(02-23-2014 06:01 PM)TigerBill Wrote: (02-23-2014 03:20 PM)Hoopla Wrote: Black panthers are more common in West Tennessee than you might think. I've seen one myself, in broad daylight.
Officially it is denied that they exist. I believe they do, however.
Several years ago I lived in "the bottoms" in West Tennessee. One warm spring night I had the windows open for the cool breeze and was awakened by the most god-awful noise I've ever heard. It sounded like a woman screaming, like she was being dismembered by a chain-saw-wielding maniac or something. It sent chills down my spine and I came that close to calling it in, because it literally sounded so horrifying.
Only later, after talking to some others who also heard it, did I decide it must have been a big cat, most likely bobcat.
A couple of years after that, I was driving down one of those lonely country roads and a large black animal ran across the road in front of me, crossing from one field to another. I stopped and looked, and that sucker had stopped too and was looking back at me, not thirty feet away. Black as night, much MUCH bigger than a bobcat, maybe slightly smaller than a wolf, long, low, lean, with a very long black tail. It was the long black tail that verified to me what I was seeing. This was no house cat on steroids, and definitely not a coyote. That monster was HUGE. After staring at each other for a couple of seconds, he headed into the woods bordering the field.
Most folks say it's not possible, and like you said "officially" it ain't so. I've heard a few tales from other folks who have seen one too, and I gotta say, if I hadn't seen one with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it either. But it's true. This was several years ago, so I don't know if they're still around here or not, and I haven't heard any stories lately.
But this was in broad daylight, so I know what I saw. And after seeing it, I now believe that "scream" I heard was the black panther. Unforgettable.