As an Arkansas native and resident, I have been privy to the state’s Game and Fish Commission’s responses. Last year a native mountain lion came into our yard. Prior to that, we have had several experiences with obviously different mountain lions in a 30 mile radius. When the G&F was contacted, they attempted to assure us that cougars were not in Arkansas, and that we had in fact probably seen a bobcat if anything. A bobcat might top the scales at roughly the size of my dog. This cat, as the others, was easily 150-200 pounds. Moreover, anyone worth their salt can tell the difference between a small, tufted eared, spotted, bobtailed cat, and a large, tan, cat with a tail as big around as your upper arm.

And as for wolves again. The G&F maintains that only the red wolf has ever been native, and is now nearing extinction. The truth is, that North Central Arkansas has several, viable packs, one of which resides in our own town.

Firstly let me state that I can see no reason why mountain lions (cougars) could not be living in Arkansas. I lived in north Louisiana for several years as a child and there were definitely cougars living there. In fact my father killed one that had been attacking our pets.

Anyway the real reason for my post was that this article reminded me of a story my father told me when I was much younger about how he used to go hunting as a kid in the woods in central Louisiana. He told me that when he was about 13-14 years old one night he was sleeping in a hammock up in a tree, like he had done countless times before. Sometime right before sunrise, as the light was just beginning to rise, he awoke to something rustling beneath him and looked down to see nothing other than a big black cat. He claimed it noticed him, tried to lunge at him, but after he fired his gun at it (missing, unfortunately) it ran off. After telling his story to some of the nearby adults he stated that some of them believed him, and some didn’t saying that “big black cats” weren’t real. This was my first taste of “cryptid” lore as a kid.

Oh, and I have much more interesting stories about a much more famous cryptid, but those will have to wait until I can sit down with my dad and other members of my family and get the whole story again, since it’s been years since I’ve heard about it.

Pumas from Central America and from the Amazon region tend to be a darker color than North American pumas, but they are a bright tawny reddish-brown color, not black.

I think that black pumas probably DO occur from time to time. That is my personal opinion unsubstantiated by any evidence, but based on the certain knowledge that black animals occur in almost every species of cat (although in some species there has never been a confirmed black individual). I doubt that they are common but it could be that, given the extremely fragmented populations of eastern pumas, black animals may be the norm rather than the exception in some isolated areas.

Perhaps they are out there. We just do not know.

Perhaps, they are relatively rare, or perhaps there’s something in the genes that makes them naturally more wary of man or more reclusive. Maybe they are just smarter than your average cat.

The Red Wolf, which is now called Canis rufus, was once called Canis niger - Black Wolf. At one time people thought that the black animal was a separate species, but it was found that the “red” phase and the black phase could occur in the same litter. These animals are native to the southeastern to south-central United States. The black phase was inky black, not grizzled with gray like black-colored Gray Wolves are.

Red wolves are about the size of a German Shepherd Dog, and their coat is much shorter, and more harsh-textured and sleek than Gray Woves’ coats. Red Wolves are about a third smaller than Gray Wolves and they are more slender. They move silently and gracefully, and they are very secretive animals which are quite at home in dense cover. The black phase was common in the Mississippi Valley. Red Wolves have been declared extinct in the wild (except for animals recently reintroduced from a captive breeding program). Because no black pups have been born to any of the 200 or so animals that are left, the black phase is thought to be truly extinct.

But what if it isn’t? Could there still be black wolves in the American South? Even in the red color phase, coat color is variable, and many animals have a lot of black sabling in their fur, giving them almost a charcoal body color.

They could be mistaken for a large cat at a glance. I know it isn’t likely, but they ARE native to the area.

As a long time resident of TN, I grew up hearing the stories of the dreaded black panther from a boy who lived near my parents farm. We always dismissed it as the talk of drunken hillbillies, and I didn’t give it a thought for about 18 years till one night at work a friend of mine mentioned that he had heard rumors of large black cats as well. That got me to thinking, but what got me more was about a week later, another guy I work with actually admitted to seeing one as he was driving home from work the night before. I believe that he is a credible witness and he is definitely not the type to make things up to get attention. He is also very familiar with the local wildlife and would be able to distinguish a black leopard or cougar from say, a melanistic bobcat.

Is it possible that maybe some sort of leopard is migrating up from South America the same way that the mountain lion is migrating back into some of its old ranges? Not long ago a black bear was killed almost right in my back yard and we are a long way from known black bear territory, not to mention that I live right in the middle of town.

Sorry for the long post, this topic just has been in my thoughts quite a bit recently.

Thanks all.

Here in McCurtain county Oklahoma we have sightings often; both of the standard tan mountain lion kind (which I’ve personally seen) and the “black panther” variety.