Thursday, January 16, 2014

Of Wood Apes, Black Panthers and Communication: A Reader Weighs In

I have received a couple of really good emails/comments over the last week or so. I truly enjoy a quality communication from an interested reader. Whether they agree with my take on a particular subject or not makes no difference. If the reader expresses his or her thoughts in a cogent manner and backs their ideas up with solid logic and facts, I am greatly encouraged. It means that intelligent and articulate folks, exactly who I am trying to reach, are taking time to stop by and read my blog. That is a pretty good feeling.

As I mentioned, I have received a couple of good emails/comments but I’m going to do separate posts on each. Here is the first communication. It came in the form of a comment to a post I did on an alleged wood ape sighting in SE Texas. First, the reader expresses his thoughts on the alleged wood ape sighting in Port Neches, TX (read posts on that sighting here and here) and then transitions to a discussion on black panthers.

“I too am originally from SE Texas (what is now known as Lumberton which while I was growing up there was known by several different names depending on exactly where you were located) and live in Central Texas, Copperas Cove to be exact. While viewing the photos you included with this, I opened Google Earth, and zoomed in on the spot where the alleged sighting and photo occurred. What immediately got my attention was the date of the satellite image 12-12-12. The next thing that I noticed was that the area where the "wood apes" were reported as having been, is for all intents and purposes an island with a fringe of trees, an open (marshy?) area and then a central forested area. This, along with your own issues concerning the location and conduct of the alleged wood apes causes much doubt in my mind as to Mr. Arceneaux's story.

As to the problem of having a lot of comments being anonymous, I think that is a matter of simplicity. Under "Select profile", the only choice listed that is practical for me (no Google account, live journal, word press...) is "Anonymous". I will save this site to "favorites" and check back regularly for a response.

As for the sightings of "black panthers" or whatever folks wish to call them, I've never seen a black one myself, but my dad swore he had one stalking him on Buckner's Prairie in Matagorda County while he and I were deer hunting in '69 and I have no reason to not believe his story. Dad was a WWII vet and was not easily rattled. He was visibly upset over that encounter. I have only seen cougars (regular golden colored, not black) on two occasions "in the wild" and faced the same skepticism from folks I related the sightings to as is commonly faced by folks who see the big black cats whatever they are. My first sighting was in Vermont in '92 while bow hunting at about 75 yards and of course because all the "experts" stated that "catamounts" had all moved to Quebec around 1900, I had to have confused a feral cat or bobcat for one. It did absolutely no good to counter those statements with facts such as having had a spooked bobcat run right at me in the woods the season prior or the size of the paw prints I found in the snow after watching the cat with a black tipped tail about as long as it's body glide through the woods and across the sugaring trail in front of me. I guess I went to rambling. I tend to do that sometimes although I am considered a quiet man with few words. Go figure.”


Other than the fact that I enjoyed this reader’s thoughts on the Port Neches sighting and the black panther phenomenon, I wanted to address his thoughts/concerns with not being able to leave more detail when commenting on a post. It is true that the system for leaving comments has its limitations. I really have no answer for that. The frustration I feel is not so much that people remain anonymous; rather, it stems from the fact that I’ve had several readers ask me to contact them but, since they remained anonymous, I had no way to do so. I hate to think that there are people out there that think I just blew them off. The solution to the problem is simple. Whenever a more detailed conversation is desired, just send me an email. That way, I can respond and a true conversation can take place.

I want to stress again that I want to hear from readers. I want to stress, too, that I very much want to reply to anyone that comments or writes in to me requesting me to do so. The best way for that to happen is to send me an email. I can be reached at Texascryptidhunter@yahoo.com.

I’ll look forward to hearing from all of you.

1 comment:

  1. I spoke to Mr. Arceneaux at the location he saw the 2 BF creatures. My sister and I went there & noticed him sitting in the car. When we got out we walked toward the marsh. He came over & introduced himself as the man who took the picture and posted the encounter. I asked him a ton of q's, and he let me view his phone w/ the pics. We believe him. Our mother is buried out in Oak Bluff Cemetery. It's marshy & wooded and BF can move from one location to the next along the river. He did not make it up. Too bad researchers who've spoken to him can't take him seriously. He told us some very interesting information.

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