Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Black Cat sightings in Kentucky

Ok...I'm going to document the first 2 sightings of large black cats in Kentucky. Both of these are personal experiences:

1.) About 7 years back, I was on my way home from West Liberty, KY on 460 about 4 miles out of Ezel (all in Morgan County), near the community of Mize. The time was around 8:30 pm in the fall of the year and I was on my way home from a class that I was taking at MSU campus in West Liberty. As I was driving down the road with my high beams on, I saw this large black cat leap from the left-hand side of the road, land in the center and then leap again into the high grass on the right-hand side into field of weeds. I stopped the car in the middle of the road and angled it so that my headlights were bathing the field. I saw the eyes staring at me. What I remember the clearest is that it was large, very large, with a long curling tail and that it was able to clear the road in two leaps. I'm positive that it was misidentification of another animal, nor was it simply a large house cat.

2.) 2 years ago my wife and I were on our way home from her mother's house in Bath county near Olympia Springs. We were taking the backroads home as this is actually quicker than the main roads. The time was around 12:00-12:30 AM and there was no traffic along this road. The exact area where we were had several houses and more more "inhabited" than several other areas, but as such, the ditch lines had a tendancy to retain water better. As we approached the driveway to the last house, we noticed this large black object crouched at the ditchline. We proceeded past it and I just stared the whole time. It was drinking, and tracking our car with its eyes. I can see the distinctive feline nose as plain as day. Once past it, my wife looked and me and I looked at her (I had already stopped teh car in the middle of the road) and we both said at the same time, "Did you just see that?" We turned around and attempted to see it again, but it had already moved on.

The one thing that both of these locations have in common is that they are both in the eastern part of the state near the Daniel Boone Forest and both are near Cave Run Lake. As a sidenote, both locations have a deep history of both visual sightings of large black cats and large cats (mountain lions) and of reported vocalizations.

Ok, these are my stories. Now, where are yours? Please use the links on the right to submit your large cat reports, or any other paranormal experiences that you may have had...

51 comments:

  1. These sightings are nothing unusual. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources recognizes the fact that we have a few, not many, mountain lions (cougars) in eastern Ky. These large cats have many different color phases, one of which is black (just like black bears aren't always black, they too have many color phases). These sightings are not uncommon. In recent years our family actually had a dog that was killed by one of these cats. And within a few weeks a man that lived just up the road actually killed one of them just before it got his dog. So there is no doubt they are here, just not in very large numbers.

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    1. I saw a black panther this morning at 3am on rt 60 by fin, fur and feather

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  2. I seen the black cat @ taylorsville lake WMA bow hunting in the sept. of 2008. 2o yards in front of me. my friend mike t was with me. The had just started shining thur the trees. Turkeys had just landed in a tree near by a must have got its attention. It was as big as cougar. Smaller, but had the fattest tail that arched over its back. I was in full camo so the cat didn't see me but came so close I had to prepare to draw my bow, and hoping the cat would scare and run. As I drew my bow the cat didn't run, instead turned looked at me dead in my eyes. A look like he may turn at me. A few seconds pasted and then walked off. I could have shoot the damn thing, but I didn't.

    Dirty

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    1. Me and my friend just saw the same thing. Was about 3 or 4 times as large as a regular house cat. very silky black fur and green/yellow eyes. it was around 12:30am. we were driving home from van buren, taylorsville lake from fishing. we both knew it wasnt a cat.

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  3. I live in Menifee County...about 10 minutes from Long Bow Boat Dock, right off of (460). It was broad daylight and I saw a large black cat...I first thought it was a bear, then it arched it's back and leaped away. I would say it was about 60-70 lbs, long black tail, probably what look to be nearly 2 ft long...scared me to death...there are panthers, cougars...whatever you want to call it in this area....I spoke with a neighbor, someone else on vacation spotted in same location a few years back. 9/2010

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  4. I witnessed a huge black cat leap across the road, chasing a buck whitetail deer. the large cat had no problem keeping up with the deer. I watched in amazement when the large cat made its way up a tree to a branch and then pounced near the buck, which then started running again. I live on the Lewis and Fleming County line. This account is by all means truthful. These huge cats, people see in KY are very real, very fast, and bigger than most dogs.

