species. The eye shine color often varies depending upon the angle at which light is striking the eye of the animal. Yellow, orange, and red are the most common eye shine colors seen in animals. Green would be something different. The description of the color, leg, and tail sure point to a cat being what you saw; however, since you didn't really get a good look at the entire animal, we can't be absolutely sure. I will have to leave the sighting off my distribution map. Keep those eyes open and a camera handy. Good luck.
4/24/18
“I have a small farm just outside Canton, TX and have heard stories for years about a black panther that has been seen by many of my neighbors. I have been skeptical of these stories. Last week, one of my neighbors got these pictures of the “black panther”. Can you help identify this cat?
Thanks
Kevin Swindle
TCH Comment: Thanks for taking the time to email the photos.
Those are some very interesting pictures. It is hard to make a determination, however, due to the fact I have nothing by which to judge scale (the size of the cat). The good news is that this could be done pretty easily. Someone could stand in the spot where the cat is in the photo and a second person could snap a photo from the location where the photographer was standing for the originals. If only one person is available, that person could take an object that has a height or length that is known and place it where the cat was in the original photo was at the time. That person could then take a picture of the object from the same spot the original photos were snapped. By comparing the cat's size to the size of known objects we should be able to get at least a rough estimate on how big this animal is. The photos remind me quite a bit of the cat videoed in Iberia Parish, Louisiana several years ago. I used a still from that video as the cover for my book.
If any tracks have been found advise your neighbor to lay a ruler down next to them before snapping photos. Plaster casts could also be made.
As to what kind of cat it might be...clearly, it is no bobcat. The tail alone eliminates a bob as a suspect. The head looks too small in comparison to the body to be a jaguar. The body is thicker than I would expect to see in a jaguarundi and the head doesn't look right for that species. That leaves a feral cat or mountain lion as suspects. As I'm sure you know, there are not supposed to be any black mountain lions. If we can get a reliable size estimate - using the methods mentioned above - we will have a much better idea of what we are dealing with.
If you - or your neighbor - would like me to come out and place a camera or two in this spot let me know. I'm in Temple and the Canton drive isn't too bad for me.
5/7/18
“Back in 1989 I was deer hunting with 2 friends east of Jefferson TX. in a heavily forested area. After dark, we were driving out of the lease on the small trail. As we topped a small hill, we saw a doe to our left about 10 feet off the trail. And about 30 feet ahead to the right was a large jet-black cat crouched down ready to attack the doe. When he saw us he jumped up and ran into the forest. We had a clear view of him for roughly 4 seconds before he disappeared into the woods. It was at least 100 pounds and possibly larger. And the body was about 4 feet in length. I've seen many, many bobcats and this was many times larger than that and jet black. We always assumed it was a black panther. There's no doubt that these large cats exist in Texas. We clearly saw it right in front of us. Regardless of what you want to call it, it was very large and jet black.”
- Lanny
- Lanny
TCH Comment: Certainly, northeast Texas has been the origin for many black panther reports over the years. If Lanny is right, and this cat was around 100 lbs., our suspect list is very short. This is either a mountain lion or a jaguar. There is simply no other cat out there capable of reaching that size and weight. As long-time readers no doubt know, melanism has never been documented in mountain lions.
6/10/18
“Year: 2009 / Location: 3070 Anderson County Road 163, Elkhart/Palestine, Texas (I attached a photo of the pinned location. The sighting was in between the black lines I drew.)
My friend & I were driving down the county road late one night & we had just slowed down & turned a sharp curve by a pasture that keeps livestock. As I slowly drove around the left-hand curve, a very large cat with a big head, glowing eyes, shiny black coat (No details or markings stood out), and a very long, thick, wispy tail ran out in front of my car heading towards the pasture to my left & I had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting it. The entire animal was so sleek & almost elegant in the way it sort of galloped across.
My friend and I sat stopped in the road in silence for a few seconds before I asked if she had just seen what I did. We both agreed that it was definitely NOT a large dog and most certainly nothing we had ever seen before. It truly scared us because we spent many late nights with friends out in a neighboring pasture more times than I can count. We all stopped doing that. My grandma lived in Buffalo, TX & she would always talk of “panthers” coming into her yard & mating & eating the deer her & my grandpa fed. She said the sounds they made were terrifying. Like babies crying.
Also, my boyfriend’s parents recently moved out to Neches, Texas. His step father claims that their new neighbor caught a bear on his game camera a little before Easter of this year. If you would like me to find out more details on that, let me know. I’ll certainly do what I can. I love what you’re doing on the subject of spotting unlikely animals. I’m so glad to share my information that not too many people believe. I hope my submission is useful!
- Katie
TCH Comment: Katie’s encounter is fairly typical in that motorists are second only to hunters in sightings of these black cats. Katie mentions that the cat was "big," but doesn’t give an actual size estimate. Katie, if you see this, could you please estimate/compare the size of the cat you saw to some other animal with which you are familiar? A Labrador Retriever, Great Dane, etc.? This would give me a better idea of how big an animal we are talking about.
Also, Katie, yes, I would very much like to get the photo of the bear and hear the details on that as well.
6/11/18
“On April 28th, 2018 around 6:30 pm, myself and 2 other ladies were driving into Breckenridge to go to dinner. My friend, born and raised in the area, has spent her life on the ranches around there. At one time, she spent 10 years managing a cattle ranch with just a good horse and an Australian Shepherd or two. She would only go into town once a month for supplies. I tell you this, so you will understand, my friend has spent her 70 years seeing everything that moves around that brushy, dry area. She was driving and I was sitting shotgun. We were watching for deer, when this very dark colored weasel/cat-like creature stepped into the road ahead of us. My friend slowed and this strange cat paused on the side of the road, so we were able to watch it for several seconds. I was struck by how cat like it moved, but how strangely shaped it was. The body was very, very long, with a long, thick tail. It was too tall to be a domestic cat. (I grew up with an 18-lb. cat. This animal was much bigger.) Sadly, there was no time for a photo. I was too dumbstruck to move. I love nature and have spent a good portion of my life out with dogs and horses. I can identify basic animal tracks and bird calls, as well as noticing animal behavior. I had never seen or heard of anything like what I was looking at. I asked my friend who is knowledgeable about anything in that area, "What in the world is that?" She answered, "I can't think of the name, but it's one of those cats that is rarely seen. I've never seen one out here before." I was thrilled and awed to see such a rare creature in the wild. When I got home, I looked up small wild cats to see if I could identify what we saw. As soon as I laid eyes on the image of a jaguarundi, I knew that was it. There is no question. I have 2 other ladies that can verify what I'm telling you here. As I read about them, I knew it was very unusual to consider north Texas as part of their range. There's one living outside of Breckenridge-or there was one in April. No question.”
- Tricia Millsap
TCH Comment: Tricia’s account is very interesting for multiple reasons. She was with a long-time rancher who is very familiar with the wildlife in the area. This makes misidentification of something more mundane much less likely. Also, she gave a spot-on description of what a jaguarundi looks like. If Tricia was right about the size and weight – compared to her own 18-lb. cat – this was a jaguarundi on the large side. Breckenridge is west of Fort Worth in Stephens County. The county is sparsely populated and rural. There is plenty of room for a large cat to make a living there. Black panther reports have come from this general vicinity in the past.
I am greatly encouraged that not only are reports continuing to roll in on a weekly basis, but more and more often these accounts are accompanied by photographs. People seem to be a bit more prepared to document what they are seeing than they were in the past. This is excellent news.
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Update to Black Panther Sightings Distribution Map
I have just updated my interactive black panther sightings distribution map to include the latest reports. You can visit the map by clicking here.
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Once you get to the map, you can click on any pin to get a brief description of the sighting details, zoom in or out, and see the date the incident was reported to me. As you will see, the sightings continue to be reported more often in the eastern half of the state.
Check it out and if you have questions or a sighting account of your own you would like to report just send me an email at Texascryptidhunter@yahoo.com.
Once you get to the map, you can click on any pin to get a brief description of the sighting details, zoom in or out, and see the date the incident was reported to me. As you will see, the sightings continue to be reported more often in the eastern half of the state.
Check it out and if you have questions or a sighting account of your own you would like to report just send me an email at Texascryptidhunter@yahoo.com.
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Sasquatch Classics: The "Caddo Critter" and the "Hawley Him"
Not many think of Texas when the subject of bigfoot is mentioned. Places like Oregon, northern California, or Washington are far more likely to come up in any discussion of where wood apes might be located. Few realize that the Lone Star State actually has a rich and long history of encounters with large, bipedal, ape-like creatures. The few who are aware of this fact are drawn to the eastern half of the state; places like the Big Thicket National Preserve or the Piney Woods region that spills over into western Louisiana and southwestern Arkansas are most often the areas of interest for would-be monster hunters, and rightfully so. The woods, river bottoms, and swamps of this part of Texas have long been associated with “boogers,” “wild men,” and “bush apes.” Not many, however, bother to consider visiting west Texas to look for these creatures; after all, bigfoot – if it exists at all – lives in heavily wooded areas and not the arid scrublands of the west. However, if history is any indication, this assumption might be completely wrong.
Caddo, Texas is all but a ghost town these days. It is an unincorporated community in Stephens County that, as of the 2000 census, is only home to 40 residents. The entire county is sparsely populated with only 9,630 people calling it home. More than half of these souls – 5,780 of them - live within the city limits of the county seat of Breckenridge. The remaining 3,850 people are spread throughout the county’s 921 square miles. This quiet west Texas community briefly became the epicenter of all things bigfoot in the summer of 1964 when an unidentified animal, soon dubbed the “Caddo Critter” by the local media, made several appearances in the area. The animal was first seen by a Caddo resident named Charlie Gantt about 11:30 on two consecutive nights in July. Gantt “unloaded his gun at the critter, but apparently missed,” according to an article in the July 20 edition of the Abilene Reporter-News. The animal was seen subsequently by other Caddo area residents and a full-scale furor erupted. Jo Roberts, a correspondent for the Abilene paper who was covering the story said, “Everyone has said the same thing; it is about seven-feet-tall, four-feet-wide, and covered with hair.” After the first incident, Stephens County Sheriff Chase Booth and the Texas Highway Patrol (DPS), along with a dozen or so area residents searched for the animal with no luck.
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It would come to light after the Gantt encounter that residents of the area around Caddo had been seeing the creature for at least two weeks prior. The media that covered the story were convinced the people had seen something and were “genuinely concerned, if not scared.” Roberts wrote that every yard was lit up by outside lights and that the populace was armed. “They were sitting up last night to shoot whatever it was,” she said in the July 21 edition of the Abilene Reporter-News. “If it’s a prank, it’s a highly dangerous one; someone could get killed.” Deputy Sheriff Edgar Martin, too, did not doubt that the people of Caddo had seen something real. “No doubt they’ve seen something, but we don’t know what it is,” he said. As the days went by, more Caddoans claimed to have seen the “critter.” 9-year-old Gene Couch said he saw the creature only 200 yards from his house as he was walking to a fishing spot. His mother could not confirm her son’s account, but did add, “Something has been fighting the dogs at night.” Another mother and son claimed to have seen the beast while walking near a stock pond. According to an article in the July 23 edition of the Amarillo Globe-Times, the boy saw the creature first and pointed it out to his mother. The animal turned around to face them, growled, and then began throwing rocks at them. After a minute or so, it fled. “My boy turned white as a sheet,” the mother said.
The sightings soon stopped and many locals and members of the media began to question the veracity of the dozen or so people who steadfastly insisted they had seen the creature. Some expressed their doubts to local newspapers. One John Luttrell is quoted in the Abilene Reporter-News as saying, “Mr. Gantt probably saw a buck deer.” The 72-year-old Gantt – a lifelong Caddo resident – was understandably insulted and annoyed by such talk. Having lived in the area his entire life, Gantt certainly knew what a deer looked like and was adamant that what he saw, and fired upon, “looked like a gorilla.” Soon, others chimed in on what Caddo residents had likely seen. Everything from black bears to wayward yaks were bandied about as suspects, but no resolution was ever reached.
