OK, dammit. Bad enough we have alligators, coyotes, etc. here in MS

[Bake]

Now I learn that we have PANTHERS!! PANTHERS, people! Big, freakin' black PANTHERS!! You know, big ferocious felines!! Just like at the damn zoo, except out in the wild!! If I walked out in my yard and came face to face with a panther, I would freakin' sh*t myself!!!! And then get eaten.

Bake

[Critters2]

1. I've lived in two areas with cougars, mountain lions, pumas, panthers,

you know, those big cats. I assure you, they're more afraid of you than you are of them. BUt I'd keep an eye on any housecats you let outside.

[NightWatcher]

2. you would have to make it about the "black" ones

:hide:

[Critters2]

3. !

:spray:

[Bake]

5. Whoda thunk it? Black Panthers in MISSISSIPPI!!

I thought ALL panthers were black, actually. If they're not black, aren't they pumas? Or something like that?

Bake

[Critters2]

10. No. Panthers, cougars, mountain lions, pumas, catamounts, are all the same animal.

The black ones are very rare, and are just a mutation of the regular ones.

[Bake]

17. Apparently they're not so rare in the Magnolia State!!!!

Grrrrrrrrr.

Bake

[NJmaverick]

4. Oh they're not so bad

[Bake]

6. Oh sure ... the PINK ones are just fine and dandy. Even CUTE.

Not these bad boys, though. They EAT things. Like, anything that moves.

Bake

[NJmaverick]

7. Are they making a come back?

Haven't they always been around?

[Bake]

9. Maybe so, but I didn't know about them.

So I wasn't skeered of 'em. Until NOW.

And you KNOW I can't tell Mrs. Bake about 'em, because she's already freaked out about the alligators.

Bake

[Mugu]

8. Illinois also has panthers.

[Critters2]

11. We have the big scary kind, too. But not as many as mountain states have. nt

[jobycom]

12. Those are some mighty big leaves there. And grass.

:rofl:

[Mugu]

14. You should have to rake the darn things in the fall. n/t

[jobycom]

15. With that panther nearby? No thank you!

[jobycom]

13. Black panthers were always a rural legend around Gulfport.

People were always claiming they had seen a black panther on Red Creek, and that at night you could hear it, and it sounded like a woman screaming. Used to scare the crap out of me until I realized that if others said they could hear it, I should be able to hear it, too, and I never did.

So you are saying the real ones are there now? Not just the junior high fantasy version?

[Bake]

18. Yes. The real ones. Big freakin' TEETH and all.

But so far, they're more in the northern part of the state, not near the coast.

Bake

[TZ]

16. well technically black panthers are black phased leopards....

Which are only found in South America. What you have are cougars/mountain lions which I guess are occasionally black.
Hey we have black bears and coyotes here too.

[Shell Beau]

19. We also have black bears.

There is a town called Panther Burn in the Delta. It is called that because they used to burn the fields to keep the panthers away!!