Panther Seen In Angier?
July 14, 2009
There have been a few reports of a black cat like animal, believed to be a panther, seen outside of the town of Angier NC. The latest sighting happened over the 4th of July when two individuals observed the animal feeding one night on a road killed deer.
We had just left a July Fourth celebration and were driving along when, all of a sudden, she asked me if I saw it,” Mr. Liles said. “She said she saw a black panther snarling and growling as we drove past.”
The couple turned the car around, turned on the high beams and sure enough, they say, the black panther was “feasting on a dead deer,” Mr. Liles said.
He said it was “a large animal with a black, silky coat – a ferocious-looking animal with brilliant lime green eyes with a noticeably long, black tail.”
Mr. Liles said the large cat was nearly 3 feet tall and would estimate the animal weighed between 60 to 100 pounds.
“I was shocked when, as we passed, I could see him snarling,” Ms. Woods said. “He showed all of his teeth. I actually looked the panther directly into his eyes.”
A large blood stain now sits along the eastbound lane of Benson Road near Ben Gardner’s home. Remnants of deer fur is all that is left.
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission officer for that area does not dispute the possibility that a panther is living in the area.
According to he does not discount the appearance of a panther. He said, however, he had never seen one.
“I am not disputing their account, it is just that I have never personally seen a panther in these parts,” Mr. Ellington said. “We do get one to two reports of either a mountain lion, an Eastern cougar or black panther sightings in the area, though.”
Mr. Ellington said it is possible someone had legally or illegally acquired an exotic panther, kept him in captivity and either released him to the wild or it may have escaped.
During the past four to five years, Wildlife officers have reported three panthers were found shot near a dumpster in Edenton in Chowan County. The panthers have cat tattoos in their ears, indicating they were exotic animals and had, at some point, been in captivity.
Mr. Ellington said with the Black River backing up to a swamp, conditions could be conducive for carnivores, which tend to eat beavers, otters, muskrats and mink in a desolate area.
Hopefully someone with a camera will capture some images of this critter in the near future. A black animal feeding on a dead deer could also be a black bear or a coyote, both more likely to be seen then a panther or a cougar. However the witness descriptions better fit the panther and the possibility one was released or escaped is a possibility. Will continue to follow this story especially seeing where it is within fairly close proximity to my house.
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