While most soon put the whole “critter craze” behind them, residents of Haskell, about 70 miles to the northwest, began to suspect that the creature terrorizing Caddo residents might be the same animal that had been seen many times in and around their small town. While the “Haskell Rascal” was rumored to be much larger than the “Caddo Critter,” the parallels did not go unnoticed. The Haskell County Sheriff at the time – last name of Garrett – said, “If the critter was an even four-foot taller, it just could be our varmint walking on his hind legs.” According to locals, the “rascal” had been spotted, off and on, for the previous 80 years. Rascal mania had hit a high-water mark just the summer before (1963) when a series of livestock attacks were blamed on the creature. Residents swore the “rascal” did its dirty work within a 60-mile radius, which could put it very close to the community of Caddo. Noted bigfoot researcher, John Green, wrote in his classic Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us, “The residents here (Haskell) claim that the ‘Haskell Rascal’ and the ‘Caddo Critter’ are one and the same. Although the Haskell creature has been reported for 80 years, I have had difficulty finding descriptions of it. Residents claim that it spends summers in the Kiowa Peak area, west of Haskell, and that it prowls in the lowlands during the winter, killing and feeding on livestock." While official documentation of encounters with the “Haskell Rascal” were hard to come by, it would not be too very long before the similar experiences of the residents of another small town in the region would be very well chronicled.
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Roughly 82 miles west of Caddo and 42 miles south of Haskell, tucked in the southeastern corner of Jones County, sits the small town of Hawley. Even smaller than Haskell – as of the 2010 census there were only 634 people living in the town – Hawley seems a most unlikely place for a flap of ape-man sightings, yet that is exactly what took place in the summer of 1977. It all started in early July when two boys – Larry Suggs (15) and Tom Roberts (14) – were clearing brush from the property of the Abilene Boys Ranch where they lived at the behest of ranch owner Bob Scott. At approximately 10:00 a.m. the two boys sat down to take a break. They were soon startled by the sounds of branches breaking and a rain of rocks, seemingly hurled in their direction from the brush. Suggs was hit in the leg by one of the flying rocks. The boys then got a glimpse of their attacker. “Whatever it was, he looked like kind of an ape, but still a man,” said Suggs. “He had huge arms. They hung down to his knees. You’d have to see him to believe it.” Seeing their attacker was enough to convince the boys to flee to the nearby home of Mr. Ed McFarland. The McFarland’s daughter, Renee (15), grabbed a deer rifle and headed back out to the sighting location with the boys (news articles are not clear on whether or not Renee’s parents were home at the time). The trio of teens investigated the area where the sighting had taken place and soon encountered the creature again. The sight of the beast rattled Renee who handed the rifle to Suggs and said, “You shoot it.” Suggs took aim and fired at the ape-like animal from a distance of only about 40 yards. The teen missed and the recoil of the gun knocked him to the ground. Fortunately for the frightened youths, the shot was enough to send the animal running. It crashed through brush that would have been impenetrable to a normal man and made its escape. Footprints were later found at the spot where the teens watched “Him” dive into the brush. When interviewed by the media, Bob Scott said that he had never seen anything like the animal described by the three youngsters, but recently lost 21 goats from a pen. The goats had disappeared without a trace. No blood, no broken fence, no nothing. A few goat carcasses were later found in the brush, not too far from the sighting location, but the rest were just gone. Jones County Sheriff’s officers felt that coyotes had likely killed the goats found in the brush but could offer no explanation for the 18, or so, others that had vanished.
The incident hit Texas newspapers on July 7 and it wasn’t long before monster hunters descended upon Bob Scott’s ranch. One such hunter was Ed Nash, who along with his step-son, David Woods, and a reporter armed with a 35mm camera, decided to hunt for “Him” in a tangle of stunted oak trees dubbed the “chinry” by locals. The chinry forms the dense jungle of entangled brush that runs through most of southern Jones County and often rises to heights of five-feet or more. Traveling through the chinry is all but impossible on foot except on established game trails. Nash expressed optimism that the rain that had fallen over the previous two days would make it more likely that the creature they sought would leave tracks. He would be disappointed, however, to find that he and his step-son were far from the first hunters to search the area. Nash cursed the carelessness of previous monster hunters, and himself for not getting to the ranch sooner, as he found mostly boot prints on the game trails. Finally, while searching an overgrown and long abandoned dirt road deep in the chinry, Woods discovered fresh footprints left by a creature with toes. An article in the July 11 edition of the Abilene Reporter-News said, “The prints clearly showed the impression of four toes and the ball of a foot as if whatever made the tracks walked upright on its toes. The prints were approximately five-inches wide and from their distance from each other looked as if their creator had a four-foot stride.” Frustratingly, no photographs of these prints were included with the article. After examining the prints, Nash said, “There is something out there and he is running around barefoot. Whether it is a monster or a man in a bigfoot disguise I can’t say.” When asked about the likelihood of the tracks being made by a human, Nash added that anyone running around in the thorn-infested chinry barefoot would have to be “kind of a lunatic.”
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It was not long before the skeptics came out of the woodwork. Some people simply said the teenagers had made the entire incident up; others believed that they had been frightened by something, but certainly it was no monster. Papers began printing insulting hack pieces that insinuated the whole thing had been one big hoax. One piece that appeared in the July 15 edition of the Abilene Reporter-News in the “Page One” column of writer Katharyn Duff is a good example. In the piece, Duff had little to say about the “Him.” Instead she harkened back to a flap of sightings of a creature back in the 1960s she called the “Haskell Thang,” which was likely just another term for the aforementioned “Haskell Rascal.” In the column, Duff recognizes that encounters with 7-foot tall ape-like creatures had been reported in the Haskell/Hawley area for at least the last 15-20 years; however, she quickly threw cold water on the entire phenomenon by propagating the theory of a Texas Tech geologist named Dr. Frank Conselman who felt the “Thang” had been nothing but an ocelot. Dr. Conselman’s response when asked how people could mistake a huge, hair-covered biped for a small, spotted wild cat? “Why not an ocelot?” he said. The absurdity of this position is so apparent no more time need be spent on it; however, many similar explanations from various skeptics – none quite as insulting as that of Dr. Conselman – continued to roll in from all corners of the country.
The “Hawley Him” remained on the minds of local residents despite the tongue-in-cheek explanations offered by skeptics. Some even attempted to capitalize on “Him” mania. One notable example was when the Hawley First Baptist Church provided a space on their VBS invitations - mailed out to local children - to draw and color their idea of what the “Hawley Him” looked like. The “Him” gimmick proved effective as a then record 109 children attended VBS at the church that summer.
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Some outsiders did take the “Him” sightings more seriously. Oil man Jack Grimm – who was sort of a poor man’s Tom Slick – offered a $5,000 reward for the capture of “Him.” The stipulations were simple: the creature had to be captured unharmed and had to be a previously unidentified species. “I don’t want to pay a reward for a bear or a gorilla that escaped from the zoo,” Grimm said. Interestingly, Grimm had the same reward posted for the capture of a “red-eyed monster” said to be roaming southeast Oklahoma. Alas, no one was able to claim the bounty and sightings of the “Him” became fewer and farther between.
There has not been a rash of monster sightings from this area of west Texas that can approach the mania caused by the “Caddo Critter,” “Hawley Him,” or “Haskell Rascal” back in the 1960s through the late 1970s. To say that there have been no sightings, however, would not be accurate. A quick search of the databases of three bigfoot research groups active in Texas revealed a handful of interesting accounts from the nine-county region (see graphic below for the counties). The North American Wood Ape Conservancy (NAWAC) has one report in its database from Callahan County. The sighting took place only 41 miles southwest of Caddo in 2005. The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) has two sightings from the region: a 1977 sighting that took place outside of Ranger in Eastland County only 19 miles south of Caddo and a 1988 sighting that occurred near Throckmorton, in the county of the same name, just 32 miles east of Haskell. Finally, the database of the Gulf Coast Bigfoot Researchers Organization (GCBRO) includes one 2001 Jones County sighting that took place near historic Fort Phantom Hill, a mere 11 miles from Hawley. Certainly, this handful of sightings – spread out over a 28-year period, with none more recent than 2005 – do not grab the attention or the imagination like the flap of sightings in in the 1960s and 1970s. They should, however, make us wonder if, at least occasionally, wood apes do not wander up the riparian areas paralleling the Leon, Colorado, and Brazos Rivers into west Texas. Texas still contains thousands of acres of uninhabited, lonesome country, especially west of the I-35 corridor. Though most of it is privately owned these days, few humans lay eyes on vast tracts of property for weeks or months at a time. It is the domain of domesticated cattle, the coyote, rattlesnake, and red-tailed hawk. There remains, even now, plenty of room for a large animal to, if not live permanently, pass through the region with very little risk of detection by human beings.
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I believe that the rich deciduous forests of the eastern half of the Lone Star State are a more ideal environment for a large ape; however, the more I study primates, the more I learn just how amazingly resilient and adaptable they really are. That being the case, maybe having the perfect forest habitat is not the most important aspect for their survival. Maybe the most important factor as to whether or not wood apes can survive in Texas is isolation. If there is one thing west Texas has, it is vast tracts of lonesome country where humans do not spend much time.
I find the stories of the “Hawley Him” and the “Caddo Critter” more credible than I thought I would when I started researching for this post (there is very little documentation on the “Haskell Rascal,” but it fits the narrative of what was going on in the area during the 1960s and 1970s). Rumors persist of sightings in the area, but nobody seems to want to talk about it. Perhaps they learned their lesson about media attention back in the 1960s-70s. I personally heard a couple of old-timers discussing some kind of large creature that was harassing their livestock near Cross Plains in Callahan County just a couple of years ago. I am a bit embarrassed to say I was eavesdropping on their private conversation while I was in line at a convenience store/gas station in Cross Plains. I think they noticed me listening in as they clammed up and gave me the stink-eye pretty good until I left the store; chastened. I have also heard tales of some very intriguing incidents at the cemetery near the old ghost town of Belle Plain in Callahan County (I actually did a post on these events in 2015; you can access that post here). Visitors to the old cemetery have reported hulking, hair-covered creatures “twice the size of an athletic man” roaming the back portion of the property. More common than visuals are the reports of long, powerful howls, deep growls, and “mumbling” made by something that remains in the shadows and just out of sight.
It all begs the question, could the “Hawley Him” or “Caddo Critter” still haunt the region? I am afraid I cannot give you the answer. The residents of the nine county area discussed in this post probably know, you might be thinking. That is likely true, but trust must be earned before west Texans open up, especially when it comes to something as strange as monsters roaming the countryside. Earning such trust takes time. Maybe one day a reader of this site or others like it will decide to share what they know. For now, though, nobody is talking.
Sources:
“Gorilla-Type Animal Hunted In Caddo Area.” Abilene Reporter-News, 20 July 1964, p. 14.
“Caddo Residents Take Up Arms, Watch For 'Critter'.” Abilene Reporter-News, 21 July 1964, p. 48.
Bruce, Bob. “Caddo's 'Critter Jitters' Aren't Total.” Abilene Reporter-News, 22 July 1964, p. 1.
Bruce, Bob. “'Critter Talk' Takes Heat Off Caddo Conversations.” Abilene Reporter-News, 22 July 1964, p. 51.
“Yak Suspected Of 'Crittering'.” Abilene Reporter-News, 24 July 1964, p. 16.
“Opinion Divided in Caddo On Existence of Critter.” Amarillo Globe-Times, 23 July 1964, p. 41.
“'That' Yak Still Free.” Abilene Reporter-News, 12 Aug. 1964, p. 8.
“Blue Planet Project - 03.” Cattle Mutilations, www.bibliotecapleyades.net/vida_alien/blueplanetproject/blueplanetproject03.htm.
Green, John. Sasquatch: the Apes among Us. Hancock House, 2006. Page 184
“'The Hawley WHAT?' Asks Jones Sheriff.” Abilene Reporter-News, 7 July 1977.
“'Hawley Him' on the Loose.” Corsicana Daily Sun, 7 July 1977, p. 13.
Downing, Roger. “Abilenians Go to Hawley to Hunt 'Him'.” Abilene Reporter-News, 11 July 1977.
Duff, Katharyn. “Page One.” Abilene Reporter-News, 15 July 1977, p. 1.
“Incident Report Locator.” North American Wood Ape Conservancy, woodape.org/reports/report/state?state=TX#allRegions=screen.