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  5. We've been seeing a large, dark colored cat for last three years in Mercer County, and last week my neighbors killed a younger one, and got a picture of a bigger one on a wildlife cam. We are rural, with deer and turkey populations that are plentiful. These cats (grown ones), stand about 2 1/2-3 feet tall, and are a darker grey/mottled in color.

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  6. Large black cat sitings in Butler County Ky in the Woodbury area. So far 1 dog and 8 cats missing in the area and a doverman got tore up and Wildlife officer saw the cat. Also a Cougar has been seen in Bowling Green, Ky and I my self saw a Ky bobcat just last month! Anybody else see anything in South Central Ky?

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    1. I was fishing with my brother on an inlet of Nolin Lake in the first week of June early in the morning and we were using the trolling motor and being very quiet. As we got back to some shallow water we saw what I believe to be a large black cat silently slinking down the bank. As soon as we were about 30' away it saw us and looked up and I remember its white eyes. It then turned and took off down the shoreline out of site. It didn't make a sound the whole time as it moved. The thing was as big as I am. Never seen anything like it before, and I have seen nearly every bit of wildlife that exists in Kentucky from long-tailed weasels and American woodcocks to a couple black bears in the eastern part of the state. This thing was very different, I am still having a hard time believing what I saw.

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  7. I got a farm on the outskirts of Irvine Ky near lock # 13 and I have found large tracks in my yard in the snow and the are NOT dog tracks this animal seems to walk in a foot in front of a foot walk not staggered like other animals this animal puts one paw right in front of the other and has a huge paw print with claw indentions about 1/2 inch in front of each print is this a large cats print??

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  8. I live in Louisville, my brother recently saw a large, black animal. He said it looked like a dog, only with a shorter snout. I was looking out side when I noticed large footprints. I went out to investigate. They were extremly large for what I assumed it was (a dog). They were the size of a full-grown man's foot, only they had a definite canine or feline shape to them. I wasable to get pictures before I heard a loud rustle followed by a growl that prompted me to get back inside. I am unsure of what it could be, if any one has any answers please contact me at kenzieg97@gmail.com, thank you!

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  9. My mother and I were looking out the back porch window and the field behind her house had fresh with white snow. Mom said look at the black cat in the field I said he's huge and he moved up behind the garage so I went to get a better look and when he saw me he bolted and in three leaps he he was almost to the edge of the woods. It was a spectacular sight I still can't believe what I saw. this was Jan. 18 2011 Cumberland Co. ky

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  10. I have pictures of large paw prints about 4 1/2 inches long I matched them up with the Cougar I also sat out a Deer Cam Tuesday Feb 8th and on the 9th in the Fresh Snow I caught a picture of a Tan Cougar walking by it. There is a bunch of deer here. I have been wondering what was making the Dogs go Crazy around here and the Scream of a woman Dieing coming from the head of the Holler where the tracks where found it will make your hair on the back of your neck stand up and put chill bumps on ya.

    This happen in Pike County, KY Near Elkhorn City I Live Between Fishtrap Lake & the Breaks Park!

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  11. My young hunting buddy and I were driving down a back road near Hanson, Ky. when a large dark colored cat, maybe a cougar crossed the road in front of us. My buddy asked, what was that, I said an over sized putty cat. He said, that was no putty cat. He was right, it was a cat the size of a cougar. It appeared very dark in color. Since then, I've heard stories of other sightings over the years.

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    1. I live in Hanson and I just spotted one near the Otter Lake area. It looked like a black panther! It was feeding on a dead dear

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  12. Supposedly a fellow i work with told me his nephew got a trail camera picture of a big cat with a long tail over around the lock 5 area in butler county.

