Dick Ford Animations - Wildlife Camera Project

Black Panther in Mize, Mississippi: This deer is stepping over a log 23 feet from the camera position; the big black cat is stepping over the same log. The cluster of oak leaves to the left, between the camera and the cat, is 14 feet away; the cluster of gum leaves to the right is 19 feet away; the vine in the forground is 3 feet away. The vine is the same one in the bobcat picture (below). Unless there is some optical trick involving the cat jumping through the air so it appears further away than it really is, this cat is nearly as large as the deer. The two pictures were taken 12/2/2004 at 1PM and 3:20PM; the camera didn't move. I took more pictures from the same location with the same camera including a 2 foot ruler at the log to confirm the scale that the big cat is really large and not a trick of perspective. Black panthers and Florida panthers are officially said to be non-existent in Mississippi, but many rural people hear the unmistakable sound they make like a woman screaming. This USA TODAY story includes footage taken by the American Human Society including a black panther in an unlicensed zoo cage 30 miles from Mize. The black cat above could be an escaped zoo animal, perhaps an African black leopard. Three frames in sequence.