“Reports for Texas.” Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, bfro.net/GDB/state_listing.asp?state=tx.
Hamilton, Bobby. “Sightings Encounters Texas.” Gulf Coast Bigfoot Research Organization, gcbro.com/txdb1.htm.
“Gorilla-Type Animal Hunted In Caddo Area.” Abilene Reporter-News, 20 July 1964, p. 14.
“Caddo Residents Take Up Arms, Watch For 'Critter'.” Abilene Reporter-News, 21 July 1964, p. 48.
Bruce, Bob. “Caddo's 'Critter Jitters' Aren't Total.” Abilene Reporter-News, 22 July 1964, p. 1.
Bruce, Bob. “'Critter Talk' Takes Heat Off Caddo Conversations.” Abilene Reporter-News, 22 July 1964, p. 51.
“Yak Suspected Of 'Crittering'.” Abilene Reporter-News, 24 July 1964, p. 16.
“Opinion Divided in Caddo On Existence of Critter.” Amarillo Globe-Times, 23 July 1964, p. 41.
“'That' Yak Still Free.” Abilene Reporter-News, 12 Aug. 1964, p. 8.
“Blue Planet Project - 03.” Cattle Mutilations, www.bibliotecapleyades.net/vida_alien/blueplanetproject/blueplanetproject03.htm.
Green, John. Sasquatch: the Apes among Us. Hancock House, 2006. Page 184
“'The Hawley WHAT?' Asks Jones Sheriff.” Abilene Reporter-News, 7 July 1977.
“'Hawley Him' on the Loose.” Corsicana Daily Sun, 7 July 1977, p. 13.
Downing, Roger. “Abilenians Go to Hawley to Hunt 'Him'.” Abilene Reporter-News, 11 July 1977.
Duff, Katharyn. “Page One.” Abilene Reporter-News, 15 July 1977, p. 1.
“Incident Report Locator.” North American Wood Ape Conservancy, woodape.org/reports/report/state?state=TX#allRegions=screen.
“Reports for Texas.” Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, bfro.net/GDB/state_listing.asp?state=tx.
Hamilton, Bobby. “Sightings Encounters Texas.” Gulf Coast Bigfoot Research Organization, gcbro.com/txdb1.htm.
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Interview with a Black Panther Witness
Following is a short interview I did with a young lady who claims to have had an encounter with a large, long-tailed black cat on her family's property outside of Greenville, Texas. A more extensive interview had already taken place, which prompted my visit. This brief conversation took place at the actual location of the sighting.
*NOTE* : I made an error when I said the incident took place along the Trinity River. The incident took place along the Sabine River. Getting this video uploaded was surprisingly difficult so I did to want to redo it. The important part of the video is what the young lady had to say and not how I introduced the interview, OR I'm just lazy, lol.
I did an audio only interview as the witness is very young (7th grader) and I did not want to put her photo or likeness up on the internet. I'm sure you can all understand why. Her account is very simple and matter-of-fact. Her older brother and a friend had an encounter of their own later while out hog hunting on the property. He was away at college when I visited so I could not interview him on video or audio recorder.
I thought it would be interesting for some of you who are following these reports to hear an actual voice associated with a sighting. I should be checking the cameras on the property in the next month or so.
If you would like to know more about where black panther sightings are taking place in Texas, visit my interactive black panther sightings distribution map. More than 150 credible sightings have been charted. If you would really like to dive into the topic pick up a copy of my book on the subject titled Shadow Cats: The Black Panthers of North America. It is full of color photographs and, at 240 pages, a fairly quick read. You can pick it up at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and anywhere online books are sold. Click one of the links above or the photo of the book to the right in the margin, if interested.
*NOTE* : I made an error when I said the incident took place along the Trinity River. The incident took place along the Sabine River. Getting this video uploaded was surprisingly difficult so I did to want to redo it. The important part of the video is what the young lady had to say and not how I introduced the interview, OR I'm just lazy, lol.
I did an audio only interview as the witness is very young (7th grader) and I did not want to put her photo or likeness up on the internet. I'm sure you can all understand why. Her account is very simple and matter-of-fact. Her older brother and a friend had an encounter of their own later while out hog hunting on the property. He was away at college when I visited so I could not interview him on video or audio recorder.
I thought it would be interesting for some of you who are following these reports to hear an actual voice associated with a sighting. I should be checking the cameras on the property in the next month or so.
If you would like to know more about where black panther sightings are taking place in Texas, visit my interactive black panther sightings distribution map. More than 150 credible sightings have been charted. If you would really like to dive into the topic pick up a copy of my book on the subject titled Shadow Cats: The Black Panthers of North America. It is full of color photographs and, at 240 pages, a fairly quick read. You can pick it up at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and anywhere online books are sold. Click one of the links above or the photo of the book to the right in the margin, if interested.
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The Year in Review and Future Plans
2018 is rapidly coming to a close and I thought I would take a moment to review some of the bigger events of the past year and give you all of you an idea of what my plans are in 2019.
The past year has been a really good one for me in many ways. The biggest event was the publishing of my book on the black panther phenomenon, Shadow Cats: The Black Panthers of North America by Anomalist Books. The publication of the book was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for me as I have always wanted to write a book. While I did self-publish a children’s book titled Patty: A Sasquatch Story several years back, this was different. Anomalist Books is a traditional and respected publishing house specializing in non-fiction tomes on cryptozoology, the paranormal, and other esoteric topics. To go through the submission process, have the work accepted, and then published was a lot of fun for me and extremely educational. To add to my excitement, the book was well received and has done very well. Because of the success of Shadow Cats, I have had the opportunity to speak at author’s gatherings, library fund-raisers, book stores, numerous podcasts, and radio programs including the massively popular Coast-to-Coast A.M. with host George Noory. The year ended with Loren Coleman choosing Shadow Cats as one of his top ten cryptozoology books of the year. It has all been pretty heady stuff to this rookie author.
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Another highlight of my year was my participation in the NAWAC’s long-term field study in the area of interest we have dubbed “Area X.” This year’s operation was dubbed “Operation Intrepid” and ran from May 19th– September 23rd. I served as the team leader for Team India and was in the bush with two fellow members from July 14th– July 21st. While there were no visuals of our wood ape quarry that week, the three of us managed to record the clearest “whoop” vocalization I have ever heard in person. The vocalization emanated on a hillside no more than forty yards from our location in camp. The call was heard multiple times on two separate nights from approximately the same spot on the hill. The thick brush prevented us from getting a look at the caller – even with high-end night vision equipment - and the steep incline kept us from being able to effectively investigate during nighttime hours. Even so, the vocalization alone was enough to cement in my mind that the target species is indeed in the area and we are conducting operations in the right place.
I had another fun experience just last month. I was contacted by Prometheus Productions about helping with an upcoming television program (Prometheus produces the hit series The Curse of Oak Island and many other popular shows). Initially, I was going to be a sort of consultant on an episode that was going to be looking into a cryptid very well known in the Ozark Mountains; however, after learning that I had actually seen one of the odd, hairless canines that the media has dubbed the chupacabras, plans changed. Instead, I will appear as a witness on an episode featuring that cryptid. This was the second time I have had the privilege of being involved in a television shoot of this sort (My first experience was on the A&E Network’s Lowe Files). It is always interesting and fun to see how these shows are shot and the interactions that go on behind the scenes. It was good fun and I will keep everyone posted on when the series and, more specifically, when the chupacabras episode will air.
The year was not without its frustrations. Teaching and coaching full-time left precious little time for the blog and I have accumulated a large back log of black panther sightings that need to be vetted and mapped. Also, I started work on a new book detailing the investigations and experiences of the NAWAC this past summer, but have been unable to make any progress on it due to the time demands of my job. I am not looking for any sympathy here, but the little free time I have had through a very good football season and, at least thus far, a very bad basketball season has been spent trying to catch up on sleep or family responsibilities. It has left little time for me to tap away on a keyboard. This situation is nothing new. Longtime followers of the blog know I have lamented my lack of time to write in the past. I have given the matter a lot of thought and decided that I will be hanging up my whistle at the end of the 2018-2019 school year. While I need to continue teaching (those pesky bills continue to roll in monthly), I do not plan on coaching in the future. This decision was really not that difficult to reach. The coaching part of my life has become extremely stressful as the athletes have become increasingly self-centered and uncoachable. It is a constant battle to get them to act right in class, pass their classes, and practice hard. Dealing with the parents has been even worse. These factors in combination with the fact that I want to write more have led me to the decision to retire from my coaching duties. While I will not get any immediate relief from the time demands of coaching, as I must finish the school year, the light is at the end of the tunnel. No later than the end of May 2019 I should see an exponential jump in my free time. That will allow me to get back to investigating mysteries of the cryptid kind and continue my efforts to write.
So, there you have it. I will be getting back to writing and blogging very soon as long as the good Lord is willing and the creeks don’t rise. I thank all of you who have patiently hung in there with me and the blog despite my lack of activity. I hope to reward that patience with new posts and a new book soon.
My best,
Mike
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New/Old Black Panther Sightings
While I have not been very active on the blog over the past year, that has not stopped new black panther sighting reports from coming in to me via email. The sightings below actually reached my inbox this past summer. While I never managed to prepare a post detailing them, I did get them posted on my interactive black panther sightings distribution map. That being the case, anyone who has perused the map since that time may recognize these accounts. I present them here for two reasons. First, I am trying very hard to catch up on the backlog of accounts and clean out the old inbox. Second, the emails provide much more detailed accounts of each sighting than the thumbnails available on the distribution map.
I think you will be impressed with the quality of the accounts below. More and more witnesses are stepping up and providing their names as opposed to submitting their stories anonymously. This makes things so much easier on me and adds to the credibility of the reports. These people saw some type of animal they did not recognize. Science says there is no such thing as a black panther. If that is the case, what are people seeing?
Reported July 8, 2018
I sighted a Black long tailed panther in late summer, 1982, on CR 154 south of CR 156, northeast if Cisco, TX. See the attached picture. The red mark near the tracks is about where it was. I was driving south on 154 and it ran from west to east across the road, barely within my headlight beams.
Judi Jones
TCH Comment: Cisco sits in Eastland County in north-central Texas and is known more for being the location of Conrad Hilton’s first hotel and the Marshall Ratliff gang’s infamous “Santa Claus robbery” than it is for cryptid cats. Eastland county is comprised of 932 square miles and has no large cities. There is ample room and resources for a big cat to survive in this rural area. This is the second documented sighting of a large, black, long-tailed cat in the immediate area around Cisco. The previous report also involved a motorist who saw a big black cat cross the road in front of him near Lake Cisco in 2014. The witness in this case took the time to mark a map showing the location of her sighting. I have added this report to my black panther sightings distribution map.
Reported July 16, 2018
Hello there!
My name is Aynslie Andrew, I am from Honey Grove, Texas. My apologies for it being so late, but I’m shaken from what I saw tonight!
As I was on my way back into town around 10:30 PM, headed from Telephone, TX to Honey Grove, I was coming out of Bois D’Arc bottom. With the new municipal lake coming in, a lot of dozing of trees has taken place... (Driving at night, I am always alert and looking for little critters in the road) Ahead of me, I saw a reflection of eyes, and I slowed quickly as I usually do. With my bright lights on, I saw a figure, cat-like, LARGE creature. I slowly drove closer, probably going 15 mph. The animal, scurried into the ditch, as it did that, I got a better look. It was a large black cat-like, I wanna say like a jaguar or panther type animal. VERY long tail— almost as long as the animals body. Anyway, as it entered the ditch, it was as if it had hunkered down, with the reflection of my headlights it seemed as if it was watching me, (keep in mind at this point i was probably going 4-5 mph, barely rolling) I was shocked!! It was something I have NEVER seen before. Once I got home, I began googling for other sightings, and I came across your blog. I’m not sure if you’re as active as you used to be, but I thought I would send my sighting in to you anyway!