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  13. I posted a sighting, July 31, 2011. Since then I've heard of more sightings. A lady living close to the area I had my sighting near Hanson Ky. about two years ago saw two large black cats playing in a field behind her home. This year in two different locations within a couple of miles from my sighting, two guys said they saw black cats while bow hunting. I can't guarantee these sightings, I just know what I saw.

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  14. I witnessed a large black cat the size of a cougar on my property along Eagle Creek in the Holbrook area of Grant County a few years ago.It was from a distance but it was obvious that it was not a house cat or large dog.My neighbor says that he heard growling one night that he said sounded like cats he had heard at the Cincinnati Zoo

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    1. I thought I saw a dead black cougar on the side of I75 north in Grant Co. today! I wish I had turned around and gone back to confirm it?

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  15. I am from California but was in southern Illinois/Kentucky 2 years ago. I took a wrong turn at 3-4 a.m. Walking at a quick trot about 20 feet in front of me was the most magnificent animal I've ever seen. It was enormous, like something you could only see in the zoo. It's tail was very long with a slight curl upward. I watched it move with total fascination. When I got home I looked on Google and saw a picture of the same animal. It was absolutely a black panther. Afterward I read about the controversy over whether they exist in that part of the country. I knew nothing about this before. I can tell you... they certainly are there. For the record I'm educated at USC and hold two master's degrees. I only add this because of the disparaging remarks I've read about the 'smarts' of people who've made these sightings. I feel incredibly lucky to be one of them.

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  16. In 1997 I was living in Grayson, KY, Carter County. Had a son aged 5 who came in and said he had been over to see if his friends were home yet at the house about 100 feet from our place. They weren't, but he said a "cat as tall as he was, black all over and with a tail that was as long as the body" was in the back by their chicken coop. I asked him what he did when he saw it, and he said he stood very still, since he knew not to run, and the cat finally walked off behind the chicken coop, and that is when my son came to get me. I went to look and there was no evidence of anything when we got there. This "big cat" intrigued me... I hadn't heard anybody mention anything like that since we'd moved there, but I started asking around and heard several different people tell me their version of an elusive encounter with the big black cat in that area -- cat scream, dogs going crazy at night, turning on the lights and seeing a glimpse of a long black tail, etc. I do believe there are big black cats of some type in Kentucky.

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  17. Three or four years ago, my family and I were driving through northern Kentucky (not sure where we were- we were a bit lost)at night, headed toward Morehead. We were on a twisting mountain highway, and my husband was driving- I looked out of the window and saw a huge black cat- about the size of a bear, but with a distinctly catlike tail- dead on the side of the road. My husband didn't want to stop because he thought it would be dangerous to stand along a dark twisting highway (and he was right). But I've always wondered.

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  18. This passed deer season, I was hunting out of an old cabin in a hollow in Rowan County- between, Morehead and Elliotville. I had two does come into the field about and hour before dark. They were eating clover and out of no where, they perked up simultaneously, ears and eyes facing my 4 o'clock, further up the hollow. After freezing for a good minute, both deer flagged and bounced off, blowing at every pace. I knew they hadn't seen or smelt me so I started getting curious. About 2 minutes later, a large figure came off the hill from the direction the deer were looking when they spooked. It was about 125 yards from me when in stopped in the middle of the field. It was big enough, that when I first glanced out of the corner of my eye, I thought it was a deer. After I turned my head, it was evident, that it was not a deer, but an extremely large cat with long tail. The dark brown cat crouched in the middle of the field for no more than 5 seconds. By the time a reached for my 30-06 the cat was moving at a good pace out of the field. This was the second time in the last 7 years I've seen a large cat in that very hollow, and hopefully wont be the last.

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  19. I live in eastern Pulaski County and have always had alot of stray cats that I feed. Within the past two weeks I have had two cats that have been either had a large bite taken out of them or have been eaten. Both of course died. Does anyone know if this could be the result of one of these "black cats"? Has anyone seen them in Pulaski or Laurel counties?

