Originally Posted by cartervj
Originally Posted by blade
We know exactly what those photos are worth. What gets me is why people want black panthers to exist so bad. If i was going to make up stories I would at least try to use animals that actually exist to make it somewhat plausible.


Big black cats actually do exist. Jaguars and there used to be some thruout the west and into Mexico. Supposedly no wild populations still exist. Not sure if that particular species has the possibility of having melanistic ones or not. Jaguarandis do exist and they do have a darker coloration. Big black cats do exist in the wild elsewhere.

Folks keep exotics and some do escape.


Jaguarundis are small cats. Jaguars and Leopards both can be melanistic (spots still visible) but live a long way from Alabama. Doubt if someone had one and it escaped, it would last long in the wild and I imagine there would be a big search for it as it would probably be worth some dollars. And there would many clear pictures of them before recapture :-) A black panther, or a black cougar, that 99% of these posts are about, is a figment of the imagination.