TCH Comment: Another road crossing report. The details of this sighting are very similar to other reports I have received. The behavior of the cat – crossing and then hunching down low to watch the vehicle pass – is one that has been observed several times. The sighting location is just south of the Caddo National Grassland area. The Grassland has two bodies of water – Coffee Mill Lake and Lake Crockett – and is bisected by the Bois d’Arc Creek. The Bois d’Arc, as creeks go, is a major waterway that stretches from just west of Whitewright, west of the sighting location, to the Red River on the Texas-Oklahoma border to the northeast of the sighting location. It is a major thoroughfare for all types of wildlife and some rather odd animal sightings have taken place up and down its length. Other sightings of “black panthers” have been reported from the areas surrounding the spot where this visual took place. I have added this report to my sightings distribution map.
Reported July 22, 2018
I saw one cross a dirt road about 12-14 feet in front of me on the LA/TX line in the Sabine river bottom in DeSoto Parish LA about 6 miles below Logansport. I was riding an ATV and it happened back in 1990. It was a huge black cat with a small pointy head. Its neck seemed bigger around than its head. I thought that was odd. It was about 7-8 feet long tail and all. Several others I know have seen them in the same area. You can find lots of huge cat tracks in muddy parts of clearings around there. People says we're "crazy" or "lying" but I really saw one...very close....and it wasn't a little kitty cat. It was in the evening before sundown so it was daylight and there's no mistaking what I saw. I'm so glad I got to see one. It was a thrill!
- Thomas Ratcliff
TCH Comment: Normally, I do not chart sightings outside of the borders of Texas, but am making an exception in this case as the visual took place practically on the Louisiana border. This sighting took place just north of the spot where the Sabine River has been impounded to form Toledo Bend Reservoir and the Sabine National Forest. It is prime habitat for a predatory cat as it is loaded with prey species like hogs, deer, and smaller mammals. “Black panthers” have been rumored to roam the area for decades.
Reported July 22, 2018
Hello, my name is Troy Coon. I know your usual sighting reports consist mostly in Texas and surrounding areas, but I thought you might be interested in hearing the reports of “black panther” sightings in close proximity to my home in Appling, Georgia on Lake Clarkes hill/Strom Thurmond. I have lived in the area for 11 years and over the past 6 of them I have heard several accusations from close friends and locals of black panther looking cats being seen off a local road known as Ridge road. Which isn’t but 1 mile from the location in which I saw a large black cat with my own eyes. Early this morning (last night to me) at approximately 3:50 AM on 7/22/2018 I was driving down Keg Creek Dr. and saw a very large black cat dart across the road in front of my truck, so fast it looked almost a blur. I quickly whipped my truck around and shined my bright lights into the tree line and very clearly saw a very dark colored large cat with a tail as long as its body and thick all the way through. I estimate the cat was around 55-70 pounds and roughly 4.5-5” long nose to base of tail. I managed to get a video of the large cat, it’s not very clear but I hope it helps you in identifying the animal. I’m and avid hunter and I’m very familiar with relative size of an animal compared to distance and I can assure you it was no house cat, and the tail obviously rules out a bobcat which are common in the area. I’m excited to hear your input on the matter, for some reason it won’t let me attach the video in this email but I will send it in a separate email with “Georgia panther” as the subject.
Thanks for your time.
TCH Comment: I will not be charting this sighting as it took place in Georgia; however, I wanted to include it so as to show that the “black panther” phenomenon is not limited to Texas. The video included in the report was indistinct so I did not post it here.
Reported August 5, 2018
Hello Sir,
I am a degreed horticulturist, native Houstonian, and spent high school and college years in Angelina County. I also was, and am again, a secondary science teacher. I currently teach AP and academic science classes at Seven Lakes High School, Katy ISD. At the time of this incident, I was in my second year managing a private research farm NE of Monaville, in central Waller County. There are wooded creeks and the Brazos River bottom within a few miles of the site. I lived at the farm with my wife.
It was early March, 2001, when my dogs, two black labs and two great Pyrenees, awakened me with raucous barking at 4:30 a.m. I slept lightly until it was light enough to see, about 6:30, when I went out to see what they had. They were continually barking all that time. We had chickens, geese and ducks at the farm at that time.
Behind the houses was a tank, or pond, for livestock. I approached the direction of the dogs and realized they were at the pond's edge. I walked up over the bank of the pond and saw the four dogs had cornered an animal against the water's edge. The dogs were lunging and then backing away, barking all the while. I was some 75 yards from them.
The creature was at first sight what I took to be a black bear. (As absurd as that idea was, what else could it be?) But it wasn't. It was round and flat of face, small pointed ears, a short muzzle, and a bit larger than the size of the male Labrador; he was a good hundred pounds. It was black by all appearances. It was not a bobcat; I've seen many bobcats and this creature was three times a bobcat's size, if not greater. Its behavior was to have its back toward the dogs, and its head toward the water. It was on its haunches, but silently swayed its head and neck back and forth. It would turn its head occasionally to face the dogs, looking over its shoulders.
I was shocked. I knew I needed a picture, and ran back to get my camera. I found it, but it was out of film. By the time I got a roll loaded it was full-on daylight. I ran back out to where they were, the cat--and I believe without any doubt it was a feline--had run off and the dogs had, too. I followed tracks across a pasture in the dew from my truck. They all took off to the SE, toward Little Cypress Creek, had crossed the fences, and we're gone.
Later the dogs returned, unscathed. A few days later I asked a neighbor about this incident, his reply was "You saw the black panther. There's one that's been spotted for several years here in the Brazos River bottom."
I know the official explanations for what I saw. I also know, clearly and undoubtedly, as a research scientist and teacher, that a large black feline was cornered by our dogs that day in Monaville.
Regards, cCc.
TCH Comment: What an amazing account from a highly qualified witness. I know well the frustrations that were 35mm film game cameras. They were extremely limited in their usefulness and caused me many painful moments during the early days of my cryptid research. It is too bad this cat did not show up before the camera had used up all of it film.
Monaville is an unincorporated community in Waller County centered roughly at the intersection of FM 359 and FM 1887. The Brazos River flows just to the west of the community. The area is very rural and lightly populated. Numerous stock ponds – large and small – dot the landscape in the area. Possible prey species such as deer and feral hogs are plentiful. Sightings of large, black, long-tailed cats have been reported up and down the length of the Brazos for years now. This report has been added to my sightings distribution map.
Reported August 16, 2018
Mr. Mayes,
I enjoyed reading your book, Shadow Cats. You did a great job.
I grew up in Rockdale, in Milam County. During my high school years, some upstanding people would report having seen such cats, usually in a tone of amazement bordering on awe. The sightings were often as simple as driving down a dirt road and having a black panther cross the road. Everybody believed they were there, but it was about a once in a lifetime experience to actually see one.
Later in life I became aware that game wardens and “scientists” would argue that black panthers did not exist. It was very hard to square those arguments with a lifetime of hearing relatives and friends swear to having seen the cats.
In about 2000, I bought a small piece of land in Bastrop County on the West Yegua. I moved a junky trailer out there to live in while I made land payments. Built a small deck on the front. By and by, I adopted a cat that had been dumped in the area. One evening, after dark, I went out to sit cross-legged on the deck and pet the cat. As domestic cats do, it put up with the petting for a little while and then uncurled and got up to sit in the classic upright Egyptian cat statue pose. It seemed focused on something out in the yard (low weeds) in the security light. After a few minutes, I began to get curious about what it was looking at, and examined the general area. To my surprise, one of the shadows in the yard did a 180 and started low crawling away. Under the security light, I could see it was a black cat with a very long tail. Probably 3 1/2 to 4 feet long from nose to base of tail, but seemed light, perhaps 40-50 pounds. It low crawled to the high weeds at the edge of the tank and disappeared. I doubt it was just curious - my little cat might have ended up as the evening meal.
It’s a very odd moment to see something that you have heard about all your life, but had begun to think was as unlikely as Sasquatch. It’s also very difficult to dispute the evidence of your own eyes.
A few years later, I left my place one morning to run into Bastrop for something. It was about 10 AM on a gray morning, very overcast. As I turned a corner on Stockade Ranch Road, I saw a big black cat crossing the road. I gunned the truck and tried to close on the cat to get a better look. This cat was bigger than the first one I had seen. It was crossing pavement so I noticed something I would not have otherwise. The paws on the cat were huge, bigger than I would have expected.
The cat was crossing from Stockade Ranch to a low area across the road. I did not realize it then, but found out later it might have been hunting. At that time, the Stockade kept its round bales in a small pen in that pasture so the cows would not tear them up. I was later told that the big black cats like to get on top of round bales and then pounce on the rat population below.
Sorry this email is so long. Great book.
Marshall Enquist
XXX XXXXXX XX
Round Rock, Texas XXXXX
(XXX) XXX-XXXX
TCH Comment: I found both of Marshall’s accounts interesting; however, I will only be charting the second account on my sightings distribution map. I do not doubt Marshall’s story, but the low light conditions during the first sighting make a misidentification possible. Again, I think it is quite possible, likely even, that Marshall is right and saw a big dark-colored cat. I just am making a true effort to keep a very high standard as to the sightings I catalog on my map. I have no qualms at all as to his second sighting as it took place in broad daylight. I found Marshall’s observation regarding how big the cat’s paws were very interesting. I have heard this from several black panther witnesses. Did these people see a juvenile cat that had yet to “grow into” his paws or is this a trait common to these large black cats? There is actually a small cluster of sightings in the immediate area where this sighting took place. It may very well be an area that bears watching more closely.
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, these are older accounts that I received this summer. There are multiple reports that are much more recent that I am going through now. I will have a post prepared on those accounts very soon.
In the meantime, please email any black panther reports – or sightings of any odd or out of place animals – to me at Texascryptidhunter@yahoo.com
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Black Panthers: Final Sightings of 2018 and First Sightings of 2019
Since the release of Shadow Cats, my book on the black panther phenomenon, I have been deluged with witness reports, emails, and other correspondence. I work full-time and do not have an assistant to help me, so I have been slowly wading through it all on my own. I am not complaining; the book has been well received and has done well. The only frustration I have had is knowing that there are people out there who took the time to contact me who have been waiting to hear something, anything, out of me. I am happy to say that I have finally caught up on all my correspondence, done my best to vet the witness reports in the queue, charted the credible reports on my black panther sightings distribution map, and replied to all the emails that did not seem to come from...shall we say, eccentrics?
The reports below represent the final credible black panther reports to reach me in 2018 and the first credible reports of 2019. I continue to be amazed at how many normal, every day folks are seeing an animal which should not be here in Texas.
Submitted 8/22/18
“I hadn't given it much thought until recently but this was back in 2014 when I saw it in Liberty TX. I was headed to work and it ran across the road. It was similar in size to a Mountain lion and its tail was very long and curled up at the end. It ran from pastures to a more wooded area. It went right in front of my car so my lights hit it and it was black. Mountain lions are pretty common here and there’s one large one of typical color that’s consistently spotted on trail cams so I'm aware of what they look like and how big and the black one I saw was definitely of similar size both in length and what seems weight.”
Ariel M. Riehle
TCH Comment: I grew up in this area of Southeast Texas and can tell you that wildlife is abundant. The area has many waterways and is heavily forested. The Sam Houston National Forest sits just to the northeast with several wildlife management areas in between. In particular, the Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge is just north of Liberty proper while the Trinity River runs just outside of the west end of town. While Liberty is not quite as rural as it once was, the residents here are very familiar with what is and is not unusual when it comes to wildlife. The claim that “mountain lions are common here” is interesting to me as, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department that is not the case. The witness’s claim that the cat she saw was much the same size as a cougar is not unusual among people claiming sightings of these cryptid cats. Only the color prevents me from assuming this witness saw a mountain lion (the witness is adamant it was black).
Submitted 9/6/18
“I have been reading your blog for a while, and following the updates on stories. I have a deep fascination with wildlife and environmental education. I will give you a bit of background info on myself before telling you my story.”
(Biographical information withheld per the request of the witness; however, it should be noted that this gentleman gave me his full name, educational background – which included a B.S. degree and a Masters degree)
"I grew up on a cattle ranch between Elgin and Lexington, TX, and my family is 7th generation Texans, all those generations in the same area around Lexington, Blue, Taylor, Thrall, Elgin, etc. We are deeply ‘in-tune’ with the land of the area. I spent much of my adolescence hunting and walking in the woods around Central Texas and some in the Hill Country (McCulloch County) as well.
