Black Cougars

[turkey slayer]

Is there such a thing as a black cougar? I was talking to a guy yesterday that says he seen one above Waterville/East Wenatchee a mouth or so ago.

[Slider]

Yea they are all over!!!

[agchawk]

Well, I suppose it COULD happen. After all, melanism can occur in most species so it's possible. I have never seen or heard of one myself though.

Would be really cool to see a pic of one!

[littlebuf]

is Haley Berry old enough to count?

[PolarBear]

 
That's funny cuz it's true!
What about Esther Rolle? 

[turkey slayer]

Thanks guys

[videoman]

Don't leave Whoopie out of the pic.

[whacker1]

I believe they were made by Mercury

[luvtohnt]

Many species of large cats have dark (melanistic) color phases that crop up occasionally in wild populations - notably leopards and jaguars - but no example of a melanistic cougar has ever been produced in North America. Some South American populations of cougar have been reported to produce melanistic individuals but concrete evidence of this seems to be lacking and these animals may be a different but similar species of cat that is mistaken for a cougar.

Large black cats have been reported in North America since earliest colonial times (long before the importation of alien species) but none have ever been shot or captured. At the time of first contact jaguars ranged as far north as Georgia and Arkansas and these animals do produce melanistic individuals but of course it's highly unlikely that they ever occurred in New England where many of the early reports of black cats originated. So unless there's another species of large cat roaming North America that somehow managed to avoid discovery for the last four hundred years reports of these animals must be based on optical illusions or tricks of light.

More recent (20th century) reports of large black cats are most likely black panthers (melanistic leopards) that have either escaped captivity or been released by owners unable or unwilling to care for them. It's significant that reports of black cats increased markedly (at least in Illinois) after the laws concerning ownership of wild cats changed in the 80's. Most recent sightings of these animals seem to describe feral leopards rather than cougars.

http://www.naturealmanac.com/cougars/faqs.html#black

Brandon

[7mag.]

I think they are Bigfoots pets.

[Houndhunter]

i watched a documentry about lions, it talked about black ones somewhere in europe i beleive but im not sure bout that. anyways they even had one in capitivty, said it was just the genes in that area sometimes had that trait so they do exist

[SHANE(WA)]

There was one running around south of Spokane in the browns mt area a couple of years ago, some people got pics of it, was on the news here.

[firecrotch]

i guess one ran through walla walla community college campus a couple years back.

[jager]

I am sure there are. I think that most of the time they are misidentified because of shadows and the way light will hit something.
I was told by a couple different landowners a number of years ago that that they had seen a black or melanistic cougar. They lived several miles away from each other and the stories were told to me a few years apart.
It's entirely possible but extremely rare.

Heres a couple pics:
The mount has a black chin.
The other pic I pulled off the .www

[JoshT]

Maybe... but "sorry I had a fight in the middle of your black cougar party" just doesn't sound as cool.