Comments on: Wildlife Experts Field Cryptid Questions

By: Ohtar

Ohtar — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:35:54 +0000

“Babb pointed to a common case of mistaken identity in Arizona. “As soon as we hear ‘black panther,’ we know that is bogus,” Babb said. No such thing as a black panther (except for members of a radical movement in the 1960s), exists; and only four of the spotted variety, known as jaguars, have been recorded in Arizona in modern history. Yet the idea of the big black cat persists. ”

This whole paragraph is contradictory. While no black Jaguars have been confirmed to exist in Arizona, at any point, the fact that Jaguars do exist here, and that there have been confirmed cases of Jaguars in South America being black, means that Black Panther sitings aren’t necessarily bogus. Any legitimate scientist would give such claims at least an honest investigation, rather than dismissing them as complete figments of the imagination. I know people misinterpret what they see all the time, and the lighting (or lack thereof) can mess with your eyes, altering perception, but there is a MAJOR difference between being a skeptic and being a pig-headed fool. A skeptic requires actual proof, but keeps their mind open. This guy however isn’t a skeptic. He reminds me of the people who refuse to accept the existance of Giant Squid. If you put a body in front of him, with a genetic analysis proving what it was, he would still persist that it’s a misidentification or a hoax.

As far as Jackalope sightings go: what is a Jackalope? It’s a Jackrabbit with horns on it’s head. Well, rabbits can contract a disease where they develop horn like growths on their bodies, reference. So a Jackalope sighting isn’t exactly as fanciful as this guy makes it seem. And while a misidentification, it is not somebody misinterpreting what they see or somebody being crazy. They see a Jackrabbit with horns, and that’s pretty accurate to what is actually seen.

By: CryptoInformant

CryptoInformant — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 00:55:35 +0000

Hmmm… Wow! Melanistic big cats are “bogus”?! Gee, I guess Discovery’s In Search of: The Loch Ness Monster was right, our eyes are as faulty as those of a certain crazy guy I’ve heard of who honestly thinks he’s a glass of orange juice. Sheesh, that’s a scary thought, in fact, scarier than the melanistic big cats roaming my cousin’s neighborhood in OK, even digging in the trash, and letting out the typical puma scream when people camp out in their front yards. So, either we’re glasses of orange juice, or, w/ the big coyotes w/ and black pumas, OK is not the middle of crypto-nowhere.

By: youcantryreachingme

youcantryreachingme — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 05:55:23 +0000

Lol.

By: Sky King

Sky King — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 04:54:55 +0000

“youcantryreachingme Says:

Oh dear. Thylacines don’t have stripes. They have bands!”

Well, if you know of any that are looking for a bongo player or alto saxophonist, would you let me know?

By: Trapster

Trapster — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 23:56:40 +0000

I deal with this stuff all the time, but I get a more direct perspective. People pay me to catch “the ten pound squirrel, the fox the size of a golden retriever, the 10 foot long black snake.” The difference for me is I typically catch the animal the people have described within a couple of days, and they always say the same thing, “that’s him, but wow it looked so much bigger when I saw it.”

I put less and less credibility in people’s quick observations. Admittedly this has eroded my belief in bigfoot or other terrestrial cryptids seen near human development. Unless they are not physical objects. And I’m not ready to go down that road.

By: sasquatch

sasquatch — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 19:23:38 +0000

It could be a jaguar. They ARE known to have a black phase. There was a common color phase Jaguar caught by a motion camera in the mountains above Tuscon recently. Why couldn’t a black one be wandering in the AZ desert?

By: kittenz

kittenz — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 17:11:10 +0000

Although there is no “known” black color phase of Puma concolor, they have been reported by locals for literally hundreds of years in the eastern USA. I believe a black or at least a very dark color phase exists. Of course, even the tawny cats can look very dark in some lighting situations, and maybe what a lot of people are seeing is a tawny cat, backlit or in shadow. But there have been too many reports of black pumas, from too many reliable witnesses, to dismiss them all.

By: Ole Bub

Ole Bub — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 15:13:59 +0000

Black Panthers are more common in Oklahoma than their tawny kin….try explaining that to the “experts”…many folks who live or work outside the city limits can susbtantiate those “cryptid” critters quite readily…JMHO

I was unaware of their “non-existence” until the crypto-folks enlightened me…just mass hysteria or mistaken identity…come to think of it…I’ve never seen a game warden or ranger outside their truck…and then only rarely….are they cryptid too…JMHO

For years “cryptid” alligators were reported in the southern counties along the Red River…now they are recognized and protected.

seeing is believing…

ole bub and the dawgs

By: Rillo777

Rillo777 — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 14:31:19 +0000

I read a report not long ago that there are more caged big cats in America than there are in the wild these days. As much as I believe in the big black cats it is harder now to simply classify them as cryptids when it could simply be an escaped pet. But to write them off as nonexistant is ridiculous, especially coming from an expert who should know this. Plus they could even be more dangerous since they have become used to being around humans.

By: CamperGuy

CamperGuy — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 07:28:06 +0000

3′ tall owls? Is that not normal, or just not normal for that area?