My grandfather, who was about 70 years old at the time and an avid hunter and outdoorsman himself, and I (21 years old at the time) were coming across an over-grown hayfield headed towards a post oak and mixed deciduous woods on this piece of property that had been in my family for generations. It was early afternoon, mostly clear skies. The property is about 140 acres and pretty secluded, though more people have moved into the area since this sighting took place. At the time, there was one neighboring ranch with folks living on it. The fence-line between the two places was right about where the sighting took place. We were coming across the hayfield, headed East, and were cresting a slight hill when my grandfather noticed movement at the Northeast side of the field. There was a row of round hay bales along the fence there, and he pointed out to me a low, slinky shape moving along the row of hay bales. It was definitely feline in profile, low to the ground, with a long, uniformly thick, bushy tail that was approximately the same length as the rest of the body. The whole cat was completely black, though the coat may have been a bit marbled- or splotchy-looking. The slight color variations could have been caused by shadows of the grass it was in, which was about 1-1.5 feet tall. We watched the animal through the scopes of our riles for approximately a minute as it moved along the row of hay bales. The whole body and tail length was a little shorter than the width of a round bale, which would make it about 4-4.5 feet long total; the top of its back stood higher than the grass, I'd say about 2 feet tall, and you could tell that it was walking sort of crouched down. We decided that my grandfather would take a shot at it as soon as it moved past the last bale. He fired a round from his .30-06, but missed. The cat kind of sprang up and took off into the woods to the Northeast. We just kind of looked at each other and went on with our hunt. We were at a loss for what we had just seen. Needless to say, the rest of our hunt was devoted to looking for cat signs. We went down to a stock tank about 400 yards from where we had seen the cat, and saw tracks of deer, hogs, and raccoons, but no cat tracks. We found no other sign, such as scratch marks, scat, or anything else.
We discussed what we may have seen and our observations matched up. The length of the tail really got us, as it seems like domestic cats (my grandfather typically has anywhere between 10-20 half-feral cats around his house) tend to have shorter tails than what we saw. And they don't tend to grow to 4.5 feet long! After our initial conversation comparing our observations my grandfather refused to talk about it and to this day is very reluctant to do so.
Thanks for your time!”
Name Withheld per request of the witness
TCH Comment: The witness is very familiar with the indigenous wildlife of Central Texas (I wish he had allowed me to print more of his biographical information) and is sure his sighting of this cat is not a case of misidentification. The observation of a “solid black” cat with a “marbled” coat is interesting and mirrors the reports of other witnesses who claim to have been able to see spots or other markings on large black cats when lighting conditions are right. At 4.5-feet in length (the round hay bales present make for a reliable object to judge scale, in my opinion) is too large for a common feral/domestic or a typical jaguarundi. The description of the exceptionally long tail sounds more like a mountain lion than a jaguar, but we all know that there has never been documentation of a melanistic mountain lion. This report is the fifth to originate in the Blue, McDade, Thrall area.
Submitted 9/10/18
“Hi,
I live in Nacogdoches and saw a black panther a few weeks ago. A friend said there were sites that compiled reports, found yours via google.
It was along an FM road on the east (wilder) side of the county. I was house-sitting for friends and coming back from town between 10 and 11 pm. FM 1878, which kind of jags around where you have to turn off the road you're on to maintain that number. It was past at least the first split (near Naca Valley Vinyard entrance), maybe the second.
I saw a pair of eyes in my headlights low near the grass at the side of the road, like eating road kill maybe. I couldn't see any more of the animal and obviously started watching to see if was going to dart into the road. I was assuming something like a possum. When I got closer I could see the animal was black, and large - then I saw the tail. It was unmistakably a cat, crouched low, back bent in that feline way, tail unambiguous. It wasn't anybody's black lab out for a roam, it wasn't a boar, and it wasn't a housecat. It was big. About like the mastiff I had in length and breadth, but not as bulky.
It was chilling. Beautiful, almost magical - something I didn't actually think was real here even though, yes, I grew up hearing stories and, yes, I know the habitat could support it.
Date was Aug 9, 2018. 10-11 pm. FM 1878 east of Nacogdoches."
Cheers,
Elena
TCH Comment: Other than the fact that Elena is reporting seeing a huge black cat, the sighting is unremarkable. Like many other sightings, it is just an animal crossing a road or hanging out on the edges of one. Initially, I questioned how good a look Elena might have gotten of this animal as it was between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m. when she saw it; however, her explanation of seeing the eyeshine and being wary it might dart out in the road in front of her car rings true to me. I have had this very same experience many times (of course the animals I saw always turned out to be deer). The fact that she slowed way down made her getting a good look at the animal entirely plausible. Too, Elena is correct that there is favorable habitat of a big cat in the Nacogdoches area. The entire East Texas region is heavily wooded, hence the Piney Woods nickname. Multiple creeks and small rivers wind through the forest as well. This sighting took place in the immediate vicinity of Waffelow Creek. Creek and river beds are natural travel routes for wildlife. Historically, this area of east Texas is rich in reports of large, black, long-tailed cats.
Submitted 10/4/18
“I reported a black panther sighting to Texas game warden two weeks ago.
I’m a home health physical therapist, so I drive up and down all the back roads but I’ve never seen a black panther?!?
I was driving from Madisonville to Huntsville going south on 247. I got about 2 miles south of fm 2989 when I saw it. I was coming over a hill and in the middle of the road eating road kill was a black animal I thought at first was a large vulture. I sped up to try and scare it, but when I got close it turned to a profile position to look at me. That’s when i realized it was a large black cat!! It turned looked at me then slinked off into the woods. I was going so fast I couldn’t stop in time , so I put the car in reverse but it was already gone. I’ve been down that road a dozen times since but have yet to see the black panther again.”
Steve Clark
TCH Comment: Steve’s report comes from an area with multiple sightings. The area is just north of the Sam Houston National Forest and just west of the Trinity River. This all makes the area a prime location where a big cat might be able to thrive. As a matter of fact, this is the general area where a motorist claims to have struck a large black cat with his vehicle (the witness supplied me with hair samples that nobody seems too interested in examining, unfortunately). Steve’s report is just a bit too vague, however, for me to post on my distribution map. I would really like to get an estimate of the size of the cat and bit more of a description prior to posting it. Steve, if you see the or get my reply email, please contact me with those additional details.
Submitted 11/11/18
“We live in N. TX, near Blue Ridge. Today at approximately 12:30p, my neighbors saw one of these big black cats in their pasture. It was at a distance of about 50 yards. They watched it for a couple of minutes, and got one photo that is about as good as an iPhone can do when shooting through a small window at that distance.
Here is the photo. I tried to boost the colors to see it better. The original was darker and harder to see much. The original photo she took is an iPhone Live picture, so it has maybe 2 seconds of “video”. The fence it is walking behind is about 42” tall, and they said the back of the animal was a little more than half the fence height, so maybe 21-24” to the top of the back. Tail was thick and long.
I have put out my game camera and will let you know if we get any better pictures. We have had 3 other people in our neighborhood see whatever this animal is over the past 2-3 weeks (one was ~4 days ago), so it is visiting with some consistency. In 2 cases, it was approaching/stalking some smaller children out playing in their yard, but took off when the mother came outside. Hopefully it does not continue to do this, as we would hate to have to kill it.
Thanks.”
Joe XXXX
TCH Comment: This account comes from an area just to the northeast of the Dallas suburb of McKinney. The area has been a hotbed for “black panther” sightings since I started the blog a decade ago. While the Dallas metro area and its suburbs are very urban, the city gives way to sparsely populated countryside quickly once outside of town. The photo provided is not good enough to provide any sort of proof; however, it does show what appears to be a fairly sizeable animal walking the brush/fence line of the property. It is true that the animal could be anything based solely on what can be seen in the photo, but the description of a tail that was “thick and long” would seem to rule out a hog (my number one suspect for misidentification based on the photo). I am going to make an exception to my rule of not posting secondhand reports (it is actually Joe’s neighbor who saw the animal and took the photo) as Joe is working diligently to get a better photo and comes across as credible. Joe, if you see this, I would very much like to see that video, short though it may be.
Submitted 1/3/19
“I don't know if you have a time frame that you consider a black cat sighting. I just recently heard of you when you were recommended through a “Remember When” hometown Facebook page so, I thought I’d send you a correspondence of my encounter. This is one of those things that is hard to forget.
So here you go...back in 1979 when I was 17 years old. I was traveling north on Highway 285 approximately 2 miles from Falfurrias, Texas. At that time I was heading to my grandparents ranch in Concepcion Texas. I remember it was dusk and still plenty of visibility and as I approached a curve in the road I spotted a big black cat crossing the road towards Hollywood Camp. This all black cat crossed about 30 yards in front of my truck. I got a good look at it as it wasn't going full stride. It seemed to be traveling more on a side of caution while it crossed the road. Before it effortlessly jumped the fence and into the camp property it hesitated and look towards me. It was all black, steely eyes, large healthy cat features, very muscular in stature with a long tail. I slowed down and pulled over on the side of the road. I kept watching it to see it pick up speed as it reached open ground. I could see the power in its stride. Within a few seconds it reached the wood line and disappeared.
It was very similar to an encounter I had of a cougar at Big Bend National Park but it was all black like a panther. I remember getting concerned because I didn’t think a large black cat like this would be within these parts of Texas. My initial thought it might be someone’s pet. My reasoning was because my older brother bought a lion and kept it as a pet. My counter reasoning was an escape of a big black cat like this would be public news. The silly part of me thought that’s a whole lot of bad luck with a black cat that big crossing my path. Maybe to the contrary, it might have been good luck as I had a military career with a span of 20 years, additional 10 years as a deploying contractor where I faired very lucky within harm’s way.
It has since been years and I no longer live in my hometown of Falfurrias or Texas for that matter but when I do visit the ranch which has now been left to me I find myself traveling that area with my head on a swivel in case I get another opportunity of a black cat encounter. It’s just something you don’t forget.
If you consider this valid and want to add sighting to your map it was in 1979, 2 miles north of Falfurrias, Texas, crossing highway 285 into Hollywood Camp.”
Respectfully,
Saul XXXX
TCH Comment: I find this report to be very credible. As is often the case, it is simply a sighting of an animal crossing a road. The only thing unusual about it is that this particular animal is not supposed to exist. Falfurrias is in south Texas about 60 miles southeast of Corpus Christi. This account makes for the third credible sighting from this immediate vicinity. Perhaps, a mini-cluster is starting to form? The area is recognized as holding a small population of jaguarundi; however, the cat Saul described seems far too large to have been this species. The fact that the Mexican border is only 80 miles, or so, due south makes a wayward jaguar a possibility. Whatever the case, this area holds a lot of wide-open spaces in which a large cat could survive.
Submitted; 1/15/19
“I was doing some research online about ‘extremely large black cats’ in Texas while trying to find something that made sense or validated my experience in Johnson County, Texas regarding an impossibly large black cat on my property on multiple occasions and came across your blog. Have you ever heard of any black panther sightings in this area of Texas?”
Lacey ******
TCH Comment: This is not exactly a classic sighting report, but Lacey did include a photo that I am assuming is the animal she has been seeing on her property, so I thought I would share it. In answer to her question, yes, there has been at one other report from the Keene area west of Alavarado Lake. In addition, there have been reported sightings in the counties surrounding your location. Feel free to email me with additional details. Should you need any help, I’m located in Temple, less than two hours south of you.
As I wrap up this post, I find myself, once again, in an odd place. Science firmly insists that no large, black, long-tailed cat species makes its home in Texas (or anywhere else in the United States); yet, many of my fellow Texans - working people just like me who seem quite normal - are adamant they are out there and are being seen. As 2019 gets into full gear, I hope that this will be the year that this cryptozoological mystery is solved. Somehow. Some way. Would I like to be the one to do it, or at least be a part of it? Of course, I would; however, I do not feel that it is necessary. If this mystery is solved, if the identity of the black panthers of North America is revealed, then my work has been validated and that is really all I could ever hope for.
Let's make it happen this year.
*For more information on the black panther phenomenon, pick up a copy of my book on the subject, Shadow Cats: The Black Panthers of North America. It is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online book-sellers.
*Have there been sightings of black panthers near you? Find out by visiting my interactive black panther sightings distribution map. Click each pin that marks a sighting location for a brief description of what the witness reported.
