“March 19 2016 I am a gate guard in Tilden Texas and yesterday night I killed two rats and put them about Twenty yards out my bus door I had my door window open and heard some growling I looked out and didn't see anything so I stared for awhile and damn a large black cat came from under my bus and ran and grabbed one of the rats. It was at least 4 foot long with a huge tail. I'm going to try and get a picture next time to send to you. And by the way the other rat got eating by a coyote.”
- Anonymous
TCH Comment: Tilden is an unincorporated community in McMullen County approximately 60 miles to the south of San Antonio at the intersection of state highways 16 and 72. The climate here is typical of south Texas in that it is hot and dry during the summer and enjoys mild winters. The Frio River flows to the west and north of the town until it joins up with San Miguel Creek and empties into Choke Canyon Reservoir. The creek and river are paralleled by a greenbelt through which all manner of wildlife travels on a regular basis. The Tilden area is sparsely populated though the Eagle Ford Shale boom has provided a boost over the last few years. Despite this increase in population, there is ample room and resources for a big cat to roam.
My first thought upon reading the report and seeing where the visual took place was that the cat seen might have been a large feral or, possibly, a jaguarundi. It is true that McMullen County is farther north than these furtive cats are thought to live but not far enough to make the thought of one making its way there absurd. The fact is, nobody is really sure how many of these cats live in Texas or how far north their habitat extends. Having said that, if the witness is accurate in his estimation of size, he did not see a jaguarundi. What he did see is open for speculation.
Here is the link to my interactive black panther map. Visit it and click on the pins for a short description of each sighting and the date it occurred.
I happened upon this site by accident, searching black bobcats cause i recently took a kitten from my dads house in east texas...hes a bobtail and hes black with stripes seen only in bright light. His back legs are almost too big for his body and other physical structures on him differ very much from what my true 8yearold manx was like when he was a newborn. There are no short tail breeds around my dads outside borderline feral cats except for the local bobcat population... which stroll through his yard regularly. That aside, you should probably put zavalla, tx on your map. I'm quite surprised its not there already. My father, myself, my little brother, and quite of few of my friends have sighted panthers near his property on mutiple occassions. I, personally, had 4 different sightings between 1998-2005. After which, I moved to New Orleans. The last time my dad said he saw one was last summer, 2015, while sitting outside at dusk. These lovely giants are definately thriving in the east Texas area, that anyone denies it is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteAddendum to my previous comment, what i saw on multiple occassions at my dads house in Zavalla, Tx. Is as i would descibe, of mountain lion size. Of my sightings, 2 were in broad daylight... and could not have been anything but a cat that large. Definately wasnt something that weighed 20-25 lbs.
ReplyDeleteI came across your site searching for possible answers to what my daughter saw. We live in Del Rio, Tx and my daughter (21 not a child btw) was out walking one of our huskies, when she saw a large black cat run across the street, from the neighborhood into the brush in an undeveloped area. She came running in the house, scared, saying she's just seen a black panther. I told her we don't have panthers in Texas but she said it was about the size of our huskies, with a long tail and jet black. I spoke to our neighbors across the street about it because their house is adjacent to that undeveloped area, and they said they have been hearing two large cats in the evenings, for about a month now. They said it sounds like a child a screaming. The property the cat ran to eventually goes back into ranch land and Mexico. Any ideas what my daughter saw?
ReplyDeleteI would love to show you the photos of a large female and a smaller cat near Tildon. I'm about 200lb and have very large hands. My fist was swallowed by the size of the adults paw print. This is a high fence ranch with massive white tail. I think these cats are eating well.
ReplyDeleteStephen, that would be great. Could you email them to me at Texascryptidhunter@yahoo.co?
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