Comments on: Black Panthers Spotted in South Carolina

By: Cat Biker

Cat Biker — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:14:39 +0000

Wow!

By: Cat Biker

Cat Biker — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:13:31 +0000

Several years back I saw a black panther (all black) while bicycling on Bushy Park Road in Berkeley County. You may know this is a rural/industrial highway with many deer and wild hog as well although very close to the city of Goose Creek and the US Naval Weapons Station in addition to DuPont, Bayer, etc.. It was on a long straight way near the SCANA LP gas facility. I had biked to the Cypress Gardens Boat Landing from North Charleston and was coming back home when the panther entered from the pine forest and stopped frozen right in the middle of the highway, straddling the yellow center line only several hundred feet ahead of me.

I stopped the bike and he was frozen and staring right at me (and I at him/her) for well over a minute (maybe two) before he moseyed into a swampy area and I assume over the railroad tracks — I had to bike back through there to get home. I have been riding this road several times a week for 16 years, but have not seen another BIG CAT — I have lived in SC my whole life and had never seen anything like this before. It was broad daylight – about 10 AM and there were absolutely no obstructions. I would guess the Panther was 4-5 feet long without counting the tail which seemed another 3 feet long.

I wish I had brought a camera/phone to capture the Big Cat, but alas… I phoned DNR immediately upon arriving back home but they denied the existence of Big Cats in SC — and were not interested in where the cat was sighted or any other details. It was an amazing experience which I will never forget — we DEFINITELY HAVE BIG CATS IN SOUTH CAROLINA.

By: tonez596

tonez596 — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 01:59:15 +0000

11/18/11 5:50am about 1 mile down the road from harolds country cafe in yemassee. i saw a large black cat with a thick tail crossing the road in a fast walk type of gait. i will never forget it.

By: NNtrancer

NNtrancer — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 04:17:41 +0000

I live in a subdivision at the northern tip of Lancaster County, suburban Charlotte. A neighbor reported seeing a black jaguar on his front porch early last summer and since then I understand others have seen it in our neighborhood as well. I looked in the field behind my house, which had a dirt road, and found large cat tracks 4-6 inches in length. Then, on 20 December 2010, I was walking my dogs at around 10:30 at night when they stopped and started barking furiously at a copse of trees on a small hill near the entrance to the subdivision. I didn’t see or hear anything, but then, a large black animal came out of the trees and slowly sauntered, cat-like, around the side of the hill and disappeared. It was too dark to identify exactly what it was. But I did return the next day and found tracks that had broken through the frozen crust of dirt and embedded perhaps an inch deep. It was obviously a heavy animal, but the tracks were too indistinct to make an accurate identification. I then heard that a neighbor spotted a large panther at roughly the same location in the same time frame and it scared the bejebbers out of her.

By: CSmith

CSmith — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 04:43:10 +0000

A few years ago I was driving thru the Greenville watershed area above the North Saluda Reservoir. It was late at night, probably around 11pm. At the intersection known locally as Chestnut Springs I saw what I first thought was a black bear. But, as I got closer, probably 20 yards from the animal, I could see in the head lights the long tail, the long hind legs, and a squarish head. I was seeing the animal in profile as it slowly strutted across the highway. It disapperaed into the brush off to the right side of the road. This animal was glossy black, looked like a cat, and was about 2 or 3 times larger than the bobcats we see frequently up here in the mountains. I’ve never seen anything like it before or since. I would say I saw a black mountain lion, but I am told by the experts that it’s impossible for a mountain lion, puma, whatever, to be black. Maybe these cats up here don’t know that!

By: CColeA325

CColeA325 — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 03:05:57 +0000

This happened in the early to mid 90s. Five of us were playing golf at Pineland Plantation (Later renamed Sumter National) near I-95 and Hwy. 378 in Sumter County. We were on the 17th green putting when a large brown or gold colored cat with a long tail walked across the fairway around 90 yards from the green. He walked across there in no hurry like he owned the place. I would estimate the cat weighted 50 to 75 lbs. It did not resemble the pictures I have seen of cougars. They seem to be longer and more streamlined than this cat. This golf course was like an animal preserve with plenty of deer and wildlife living there. A cat this size would have no trouble finding food. What kind of cat it was I don’t know, but I will never forget seeing it.
My sister carried my dad to Columbia today Aug. 19, 2009. She was coming back through Wateree swamp on Hwy. 378 this afternoon. She said she saw a big cat dead beside the road with a long tail. She wanted to go back and get a closer look, but my dad wanted to get on home. She is sorry now that she didn’t go back and see the cat. She said it was big and gold colored with some stripes. There seems to be to many sightings by people in many parts of the state for us not to believe we have some big cats living among us besides our native bobcats. MonsterQuest on history channel motivated me to post these sightings tonight.

By: helcat

helcat — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:46:05 +0000

I live about five minutes away from the Darlington Race track back up in the woods. There is swamp land in front of me, a very large farm feild behind me, and lots of woods. I heard my dog barking wildly just a few days ago and when I looked out to see what she was barking at I watched this huge black figure with a very large, thick tail jumping into the woods in front of me. I would not have believed what I had seen had I not of found its paw prints in my garden. The prints are way too large for any dog in this area and my dog is on a tie out. This animal has paid a visit this past Saturday night, he seems to like walking through my garden so I am getting some really good prints off of him.
About twenty some odd years ago my boyfriend at the time and myself were on our way to Hartsville from Florence on the backroads where Hoffmyer meets 401. We saw a huge pair of yellow eyes and as we watched it came closer into the headlights of the car. We saw a big beautiful black panther. It totally unnearved us both and we did not talk to anyone about what we had seen until now.

By: rrwill65

rrwill65 — Wed, 27 May 2009 21:32:22 +0000

I have obeserved two black panthers in the Wateree Swamp. Each was approximately 3 feet in length from head to rump, and the tail was the same legnth as the body. I estimate the weight to be 75 to 100 lbs. The first cat I saw in 1989 actually sat below my climbing tree stand, which had me about 25 ft in the tree. I observed the animal for about 3 minutes, before it heard me move my rifle, an ran into the cutover it had come out of. I again saw a large black “panther”, after deer season, the same year. I had a ground level sighting as it crossed a logging road, going from my right to left. Again, the cat was at least 75 lbs and about 3 feet long, plus a tail as long as it’s body. These days were before camera phones, and it was not until 1990 that I began riding with a camcorder in my truck. I swear on my childrens life and the life of my mother, I witnessed the black panther in the wateree swamp, and anyone who doubts is wrong.

By: Southern Vixon

Southern Vixon — Wed, 27 May 2009 20:33:23 +0000

I Live In Aiken County And Out At SRS Plant Ther Are Panthers Out The The Wildlife Out There Is Protected And No One Is Allowed Out There Well My Dad Works There And He Has Come Across 2 Big Black Cats Crossing The Road I Dont Understand Why These Experts Are Saying Its Impossible For These Animals To Thrive Or Exist Here There Just Not Looking In The Right Places

By: Heartpinefurniture.net

Heartpinefurniture.net — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:52:59 +0000

I live in Holly Hill about 50 miles from charleston,for years we have heard about the black cats.I never really trusted anyone i just thought you would see more of them around.About a year ago i was taking down a old barn a few miles from my house and i took a break and i look out and there was a huge i mean huge black panther or somthing i have saw pictures of panters before and this thing was bigger solid black huge tail his eyes literally was softball size i was froze so there are huge black cats im sure he lives near that area still i would love to get one of these motion cameras to take pictures of him!