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  20. I live in Barren County, 4 miles from Glasgow. We moved here 2 Years ago and over the last 9 months I have seen a large Black Cat appears to be 6-7 foot long including the tail about 30-35 inches tall. Most times I see it is early morning, there is an abundance of turkey, rabbits, and squirrel on our property and seems to be the attraction. I've never had a camera with me when I see it. All three of my children have seen it, mostly at night while walking the dogs. Yesterday afternoon my son was riding the 4-wheeler and it ran out of the brush and crossed in front of him only 15 feet ahead of him. He said it was solid black and the size of our dog a 105 lb. Mastiff/Boxer mix. I have seen it in the shadows at night while sitting out on our balcony as it was hunting rabbits. It is black, body appears to be 4 foot long and tail close to 3 feet. A few years ago I saw another one on our farm in LaRue County during the day at a distance of about 300 yards first thoughtit was a bear then when it moved knew it had to be a cat. The other time I saw it was at night the lights hit its eyes as I was turning in our driveway. I kept my truck light pointed on him and drove across the field straight toward its green eyes got within 75 feet and it leap over some brush and down a bank out of sight. Starting to wonder how big of a population are around.

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    1. Where in Barren County? I found this site after a coworker said he saw one on the new outer loop between Edmonton Rd and New Salem Road.

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    2. I seen exactly to a T what u are describing just last night near the parkway outside glasgow. You explained it just as i have to the few people i have said something too. I didnt know exactly what i saw at first but as soon as i seen that long tail i knew it was a big cat. Still dont believe what i saw but i know what it was and its exactly what your describing

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  21. Coming home tonight at 8:30pm in Wayne County, KY off Hwy 834 almost to Hwy 92 and saw a large sleek black cat with a long tail cross the road into a corn field. It was not a housecat...it was bigger than a dog, obviously a wild cat and it just strolled across the road and was gone. I stopped the car but it was already in the corn and gone. My daughter was with me and we knew we were lucky to see this beauty !

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  22. Oops was Hwy 833 almost to Hwy 92.

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  23. Southeastern ROWAN CO.. I was stalked while unloading trash from the back of my truck in head of a hollow on our families farm.. Full grown and when I got sight of it. I was within 10 ft of it standing in the back of my truck.. I scared it as bad as it scared me.. I leaped over bedside straight into drivers seat. It was coming up the back side of the trash pile straight into the bed of the truck.. Me and father returned to kill it.. But neither of us had the nerve to enter the freshly logged woods around the dump that was dense with underbrush.. It growled a couple times thank goodness so my dad didn't think I was a liar.. But we left it alone.. My grandmother saw it two weeks prior on a deer kill in middle of logging rd.. They exist period. Never deer hunted again after that.

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  24. Southeastern ROWAN CO.. I was stalked while unloading trash from the back of my truck in head of a hollow on our families farm.. Full grown and when I got sight of it. I was within 10 ft of it standing in the back of my truck.. I scared it as bad as it scared me.. I leaped over bedside straight into drivers seat. It was coming up the back side of the trash pile straight into the bed of the truck.. Me and father returned to kill it.. But neither of us had the nerve to enter the freshly logged woods around the dump that was dense with underbrush.. It growled a couple times thank goodness so my dad didn't think I was a liar.. But we left it alone.. My grandmother saw it two weeks prior on a deer kill in middle of logging rd.. They exist period. Never deer hunted again after that.

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  25. My dad saw a large, knee high, dark brown colored cat walking in our small woods. It had large black spots, it was stalkier than a cheetah, but the spots were bigger than a leopard's. It was walking away so there was no time for a picture. This was a day ago, close to Lawrenceburg, KY.

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  26. I know of 2 sightings in Henry County, KY of a very large, black cat. Both were several years ago. One was in Bethlehem and one was in Campbellsburg.

