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I'm a long time lurker, but very infrequent poster.
I wanted to share an experience I had yesterday around 1 pm in Colonel Francis Beatty Park.
I was enjoying a walk around the lake and on the mountain bike trails with my mother and the family dog, a standard poodle. We had just passed another family of hikers, and had come out of the woods into an area of brush abutting a horse pasture about 200 yards from the road.
Suddenly 50-60 yards in front of us we saw what looked like an unleashed jet black dog with short pointed ears. As it paced towards us, and no owner came into view behind, we began to reconsider if it was in fact a dog.
My mother remembers seeing yellow eyes; I remember a very deliberate, cat like walk. It stared at us fearlessly and stalked forward. Instinctively we turned and began walking the other way. It then darted into the bush.
Folks, I suspect we saw a black panther.
But is this even possible? Is it more likely we saw something else (a black coyote?). Whatever it is, Colonel Francis Beatty Park is a pretty heavily visited place. I'm thinking some other folks must have seen it too.
That's what I was thinking. I often go to that park and see roaming cats that likes to taunt my dog. Especially when you said it walked to you purposefully.
But is this even possible? Is it more likely we saw something else (a black coyote?). Whatever it is, Colonel Francis Beatty Park is a pretty heavily visited place.
We have had posts in the past from very reliable people (hunters, sheriff deputies, etc) spotting something that they were certain was a type of "cat" and much too large to be any type of house cat. Several folks referred to the "cat" as being either very very dark brown or black.
Those sightings have typically been outside the city limits.
But yes, we have had people mention what they could only describe as a black cougar/mountain line (or panther-like) creature in and around MECK.
The official word is that there are no such cougars/pumas in this region.
However, I am not convinced as I have had family members and LE describe to me some very odd encounters with animals that sure were described as cougars or mountain lions (none with a black "cat" though - the ones they describe - and one sighting was within the last month - were for a tan colored "cat").
Now, bobcats can be a very dark color . . . but they are rarely over 25-30 lbs, tops. And they really do look a lot like a domestic cat, rather than a cougar/puma/mountain lion (whatever you want to call that type of cat).
I guess if no other evidence turns up of a large cat predator near the park, I'll reluctantly conclude it was a coyote.
Whatever it was, it was a predator, and big enough, and fearless enough in the presence of two adults and a dog, to inspire a a mild sense of fear.
It didn't run away from us.
We turned, instinctively, and walked quickly away from it.
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Especially when you said it walked to you purposefully.
