More Black Panthers

Just minutes ago, on the way to the library to post this blog, I got a black panther sighting from J.R. Eddy, a middle-aged man. As a boy, he had seen a black panther on the New River.
Yesterday, Audrey Wise, an eighty-one year old woman and a native Floridian, and I made a little expedition to Lake Butler, Florida to look for panthers. I saw seven deer, including one with antlers, a rabbit, and a wet hawk sitting of a fence post.
Mikah Singleton, another black panther researcher and a good telephone buddy, in Georgetown, South Carolina, has just begun a twenty-four hour panther hotline for South Carolina. His number is 843-267-4896. He has received a very interesting sighting: A woman driving along a rural road about twenty-five minutes from Mikah's house saw two black panthers walking along the side of the road. She eased her car up to them and saw that one was carrying a kitten in her mouth. I have read that panthers will change their dens frequently probably to escape flea infestations and to minimize the chances of predators finding the dens. Mother panther is reported to stay away from her young as long as thirty-six hours while she tries to bring down food for them. She has to have them well hidden if they are to survive foxes, coyotes, bears, dogs, and even snakes. The woman told Mikah that the cub was not solid black but a mix of brown and black.
In all my reported sightings, cubs of black panther mothers, have been solid black. However, I don't recall any of the reporters being as close to the cubs as this woman was. John Lusk, Director of the Eastern Puma Field Research Society, has told me that he has reported sightings of black panther mothers with cubs who were not solid black.
Mikah is coming at the black panther controverys from a public safety perspective: People should know that there is a large, black cat frequently being seen. I agree with that but am afraid people will begin shooting them. In gathering my reports of sightings, several women have stated both verbally and on paper that they were frightened by the unexpected appearance of a large, black cat on the road. One woman said that she and a man driving another car both pulled off the road because they were so shaken by the large, black cat that crossed the road in front of them.
If Fish and Wildlife or the Department of Natural Resources doesn't want to recognize the black color phase of the puma or panther, they should at least notify the public that people are reporting large, black cats crossing roads. That way, people will not be so upset when they see one. That would be the decent thing to do for the folks who are paying their salaries and paying for everything they use at work. Several years ago, two young women, including a sheriff's deputy, crashed their cars at night and died in Union County. One woman was killed at the spot where another woman had told me that she had unexpectedly seen a black panther, and it had frightened her. I wonder if the two young women who died had seen a black panther, become confused, even frightened, and had lost control of their cars.