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Native American Lore: The Giants of the Northern Rockies
In the years since I started writing this blog, I’ve become an avid folklorist. There isn’t much I enjoy more than a good story and I am more than willing to do some looking around to find one. Sometimes discovering a good story requires little more than paying attention to conversations going on around me (no, I’m not above doing a bit of eavesdropping if something catches my attention), but, more often than not, it takes a bit of digging. I try hard to visit the public library of any town I visit just to see what hidden gems they might have in their stacks. It dawned on me this week that I had never really explored the library at my own school. I quickly remedied that situation this and, sure enough, found something of interest.
The myths and legends of the Native Americans have always fascinated me and it is always interesting to see if any of these old tales could possibly tell us anything about cryptid animals. While combing through my school library, I came across a book titled Indian Legends from the Northern Rockies by Ella E. Clark and checked it out. In it, Ms. Clark recounts a couple of tales that tell of giants that once roamed North America. I wondered if references to these giants could possibly be explained by early wood ape/sasquatch encounters. Below I will summarize a few of the more interesting legends regarding these giants I found in the book.
On their way to the Pacific Northwest, members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition ran into a group of Flathead Indians in the Bitterroot Valley of what is now western Montana. The tribe was friendly to these white men, the first they had ever seen. The Flatheads shared not only their food with the explorers, but some of their folk tales involving giants they called Natliskeliguten, which in their language meant killers of men. According to historian H.H. Turney-High, “Fully half of the Flathead stories deal with these giants, and easily two-thirds of them mention them.” These giants were said to have amazing strength as illustrated in the following Flathead tale:
Once when a small hunting party came upon a giant asleep in the forest, they tied him with ropes of buffalo hair, sat upon his chest, and beat him until he wakened. Then he laughed thunderously, burst the ropes, and sent the men flying through the air as he rose to his feet. Seizing one of them by the ankle, he tossed the man across the Missoula River.
The Flathead Indians said the giants were visible to human eyes, but they usually avoided being seen. They gradually decreased in number because, at least according to some, there was not enough food for such huge creatures.
According to the legends of the Coeur d’ A’lene people of northwest Idaho, giants were common on their lands at one time. They were described as having a strong odor, “like that of a burning horn.” Their faces were black and they were as tall as a tipi. The giants would often approach a solitary tipi or lodge, but if several dwellings were grouped together they were not so bold. The giants were said to dress in bear or other animal skins with the hair left on. They lived in caves and had a great liking for fish. So much so, that according to the old stories, these giants often stole fish out of the Coeur d’ A’lene traps. Other than the curious examination of solitary tipis or lodges and the occasional theft of fish from Indian traps, the giants were said not to bother people much. The Coeur d’ A’lene did acknowledge hearing stories from other tribes of women being stolen by the giants, but had no tradition of kidnapping tales in their lands.
The Kutenais people were, according to a fur trader by the name of Ross Cox, who spent five years (1812-1817) trapping along the Columbia River, “the remnant of a once brave and powerful tribe.” The Kutenais numbers fell precipitously due to their nearly continuous warfare with the Blackfeet over the right to hunt the buffalo grounds immediately east of them across the Rockies. Presently, the Kuntenais people live in northern Idaho, northwestern Montana, and southern British Columbia. Their mythology is very similar to other tribes in the area and includes accounts of giants. The principal Kutenais contact for author Ella A. Clark, was a middle-aged tribesman named William Gingrass. According to Gingrass, the giants were much feared and “followed the big streams and whenever Indians went to a big stream the giants killed them and ate them.”
Tales of giants from the mythology of other tribes, such as the Assiniboines and Lemhi Shoshonis, can be found in the book, too. It seems that these tales are all but universal among the tribes of the Northern Rockies. I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone fortunate enough to come across a copy.
As I read these tales, I could not help but notice how similar many of the described characteristics and behaviors of these giants is to physical descriptions and behaviors of wood apes/sasquatches reported by witnesses in the present day. The Flathead Indians described a creature that was very tall and incredibly strong. They said the creatures could be seen (no spirit-type of entity here), but that made every effort to avoid human eyes. This furtive behavior is very similar to that described by witnesses who claim to have seen a sasquatch. More often than not, witnesses report a creature that beats a hasty retreat once it realizes it has been seen. Some have reported that the wood ape they saw became aggressive once it realized it had been spotted. Intimidation displays are sometimes reported that include tree-shaking, the throwing of objects, and roars or growls. More than one bigfoot witness has said something along the lines of, “It clearly was unhappy about me looking at it.”
The accounts of these giants in the mythology of the Coeur d’ A’lene people sound as if they came right out of a sasquatch 101 textbook. The giants reportedly had a “strong odor like that of a burning horn.” I admit that I am unfamiliar with what a burning horn might smell like, but witnesses over the years have repeatedly commented on the terrible stench emitted by wood apes. The description of a creature with a dark face closely matches most reports given by witnesses today. Almost all witnesses who report getting a good look at a sasquatch have described a creature that has dark skin (even if the hair on it is lighter in color). The Coeur d’ A’lene belief that these giants had an affinity for fish and stole them out of traps is something I have heard from the stories of other native tribes. In addition, wood apes have often been reported in or near water, perhaps in an effort to catch fish. None other than Bob Gimlin said that when he and Roger Patterson rode up on the sasquatch that would become known as Patty, she was crouched down on the edge of the water of Bluff Creek, possibly trying to catch a fish. Too, the behavior of these giants sneaking up close to isolated dwellings matches up to modern reports. It is the very reason many researchers today will move their tent away from base camp when out in the field. It is generally believed that these apes are more likely to approach an individual tent than a walk into a camp with several. Finally, the Coeur d’ A’lene people alluded to having heard stories of these giants kidnapping women on occasion from other tribes. There is a strong tradition of the kidnapping of women and children by these creatures in the lore of many Native American tribes. Truth be told, it is something that is still whispered about by some researchers to this very day. Critics might point out a discrepancy between the beliefs of the Coeur d’ A’lene and modern reports, that discrepancy being that these giants allegedly wore the skins of other animals. Reports along these lines are so rare as to be practically nonexistent today. Regardless, I am not so sure this is much of a discrepancy. The Coeur d’ A’lene did describe these giants as wearing “bear or other animal skins”; however, and that these skins had “the hair left on.” Is it not possible that these Indians, because the giants they were seeing were bipedal and, therefore, in their minds, had to have been some kind of human, might really have been seeing a hair-covered creature?
Finally, the belief of the Kutenais people that these giants followed streams and creeks echoes the belief popularized by Smokey Crabtree, of The Legend of Boggy Creek fame, who once famously said, “They (bigfoot creatures) always follow the creeks.” Finally, the belief that these apes are, at least at times, cannibalistic is one that remains firmly entrenched in the minds of many Native American Tribes to this very day.
Maybe you can see why I enjoy searching out these kinds of tales. They are simply fascinating and when juxtaposed next to modern sasquatch sightings, really make you wonder who or what these giants might have been. It has been said that there is nothing new under the sun. These tales provide strong anecdotal evidence that tales of very large, incredibly strong, and malodorous creatures are not a 20thcentury creation at all, as so many believe. It would seem these forest giants have been around for a very long time.
They are not new at all.
Source: Clark, Ella E. Indian Legends from the Northern Rockies. Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1977.
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Jim Kaizer and the Beast of Oak Island
Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am a huge fan of the History Channel program “The Curse of Oak Island.” I guess it should not be that surprising, as I have always been fascinated by a good mystery. The story of the men and women who have tried to solve the riddle of this small island in the north Atlantic over the last 200 years has captivated me and the program is appointment television at my house. My wife, knowing I wanted to know more about the place, what went on there, and who might have been behind it, gifted me with the book, The Curse of Oak Island: The Story of the World’s Longest Treasure Hunt by Randall Sullivan this past Christmas. I was not very far into the book before I ran across a story I wanted to share. I have gone back and forth over whether or not the tale belongs on this site. Ultimately, I decided it was my site and I could put whatever I wanted on it, lol. In all seriousness, I believe most of you reading this are like me in that you enjoy tales of the mysterious and creepy. This story certainly falls into those categories.
The stories of buried treasure on Oak Island go back hundreds of years, but the story I want to tell you really does not have anything to do with the actual search for riches; rather, it has to do with one of the unfortunate souls whose time on Oak Island looking for that mythical fortune ruined, and ultimately cost him, his life. This is the story of a man named Jim Kaizer.
We will pick up the story in 1959, the year Robert Restall signed a one-year agreement with Mel Chappell to take over the hunt for the treasure allegedly buried on Oak Island. Viewers of the television show know the story of the tragedy that befell the Restall family a few short years later well. For the rest of you, I will summarize it now. On August 17, 1965, Robert Restall, at approximately 2:45 p.m., fell into the deep shaft he and his family had been excavating near Smith’s Cove in an attempt to reach the famed “Money Pit,” where untold riches were rumored to be hidden. No one actually witnessed the fall. It is thought Restall was either climbing down into the shaft or leaning over and peering into it when the accident took place. Restall must have made some kind of sound when he fell as his oldest son, Robert Restall Jr. (Bobby), and co-workers Cyril Hiltz and Andy DeMont realized something was wrong immediately and raced to the shaft. Bobby, seeing his father floating in the dark water at the bottom of the pit, immediately started down the ladder to attempt a rescue. By the time Hiltz, DeMont, and Restall investor Karl Graeser arrived and peered into the shaft, Bobby had, also, somehow become unconscious and fallen to the bottom. The three men, knowing only that their friends were in dire trouble, starting down the ladder to render aide. Not one of them made it to the bottom before they, too, fell unconscious from the ladder to the bottom of the pit.
Present on the island that day was a Buffalo, New York fire captain named Edward White. White had been camping nearby and heard the cries for help. Looking down the shaft, he saw the grisly pile of unconscious bodies stacked liked firewood at the bottom. White realized the shaft must have filled with some kind of poisonous gas that had overcome the men. Even knowing this, he lashed a rope around his thighs and waist and had tourists who had gathered near the opening lower him into the shaft. White managed to get a line tied around DeMont just before being overcome by the gas himself. The tourists on hand lifted White and DeMont out of the pit where they were revived. Robert Restall, Robert Restall Jr., Karl Graeser, and Cyril Hiltz would all die in the cold black water at the bottom of the shaft.
News of the tragedy quickly spread until it reached the ears of Jim Kaizer. Kaizer had been working on Oak Island with the Restalls for months and had become very close to Robert. Fifty-one years after the tragedy, Faron Kaizer, Jim’s son, told author Randall Sullivan, “He (Jim) and Mr. Restall were two peas in a pod, both tough and hardworking. They were the type of men who didn’t have a lot of education, but just knew how to do things. Dad really enjoyed going over there. He rarely missed a day, because it was exciting for him.” As fate would have it, though, Jim Kaizer was absent on that fateful day in August of 1965. A water pump at the family home had broken and Jim, at the insistence of his wife, had stayed home from work to get it running. That broken pump probably saved his life.
Once alerted that something bad had happened on the island, Kaizer raced to the scene where he was greeted by a throng of people gathered around the shaft in which the bodies of the four men rested, the shaft he had helped dig. By now it was clear the men at the bottom of the shaft were clearly dead and the operation was now in a recovery, rather than a rescue, mode. The volunteers of the Chester Fire Department had decided it was too dangerous for anyone to go into the pit and retrieve the men. Begrudgingly, it was decided the method of recovery would be via a three-pronged gaff called a treble hook that would be lowered into the shaft. Realizing what a messy operation that would be, and the additional strife it would cause Mildred Restall and her surviving son Rick, Kaizer stepped up and said, “No way, you’re not doing that. I’ll go down.” Using an old World War II era gas mask stuffed with wet rags and wearing thick coveralls, Jim Kaizer made four trips to the bottom of the pit, recovering the bodies of all four men. “After that,” said Faron Kaizer, “Dad wasn’t the same.” Jim’s grandson Tim agreed and said, “My grandmother said it changed him, but it might have been more what happened after. It was hard to know…”
After the death of her husband, Mildred Restall signed over the search rights on the island to a man named Robert Dunfield and moved away. Dunfield, needing a man who knew the island, wasted no time in offering the job of night watchman to Jim Kaizer. Kaizer, who after the events of that terrible day had lost his enthusiasm for digging, accepted the position. It would turn out that he would not keep the job for long. One night that fall, Kaizer came home in the wee hours of the morning. It was clear to his family that he was badly shaken. Faron Kaizer recalls, “He was just swearing up and down, not like he was angry, but like it was just coming out of him. It really scared us…I realize now he was scared. But he was a man who never got scared so he didn’t know how to express it except by swearing.” Seeing the rough and tumble (and previously fearless) Jim so badly shaken and afraid rattled the family. Faron recalls that after about a week his father calmed down, “But Dad still wouldn’t go back to Oak Island. He never went back on the island again, not once after that night.”
