Alabama man recovering from panther attack

teacher

teacher

Joined
Apr 11, 2001
Messages
2,978
The below reportedly happened not to far from where I live a couple of days ago.

The Alabama DNR of course has repeatedly stated in the past that we do not have Cougars / Mountains Lions / Panthers in our area of Alabama. ;)

I have personally observed one on a friends farm up past Noccalula Falls [Etowah County] and a couple... years ago while trapping in a remote area of Blount County.
You don't see them often, but they are there.

Never seen a black one though.

You ever seen any out in your area Jeff /[RAT]???
---------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13616538
Ala. man recovering from panther attack

Associated Press - December 4, 2010 1:54 PM ET

UNION GROVE, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama man says he's recovering after being attacked by a panther near his Marshall County home.

Frank Harmes says he was walking his dog in a cove behind his home near Morgan City when he heard something behind him and turned to see a black panther.

Harmes says he moved to try to scare the panther away, but instead it attacked and clawed his leg. He says he stabbed the animal twice with a knife and it ran away.

Residents of the area have reported seeing panthers in the past, saying they sometimes come out looking for food.

Harmes says he will undergo a series of rabies shots because of the attack.

Information from: WHNT-TV, http://www.whnt.com/
 
Last edited:
i bet someone is going to get mad, saying its cruel to use your knife to fight a wild hog....oh i mean panther =)
 
teacher said:
The below reportedly happened not to far from where I live a couple of days ago. The Alabama DNR of course has repeatedly stated in the past that we do not have Cougars / Mountains Lions / Panthers in our area of Alabama. ;) I have personally observed one on a friends farm up past Noccalula Falls [Etowah County] and a couple... years ago while trapping in a remote area of Blount County. You don't see them often, but they are there. Never seen a black one though. You ever seen any out in your area Jeff ?
Click to expand...


Teacher, my brother is a trooper around the Huntsville area, is this anywhere close to there ? Thanks.
Be safe.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm originally from the Florida panhandle and i've heard old wives tales about people seeing "black" panthers all of my life. According to specialists there is no such creature as a "black" cougar. There have never been any authenticated sightings in North America of black panthers/cougars. Even the black leopards found in other parts of the world still have their spots which show through their black coats.

As far as species of cougars being in the southeatern U.S. I think they exist more than we know. Even where the populations are higher in southern Florida experts still have a tough time seeing them because they are very elusive. I even hear rumors of them existing here in the Great Smoky Mountains of TN as well.

I do know that I would not want to encounter one in the wild!
 
JUST1MOR said:
Teacher, my brother is a trooper around the Huntsville area, is this anywhere close to there ? Thanks.
Be safe.
Click to expand...
Yes, about 45 -50 miles South and a bit East to where I live. Where the "event" happened is a bit closer to Huntsville. :)
 
Bimmer1 said:
I even hear rumors of them existing here in the Great Smoky Mountains of TN as well.
Click to expand...

Ha, better hope none of them try to go "Moosez" hunting in that area . . . :)
Be safe.
p.s.: I got your back Moose . . .
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Crazy!

This past summer up in the BC interior we had a cougar attacking someone's chickens and sheep. Unfortunately the owner of the property shot at it but only managed to wound it, so when animal control finally did catch it they had to put it down. But it's weird how this is the first year in my 15+ years being up there every summer that there have been cougar problems. We always knew they were there but never had them bother us.
 
Back home in NorCal (Mendocino County) they have Mountain Lion problems every now and then. A few years back, a friend lost two of his goats. Shortly thereafter, the neighbors across the street from my mom lost several sheep. They tried repeatedly to trap it, but it moved out of the range before they could get a bead on it. Scary to think about, but after all, we did move into their territory.

Lates,

Connor
 
Typically around here when one of these stories get out it's because someone is either making white whiskey or harvesting marijuana. Black panther and bear stories will be started to keep people out of the woods. It's an old tactic.

With that said, Jimmy Dunn and I tracked a black bear in Little River Canyon and the bear has been spotted several times since. Never seen a cougar/ panther though.

As a side note, there are in fact large black cats such as cougars. I've seen a few in captivity.
 
Guy near Kansas City snapped some pics of a cougar in a tree last week. Dept of Conservation had to shuffle some papers around and change their standard "there are no cougars in MO" story when the guy shimmied up a tree and collected hair samples that were matched a cougar.
 
Upstate, NY also has had Cougar, or Mountain Lion sightings. The DEC categorically denies the existence of these animals, even though people have taken photos of the.

That would be one of the reasons I will not walk in the woods without a 45 and my ESEE 4 to eviscerate whatever I have to shoot.
 
They are here in Eastern NC as well. I have had 2 sightings in the same area so it was probably the same Cougar. The sightings were within a couple days of each other.
 
TAGannon said:
Upstate, NY also has had Cougar, or Mountain Lion sightings. The DEC categorically denies the existence of these animals, even though people have taken photos of the.
Click to expand...

Yea, I saw one in Allegany when I was younger. Of course I'm always told it must have been a deer I saw. It's very rare, but they're out there. I'd love to get a photo, but if it's anything like the last time I stumbled upon some bear cubs I'd probably toss my camera in a creek :) (i got all tree and shadow.)
 
On a side note,

i was expecting to see this :p

canadian_cougar_poster.jpg
 
adaman04 said:
Guy near Kansas City snapped some pics of a cougar in a tree last week. Dept of Conservation had to shuffle some papers around and change their standard "there are no cougars in MO" story when the guy shimmied up a tree and collected hair samples that were matched a cougar.
Click to expand...

That's great that guy was able to get up the tree to prove the Dept. of Conv. that they've been wrong this whole time! I'm so damn tired of all these dept.'s saying they don't exist, they don't live this far North, your just seeing a big house cat, blah, blah, blah! I don't get any of those guys?!?!?!
 
teacher said:
The below reportedly happened not to far from where I live a couple of days ago.
Click to expand...
Whoa! That happened less than 30 miles from my home near an area I sometimes frequent on my dayhikes. Time to start packing that .357 snubbie I picked up recently on a more regular basis.
 
As a teenager, I and some friends passed one roadside one night. This was east-central Alabama. Its eyes lit up like silver dollars in the headlights of our car.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top