A photo making rounds on Facebook appears to show a large, black feline, similar in size to a black panther (a general term used to describe melanistic leopards and jaguars), in east Texas. Jerel Hall posted an image on his Facebook page on Saturday, and it now has nearly 1,000 comments.
Hall says he lives in Huntsville, TX, a city north of Houston, not far from the state line with Louisiana.
Here’s his post:
While it certainly looks like a large black cat, wildlife experts are not so sure. Texas Parks and Wildlife told USA Today that there is no such thing as a black mountain lion. Jaguars and leopards can be black, but they don’t live anywhere near Texas.
Regardless of what experts say, plenty of comments are siding with Hall.
“I used to see them all the time when I was in kid in Caldwell, Texas. They sound like a child screaming,” wrote Samanta Luce on Hall’s post.
Another comment reads: “We used to see one all the time when we were little, but nobody wanted to believe us.”
It’s important to point out that people often mistake mountain lions for bobcats, lynx, and even common house cats.
Just last month, Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife had to clarify that an alleged cougar sighting in a Portland suburb was a regular house cat. The alleged sighting caused concerns, but in the end, wildlife officials say the photo made it appear larger than it really was.
Mountain lions do live in Texas but are more prominent on the western side of the state, from parts of the Texas Hill Country, west of Austin, and down to the mountain regions like Big Bend National Park.
What animal do you think this is?
Definitely not a house cat. Looks like a large black cat about mountain lion size . Just because black panthers aren’t in Texas naturally doesn’t mean this isn’t one.
Experts believe it’s a housecat… Of course “everything in Texas is bigger”. 😉
It was said no cougars live in Maryland until one was seen in person by several people and the paw prints were photographed to show size. Anything is possible.
I personally came face to face with an extremely large black cat, glowing green eyes. She was at the edge of my mom’s pasture and yard with her little ones. It was around 1 in the morning. Scared me to death. A week later I was going down my mother road around 10 pm and she was close to the same spot but on the road. She just stood there while my headlights lite her up. I couldn’t go home because she wouldn’t move and I didn’t want to endanger my kids. Saw her or a different one the following summer. All 3 experiences had full view with spot lights or headlights. Glowing bright green eyes, pure black and huge. The size of a mountain lion at least. This was in the outskirts of Houston, small country town away from city life. Something is living in the woods of Texas. And it isn’t a house cat .