The details of what happened to Jim that fateful night came out in bits and pieces over time. Kaizer first shared details with his wife, Beulah, and later his boys. “He told me I wouldn’t believe him, but he was tellin’ me anyway,” Faron recalled. According to Faron, Jim was in the Restall’s old cabin, where he spent the bulk of most nights while on the island, when something terrifying took place. “Dad said it was about eleven or twelve o’clock. He said, ‘I had a little fire going. I put some wood on the fire and then I lay down on the cot and closed my eyes.’ Apparently, he fell asleep. And he said, ‘I woke up and I couldn’t breathe.’ And he said there was two of the biggest red eyes you would ever want to see looking right into his. And the whole body was covered with tight, curly black hair. He said that was all he could see, because the…whatever it was, was holdin’ him down by his arms and had him pinned so tight he couldn’t move. But then it smiled at him and said, ‘Don’t ever come back.’ My dad said when it let him go and disappeared the whole building shook.” After being released, Jim Kaizer wasted no time getting to his truck and getting off of Oak Island. “And he wouldn’t ever go back on the island again after that,” Faron said. “He told me, ‘It was the only thing that’s ever scared me.’”
According to Faron Kaizer, his father was never the same after that. He began drinking heavily, would sometimes be silent and brooding for days at a time, and would often fly into a rage for no apparent reason. Jim’s own family began to make themselves scarce whenever he was around due to his erratic behavior. Jim even started to have run-ins with the law. He became even more unstable whenever he would share the story of what he encountered that night on Oak Island with someone who, inevitably, would not believe him. “When he realized people didn’t believe him, he stopped talking and just bottled it up,” said Faron. Even Jim’s wife, Beulah, though she seemed to believe her husband's story, struggled with just what to think of it. “I remember Dad telling Mom certain things,” remembers Faron. “And she would just shake her head and walk away.”
The story of Oak Island treasure hunter Jim Kaizer would end tragically in 1976 when he shot himself in the head with a rifle outside of a bar in Western Shore. He was not yet fifty years-old. It remains unclear as to what tormented Jim Kaizer the most. Was it the death of his good friend Robert Restall and the three other men that terrible August day in 1965? The four hellish, yet heroic, trips he made into the shaft to retrieve the bodies of his friends? The guilt he must have suffered for not having been on site that day? Or was it the hair-covered abomination that pinned him to his cot, stared through him with blood red eyes, and warned him to never come back to Oak Island?
Some have suggested a sasquatch/wood ape is responsible for the strange experience of Jim Kaizer, though these people have a difficult time explaining the fact that the creature reportedly spoke. Even most of those willing to accept the possibility that wood apes exist would find the idea of an English speaking individual preposterous; however, such claims, though exceedingly rare, have been made before. The dire warning issued by the creature and the way it disappeared bear striking similarities to the experience of Davy Crockett – who was on his way to San Antonio - in the Piney Woods of east Texas in 1836. He, too, claimed an experience with a huge, hair-covered beast that issued a warning. In a letter to his brother-in-law, Crockett wrote, “…I swear to you, Abe, that what spirit came upon me was the shape and shade of a large ape man…” He added that the creature was, “covered in wild hair.” Crockett then wrote, “The monster then addressed a warning to me. Abner, it told me to return from Texas, to flee this Fort and to abandon this lost cause.” The parallels between these two encounters are eerie and could not be more obvious, but the answer to the question of what was actually seen by these two men remains elusive.
Nova Scotia is not without alleged sasquatch sightings and activity. Hikers walking the trails of Uniake Museum Park have reported having had rocks thrown at them, tree-shaking, noises like foot-stomps, and being run out of/escorted from the area by an unseen creature. Another tale told around Nova Scotia campfires is of a Cape Breton sasquatch that seemed to take great pleasure in catching a larger fish - with its bare hands - than a stunned fisherman who had just landed one of his own.
Still, the most likely explanation is that Jim Kaizer drifted off to sleep and had a nightmare, one that seemed incredibly real to him. It seems logical enough, but is it not possible that a lightly dozing Kaizer might have incorporated some real events into his dream? I know this has happened to me while in that gray area where I am half-awake and half-asleep. For example, a while back I was enjoying a Sunday afternoon nap on the couch. I had a dream that an old friend was ringing the doorbell. Suddenly, I snapped to and realized the doorbell was, indeed, ringing. It was not the old friend I had been dreaming of, but a young lady selling Girl Scout cookies (almost as good, lol). The point is, while dozing, my mind took something that was really happening – the ringing doorbell – and incorporated it into my dream. A good friend of mine shared a similar, though far creepier, story regarding this phenomenon and his mother-in-law. This lady is quite independent and makes a habit of backcountry hiking alone. She is sometimes gone a week or more on these solo hiking trips. Several years back she shared an experience with my friend she had while hiking in, if I recall correctly, Yosemite National Park. She always travels light and was carrying only her sleeping bag on this trip. One night, very late, she awoke to see a huge man with a thick beard leaning over her. My buddy asked her what happened next and she said she could not recall and must have just gone back to sleep. Is it possible, that a bearded man was traveling alone and on foot through the area in the middle of the night? I suppose, but I have often wondered if this woman awoke to see something else leaning over her and her half-awake mind turned whatever it was into a large, bearded man to make it more palatable and less frightening. Could Jim Kaizer have really have seen a red-eyed, hair-covered monster? Could his mind, traumatized by the recent tragedies and wracked by guilt, have dreamed the words of warning? In other words, could the creature have been real and the words spoken been the dream? Many have posited this is what happened to Crockett in the Piney Woods of Texas all those years ago. If so, what an incredible premonition. One can only wonder what his fate would have been had he heeded the warning and not proceeded to the Alamo. Jim Kaizer did heed the warning and never again set foot on Oak Island. Even so, his life ended tragically soon after. Perhaps, there really is no escaping our fate.
Oak Island has long been rumored to be haunted. Strange lights and fireballs have been seen. Inexplicable equipment failures – some with catastrophic consequences – have plagued every treasure hunter to put shovel to dirt there. Even Marty Lagina, on an episode of "The Curse of Oak Island: Drilling Down," admits to hearing eerie screams while out alone near the Money Pit area one night. Marty, by far the more skeptical of the treasure-hunting brothers, admits to having been scared and says he no longer wanders the island at night. Could we add a sasquatch to this eerie mix, based on the account of Jim Kaizer? Or, could it have been something even more sinister. Jim’s grandson, Tim Kaizer, said, “…Oak Island scares me. I believe there is a bad spirit on the island. I believe my grandfather encountered it.”
I will leave you with this, Tim once asked his grandmother, Beulah, about the events of that night and whether or not she believed Jim’s story. Tim recalls her response, “My grandmother looked at me, and then she told me that when he came home that night Jim had showed her his arms. And they had huge bruises on them that had been made by handprints.”
Sources:
Sullivan, Randall. The Curse of Oak Island: The Story of the Worlds Longest Treasure Hunt. Atlantic Monthly Press, 2018.
“Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization.” Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, bfro.net/.
Fairclough, Ian. “Stories to Give You Chills and Thrills.” Halifax Chronicler Herald, 30 Oct. 2011.
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New Website Now Online
For numerous reasons, I have decided to create a true website. I will continue to post here on the blog, but the website will allow me a place to make even more information available.
The site a place to keep up with news and appearances, and contains links to podcasts, radio programs, print articles, and television work I've done. Also, there is a collection of my favorite blog posts/articles from over the years, links to my Facebook, Twitter, YouTube accounts, and tons of photos. Give it a look when you can. I would appreciate it.
The website will not be solely dedicated to my Texas Cryptid Hunter activities. It will also serve as my "author site." Now that I have retired from my coaching duties, I hope to write more often. I have a book underway that I think will be of interest to fans of this site and a lot of other ideas. I'll share more about all of that at the appropriate time. Due to the fact that the site will serve multiple purposes, I decided against just using the Texas Cryptid Hunter designation. Instead, I opted to use my name. So, if you are so inclined, click the link below, bookmark it, and visit often for all manner of information. I hope you enjoy it.
Link: Michaelcmayes.com
Mike
The site a place to keep up with news and appearances, and contains links to podcasts, radio programs, print articles, and television work I've done. Also, there is a collection of my favorite blog posts/articles from over the years, links to my Facebook, Twitter, YouTube accounts, and tons of photos. Give it a look when you can. I would appreciate it.
The website will not be solely dedicated to my Texas Cryptid Hunter activities. It will also serve as my "author site." Now that I have retired from my coaching duties, I hope to write more often. I have a book underway that I think will be of interest to fans of this site and a lot of other ideas. I'll share more about all of that at the appropriate time. Due to the fact that the site will serve multiple purposes, I decided against just using the Texas Cryptid Hunter designation. Instead, I opted to use my name. So, if you are so inclined, click the link below, bookmark it, and visit often for all manner of information. I hope you enjoy it.
Link: Michaelcmayes.com
Mike
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Can the Xoloitzcuintli Explain Texas Chupacabras Sightings?
I was recently approached by a television producer about doing a cryptid-based show on the “Texas chupacabras.” I agreed to do the show on the condition that I be allowed to share my beliefs on what it was that people were actually seeing. The producers agreed, arrangements for shooting on private land in Texas were made, and a tentative date for the shoot was set. I never mentioned any of this on the blog or my other online outlets as experience had taught me that such plans often fall through. As it turned out, the production company decided that they would not be coming to Texas to film after all. While disappointed – this is a show with which you would all be familiar – I certainly harbor no hard feelings; it’s just the way it goes sometimes. One of my biggest disappointments about not getting to do the program was that I would not be able to give my thoughts on what these “Texas chupacabras” might be. That being the case, I thought a blog post on the topic might be in order. While I won’t reach the number of people I would have on the television show, I am hoping that I can still reach a great many folks this way.
The chupacabras legend is a fairly new addition to the pantheon of cryptid beasts. While the myth may have existed regionally before (For example, residents of the Puerto Rican town of Moca endured the killings of dozens farm animals by a creature dubbed “The Vampire of Moca” in 1975), the possible existence of a blood-sucking creature that attacked livestock on the island of Puerto Rico came to the fore in the early and mid-1990’s. Soon, unusual livestock deaths in the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, and the United States were being blamed on chupacabras. The attacks were purported to be similar in that the animals were drained of their blood via two or three puncture marks in the throat or chest, though to my knowledge, this blood-draining has never been confirmed by a necropsy performed by a certified veterinarian. The legend of the chupacabras, however, caught the fancy of the public and spread like wildfire throughout Latin America and north into Texas.
The original description of the chupacabras – as described by Puerto Ricans in the 1990’s – is of a reptilian-looking creature with a series of long spikes or spines protruding from its back. It had strong back legs on which it stood in a fashion similar to that of a kangaroo. The forelimbs were described as smaller, but ending in “hands” or paws that were tipped with razor sharp talons. The creature’s mode of locomotion was jumping or hopping, again, much like a kangaroo (one must wonder if an imported kangaroo or wallaby might have escaped its enclosure and been wandering around Puerto Rico in the 1990’s). Whatever was hopping around Puerto Rico in the 1990’s seems to have no similarities to the creatures being called chupacabras today. Modern accounts all describe the chupacabras as a canine-like animal, devoid of hair, with grayish-blue to black skin similar to that of an elephant or rhino. The size reported varies from that of a German shepherd to that of a small fox. News outlets seize on every opportunity to publish photos or video of these alleged chupacabras (many Texans refer to them as blue dogs) and have spread this new picture of the creature far and wide. Just this past week, a report of a “chupacabras” wandering about the city of Houston received a lot of attention. In my opinion, the video clearly shows an ill canine of some kind, not a mythical blood-sucking beast. Still, the myth – and this new description – persists.