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  27. I saw a black cat in Nelson County in about 1999 that had to have weighed about 100 lbs. I was driving down a dirt driveway when out of the corner of my eye I seen something coming from my left. Before I could even turn my head it was crossing the road 10-15 yards in front of me. There was a deadfall probably 10-12 feet high next to the road and he jumped over and cleared it. I spent countless hours hunting on that property and never seen anything like that before or since. I dont know if it was an exotic pet released or what but I saw it. I told a couple of people about it when it happened because when you see something like that you have to tell someone,I had an adreneline rush for about two days afterwards ,but I didn't tell anyone else because I know what I would have thought if someone told me a story like this. I stumbled across this blog today and had to read it. Its good to see others have had similar expieriences. This event changed my life. Before this I would have dismissed all these stories, hell I tried to dismiss what I saw but I couldnt because I SAW IT. I would love to see hard evidence so I could show my hunting buddies that I made swear to secrecy.

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  28. You all saw what is known as a common house cat from distances that your eyes played trricks on you about the size or dogs or bobcats in dim lighting that seemed black. Or at the very extravagant a mountain lion in dim lighting or shadow situations that made your mind think the animal was black. Fact: there are no large black cats in north America that are "wild"... you will not find a photo of one dead or alive. Sorry. I know u can Google a million photos of black panthers and all that. But the simple fact is in human history there has never been a large black cat. Puma, or leopard in north America. Ever. The closest possibility would be a black bobcat and the possibility of that is exactly 1/ 38,000. I doubt Kentucky even has 15000 wild bobcats....... from distances of over ten feet in a recent survey 16 out of 20 people were asked to guess the length of a board that was ten ft long leaned up against a 28 ft tree. 16 out of 20 people guessed the board to be over 15 foot tall. From 10 feet away. The truth is most people don't really have a good read on the actual size of things. Its proven in study after study. I'm sorry but none of you saw a large black cat. Half of you are mistaken and the other half are lying

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    1. I'm NOT a Liar nor did my eyes deceive me....I saw 2 Black LARGE Cats walk across Rt. 1274 as I was driving home...I had to stop in the road....and watched them cross and go up the hill...this was 2003....not far from Long Bow marina.

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    2. You are CRAZY, they may not be suppose to be here but they are. I grew up hearing them screem like a woman because our windows were always up with no fans. They have been seen by my sisters while hunting for cows. Black panthers have always been here in Menifee county Ky. My sister came home last year about 10:30 one morning got out of her car and there laid one at the edge of her yard in the hay field. They scared each other, she said it took off in leaps and it was gone. Scared her to death by it being so close to her house.

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  29. We lived in Pulaski County in the Bronston area. We lived at the edge of a large cedar thicket. We usually threw out our table scraps in the trees for wildlife such as racoons to eat. We would then watch from the house. I know the scale and distance because of it being our yard. There was a "black panther", as my folks used to call them, that walked down and began to eat. He was around 22 inches at the shoulder as measured by the knot on the side of a cedar tree. As odd as this sounds his color was dominatly black with very faint spots showing. This was in 1989 before cell phone cameras and home digital cameras. All I did was get up and he ran away. He had the long tail and large paws.

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  30. I live in Greenup County and we have had 5 separate sightings of a large black cat over the last two years. The latest sighting was this morning when the animal crossed the road in front of my wife's car. She described it as all the others have, black, big, with a long tail. She reported that it was as tall as one of our dogs that 24 inches tall at the shoulder. She said he was apparently following something and closing in on it. He did not appear to pay any attention to her or her car even though she was close to him. In addition, about two years ago, after a sighting I was able to find a track in the wet ground near a ditch. It was obviously a big cat who had made the print. We have tried to get assistance from the state fish and game people but all they want to say is that panthers don't live in Kentucky. So we are at our wits end as to how to deal with him. I'm an outdoorsman and hunter and I really don't want to destroy this animal but if push comes to shove, I have 7 grandchildren and I don't want that large cat around the property. So if he poses the slightest risk to people or any of my animals on the farm, I'll be happy to dispatch him.

