Panther sightings increase in Pleasanton hills, Morgan Hill

[joosoon]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

This article notes that there were deer kills found in trees in the Las Trampas park in San Ramon. Mountain lions don't do that; that's a behavior of a true big cat like a leopard or panther.

"The cougar is an ambush predator that pursues a wide variety of prey. Primary food sources are ungulates, particularly deer..."


link


I'd guess all these panther sightings are just mountain lions, probably ones observed so briefly that they appear to be something else/colored darker than they are. We know for a fact mountain lions thrive in this state whereas more exotic cats don't (not that they probably couldn't). It's occam's razor at work.

[joosoon]

Originally Posted by Robert Waltrip

I kid you not! No drugs, no alcohol, no hallucinogens! no more than 10 minutes into the hike, and just coming down a small hill, an unbelievably huge black panther the size of a medium sized horse, with a back side that stood no less than an incredible 5 1/2 feet from the ground, and length wise, at least 9 feet (not including tail), suddenly appeared in front of us on the trail. All of us, including the huge Panther, instantly froze, looked at each other, and while both me and my friend stood their paralyzed with fear, as fast as you could say the word WTF (and simultaneously we did), the Panther took two large bounding leaps and instantly disappeared over the hill.

The thing about big cats that makes them good at their jobs is they are slinky, sneaky and silent. The here and there incidents of cougar attacks on humans usually paint a picture where the victim was stalked without even knowing it was happening. To reverse that role where humans are the ones surprising the cat, especially a specimen of near impossible stature like in your story, is pretty out there.


On the other hand, I've walked into the path of black bear in the backcountry, even with bells. In that case, the bear took off so quickly I barely even noticed it as a blur out of the corner of my eye.