While I cannot speculate on just what people in Puerto Rico might have seen 20-25 years ago, I do feel that I can offer up a few opinions on what people are seeing here in Texas now. I strongly feel that most “chupacabras” are nothing more than canines suffering from a form of mange. Mange is caused by a parasitic mite that burrows into the skin and kills the hair follicles of the host animal. Sarcoptic mange – also known as canine scabies – causes hair loss, crusting of the skin of the ears and joints, and secondary skin infections. Canines suffering from this form of mange quickly deteriorate into very poor condition if left untreated. The disease is not uncommon among the coyotes and foxes of the Lone Star State. I have seen a mange-ridden coyote myself in the Sam Houston National Forest. It was strange and alien-looking to be sure, but undoubtedly a coyote. It was completely hairless and had the typically described bluish-gray, elephant-like skin. The ribs were protruding and the animal moved slowly and did not appear to be in very good shape at all. I have no doubt that if I had snapped a photo and sent it to the newspaper or local television affiliate, “chupacabras” headlines would have soon followed. I believe strongly, that most sightings of this Texas version of the chupacabras are nothing more than sick, mangy canines.
Having said that, the idea that mangy canines explain ALL chupacabras sightings has never sat particularly well with me. The vast majority of sightings? Absolutely. But, all of them? No. Some of the sightings describe very robust, strong, or fast animals. None of these attributes would be expected from an animal suffering with an advanced case of mange. The famous dashcam footage of what was obviously a very healthy, yet hairless, canine of some kind outside of Cuero, Texas has become the Patterson-Gimlin footage of the chupacabras world. Whatever this creature was, it was clearly healthy. Is there another explanation, another animal that fits the description of the classic Texas chupacabras? As it turns out, yes.
The Xoloitzcuintli, or Xolo for short, is a dog breed that fits the classic description of the Texas chupacabras almost perfectly. Also known as the Mexican Hairless, this dog has been around for centuries. Statues resembling the breed have been found in Mayan, Colima, and Aztec ruins and burial sites that date back 3,000 years. Aztec mythology attributed the creation of the breed to Xolotl, the god of lightning and death, who needed the breed to guide souls through the underworld. The tribes of ancient Mexico and Central America believed the Xolo had physical and spiritual healing powers and regarded the breed as sacred. The unusual name of the breed is a combination of Xolotl and itzcuintli, the Aztec word for dog. It is believed that the first European to lay eyes on this hairless breed of canine was none other than Christopher Columbus himself in 1492.* Once the Spanish conquest of the New World began in earnest, the Xolo became more and more rare. The AKC did recognize the breed in 1887 – as the Mexican Hairless – but dropped it from its official registry in 1959 due to extremely low numbers. During this time, British and Mexican authorities worked together to save the Xolo from extinction. The group managed to trap 10-12 wild Xolos in remote Mexican forests and successfully bred them. After the numbers bounced back a bit, the Xolo was eventually named the official dog of Mexico. While well-known south of the Rio Grande, the breed is still rarely seen, and relatively unknown, in the United States.
I was aware of the Mexican Hairless, but mistakenly believed it was a toy-sized dog only. I have since learned that the breed comes in three distinct sizes: Standard, Miniature, and Toy. The breeds range in weight from 10-50 lbs. As the name implies, they are all but completely hairless (there are sometimes tufts of hair on the head, toes, and tail). The skin color of these Xolos is typically black or bluish-gray in color. The allele that causes the breed’s hairlessness is also responsible for abnormalities in the dentition of the breed. Hairless Xolos usually display incomplete or abnormal dentition that can include unusually long canines. The Xolo is very athletic, graceful, and a strong runner with a sturdy build. This vigorous and robust nature is thought to be due to the fact that the breed was never selectively bred historically. While they can make good pets, Xolos are extremely intelligent and have a reputation as escape artists with the ability to climb and/or jump fences.
When the whole picture is put together, the Xolo must be considered a prime suspect in the Texas chupacabras mystery. While not limited to south Texas, the breed is far more common near the Texas-Mexico border. The bulk of chupacabras sightings that are not obviously mange-ridden canines, originate from the southern part of the Lone Star State. The bluish-gray to black skin so commonly reported is a hallmark of the breed. Too, the over-sized ears – sometimes described as resembling those of a mule or donkey – and long canines are common characteristics of the Xolo. The athletic and robust build of the Standard-sized Xolo matches up well to many descriptions given of the chupacabras and the fact that escapees are not uncommon would seem to strengthen the case that the Xolo could be the prime suspect in this mystery. Finally, and maybe the most important fact of all, is that the majority of Texas residents simply are not familiar with the breed. This is not surprising as the breed was right on the brink of extinction as recently as the mid 1950’s. A Texan who is unaware of the existence of the Xolo, but who has been exposed to the media-driven chupacabras legend, is likely to jump to the cryptid creature conclusion.
To wrap it up, I just do not believe there is much to the Texas chupacabras legend. I have heard stories of there being DNA testing of specimens that indicate some kind of wolf/coyote/dog hybrid, but have not seen any such studies myself. I think chupacabras sightings – at least those in Texas – can be attributed to sick, mangy foxes, coyotes, or domestic/feral dogs nine times out of ten. On the rare occasions when a healthy, strong, and fast “chupacabras” is spotted, in my opinion, it is a very strong possibility that a Xolo was seen. This is another case where I would welcome being wrong – a weird and new hybrid species of blood-sucking creature would be cool – but I do not think I am.
*Source material claims Columbus mentioned the Xolo in his journal, but I have been unable to corroborate.
Sources:
https://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/skin/c_dg_sarcoptic_mange
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Black Pumas in the News and the Latest Black Panther Report
I have been reading a couple of book concurrenly over the last week, or so, Lost Animals: Extinction and the Photographic Record by Errol Fuller and The Ghost with Trembling Wings by Scott Weidensaul. The former is a beautiful, but very melancholy, look at several species that are extinct and gone forever. Species like the Carolina Parakeet, Yangtze River Dolphin, Eskimo Curlew, and Passenger Pigeon are discussed as are a handful of species that, while considered extinct by mainstream science, may yet be clinging to life in the more remote corners of the planet. The Ivory-billed woodpecker and the Thylacine are two such examples of these types of animals. The book is beautiful and full of photographs. There is something about the black and white images that is truly haunting. The emotions I feel when looking at them are jarring. Guilt, sadness, anger…they are all present and mixed up in a cauldron of sentiment that is impossible to ignore. The latter is a book about loss, recovery, endurance and resurrection. The book is enthralling and hard to put down. It is in this book that something caught my eye…
In Chapter 5 of his book, Weidensaul discusses anomalist cat sightings. Having grown up in the Appalachians, he is particularly interested in cougar sightings. The Eastern cougar is thought to have gone extinct around the turn of the century. Still, Weidensaul points out, people continue to report sightings and, from time to time dead pumas turn up in the region. Clearly, there are still a few cougars in the East, the author concludes. The discussion was fairly typical up this point: How many? Where did they come from? Were they ever really completely gone in the first place? Etc. Then I read the following passage:
“How reliable are those eyewitness sightings? One measure of their veracity might be the large number – between a quarter and a third – that involve black panthers. This is more troubling than it may at first appear. While black leopards and jaguars are fairly common, I know of only two documented cases of black cougars, nor is melanism at all common among North America’s other wild cats.”
Did you catch it? Weidensaul wrote “I know of only two documented cases of black cougars…” Well, that is news to me. In my book Shadow Cats: The Black Panthers of North America, I discuss the cougar as a possible suspect in the black panther mystery, but point out that there has never been an officially documented case of a melanistic puma. There are stories to be sure – many of which I discuss in the book - some of which are very old, but they are stories only. I have sent Mr. Weidensaul an email requesting some additional detail about these two documented cases of a black cougar. If he replies, I will update you here.
The question of whether or not pumas can be black came up again a day or two later when a reader of the blog sent me a link to a very interesting article. You may have read of the recent discovery of a ‘Lost City’ in Honduras. The ruins, built by an unknown civilization and uncovered in 2015, have yielded many items of archaeological significance since excavation began in earnest. Somewhat surprisingly, they have proven to be home to a treasure trove of rare wildlife as well. Already, three species previously thought extinct, including the pale-face bat, have been found. It was the first paragraph of the article, however, that struck me with the force of a baseball bat. It reads:
“Trond Larsen was night-searching for rare frogs and insects in the Lost City recently discovered within Honduras’ Mosquitia Rainforest when his headlamp illuminated something surprising: a curious black puma. Larsen, a researcher who led this February 2017 expedition into the so-called Lost City of the Monkey God, walked away from the encounter unscathed, but that puma was but a bite of the magnificence Larsen and his team would find.”
I know you caught it that time. A black puma was seen among the ruins of a lost city in the heart of the Honduran rainforest. The witness was none other than Trond Larsen, of the Conservation International’ Rapid Assessment Program. Yet, nothing else is spoken about this remarkable sighting. In fact, the way it reads, it seems there is nothing remarkable about it at all.
What is going on here? Do black cougars exist or not? Why does no one seem interested in following up sightings like that of Trond Larsen? Are scientists so specialized that remarkable discoveries outside of their area of expertise are going unrecognized?
Finally, I will leave you with the latest credible black panther sighting reported to me.
Reported 6/29/19
"Hi, Mike - really enjoy your blog. I don't know how meaningful this report is to your work, but I thought I'd send it to you as a datapoint.
In the summer of 2008 or 2009 I was riding my bike down a gravel road in Frisco just after dawn. About 40 yards ahead of me I watched a big black cat casually run across the road and then sail over a barbed wire fence into some trees. I'm not a good judge of animal mass, but it was about waist high, probably 5 or 6 feet from head to tail. It happened so quickly and was too far away for me to get any details other than the fact that it had a very long thick tail, was very dark, and moved like a cat. Coincidentally, this occurred next to a creek in Frisco called Panther Creek.
Here is the spot that I saw the cat: https://www.google.com/maps/@33.2038699,-96.8718794,3a,75y,262.94h,78.47t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sbJvie1BRm3X-8zb070OC0Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
The fence on the left wasn't there at the time, but the water treatment plant did exist. There weren't nearly as many subdivisions in the area either. Lots of open land back then.
Foolishly, I kept riding down the road and looked for it when I crossed the point where I saw it jump, but never saw it. For some reason, I thought I'd be able to out run it on my bike if I needed to, but I'll bet I would have been an exciting hunt for her if she decided to chase me down.
I thought for a long time what it could have been, thinking maybe it was just the silhouette of something else, which made it appear black. But, I was riding westward just after dawn when I saw it, so it definitely wasn't back-lit. I also spotted it before it entered the trees, so it would have been in the sunlight.
Also, I thought the sighting you posted on your blog from Plano about that same time was interesting. Maybe it was the same animal.”
- Brian Taylor
TCH Comment: Brian is right in that Frisco has boomed over the last decade. On the surface, a big cat sighting of any kind there seems ludicrous, but a sighting from 10-11 years ago is another matter. The description given is fairly typical: big, very dark to black, long thick tail. The area has been the source of black panther reports in the past (see distribution map). Too, I have had a handful of reports that have come from areas very close to water treatment plants, which I find interesting. I will be adding this sighting to my Black Panther Sighting Distribution Map.
To wrap it up, in the last week I have become aware of no less than three sightings of black pumas referred to by recognized men of science and academia. Again, I am making an effort to get more information on these sightings. I’ll let you all know how that goes.
If you would like to know more about the black panther mystery, check out my book, Shadow Cats: The Black Panthers of North America. You can hit the link to the right or click here for more information.
Sources:
Sources:
Fuller, Errol. Lost Animals: Extinction and the Photographic Record. Princeton University Press, 2014.
Fuller, Errol. Lost Animals: Extinction and the Photographic Record. Princeton University Press, 2014. Page 126.
Funds, Yessenia. “Exploration of 'Lost City' in Honduras Uncovers Trove of Rare Life Forms.” Gizmodo, 21 June 2019, www.gizmodo.com.au/2019/06/exploration-of-lost-city-in-honduras-uncovers-trove-of-rare-life-forms/.
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