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    1. Four years ago while deer hunting in Breckenridge county , I saw a tan/yellow mountain lion leap across a small gully. I know without a doubt what I saw , I was in a tower blind (tree stand) and heard something running very fast down and across the hill behind me , I thought from the sound of it that it must be a deer , knowing that the gully was located behind me , I turned around , rested my scoped rifle and waited for the deer to come to the gully , where I knew it would pause long enough for me to take a good shot at it. However to my surprise , it was not a deer but was a mountain lion and it appeared to be an adult mountain liou. I did not shoot at it , mostly due to being so shocked at what I saw.
      I reported what I saw to the Department of fish and wildlife and was practically called a liar , I was told that it was either a bobcat or a dog , I insisted that I knew what I had seen through the scope of my rifle , but was told that I had to be mistaken. I later found an article on the internet , where someone had an experience similar to mine and the person telling his experience of how the Dept. of fish and wildlife told him practically the same thing. Someone replied to his story and said that they were a retired game warden and that our Dept. of fish and wildlife is aware that we do have mountain lions in Ky but if it was admitted , that hunting would practically be banned in most of Ky because of fear that these mountain lions may be of (I believe this term to be correct) the eastern subspecies , which is almost extinct. I know without a doubt what I saw that morning , and I believe just like not all black bears are black but are a few different color phases , I believe this to be the case with these mountain lions.

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  31. On Jan 1, 2014, my husband and I seen a big black cat in the back yard going to and then walking off it is a ver beautiful animal this is outside Hodgenville KY in Laure county.

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  32. I live in Pike County Ky. Two weeks ago I was driving on 194 by Fishtrap Lake about 10:30pm I came out of curve in road. A big black cat was crossing road. I watched it from medium in road till it went under guard rail. It was about 2 and half to 3 ft tall. It had to lower its head to dart under guard rail. Its tail was really long curled back almost the length of its body. I have seen it twice the first time about a month ago. I just caught a glimpse and was not positive what I seen. But the second time I was certain what I saw. It was within 25 ft of truck when it went under guard rail. Just wanted to share story.

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  33. IN THE SEVENTYS WHEN I WAS IN MY TWENTIES I WAS RIDING MY HORSE ON THE FORT KNOX RESERVATION ON A PIPELINE. A BLACK COUGAR RAN ACROSS THE GRASS ABOUT TWENTY FEET IN FRONT OF ME. IT WAS RUNNING AND THE LOOSE BELLY SKIN WAS FLAPPING BACK AND FORTH, ITS TAIL WAS VERY THICK AND HIS HEAD WAS SMALLISH COMPAREDTO HIS BODY. I KNOW WHAT I SAW, I AM AN ANIMAL ARTIST AND AM VERY REALISTIC SO I HAVE TO STUDY ANIMALS. NOONE WILL EVER TELL ME THAT WHAT I SAW WAS NOT A COUGAR.

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  34. In Nov. of 2013 I saw a large black cat as my husband and I were walking up the lane from my Father's house to get the Sunday paper across Flat Fork Road in Carter Co. Ky. The cat looked like a panther. It had a long, sleek body with a tail that looked as long as the body. It crossed the lower field with 3 maybe 4 strides. It looked right at me, and its eyes were a yellow orange color. We haven't seen it since but we have heard other neighbors have seen it near the Fat Fork Church of God.

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  35. Sorry, Flat Fork Church of God.

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  36. No such thing as a black cougar people,please thousands of hunters and no bodies by now,please!

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  37. I was driving in northern Scott county on KY 620 on a sunny day in January,2017. As I came around a curve A large black cat crossed the road in front of me. I was the size of a large dog but it had a 3 foot long black tail with a curve near the end. It had glossy black fur and I could see the muscles in its rear legs as it leapt from the small cut in the side of the road into the brush. I always laughed at stories of large black cat in Kentucky but -- NO MORE! I was about 50 feet from this animal and my only thoughts were --What a beautiful animal.The image is burned in my mind forever.

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    1. Must of escaped from the circus David,or someone let a pet leopard or jag go or it escaped,because that is only poss explanation.

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    2. You are probably right but it sure was a memorable experience.

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  38. I seen one with kittens As you cross the bridge at wax over to hart county. So I knowwwwww panthers are here

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    1. Yes I seen a panther this morning..Explained the strange deer activity as well.

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