For decades, people across the United States have reported something that science insists shouldn’t exist:
A jet-black mountain lion.
From rural Texas to the Appalachian Mountains, eyewitnesses have described large black cats slipping through the woods, crossing roads at night, or appearing briefly on trail cameras before vanishing again. Some call them “black panthers” but most are describing a mountain lion-totally black in color.
A recent report of a possible mountain lion near Sacramento International Airport turned out to be something very different. According to KCRA, the animal spotted lying in a muddy canal was not a cougar at all, but an abandoned French bulldog.
The dog was rescued and taken to a shelter after wildlife responders determined it had likely been dumped. While the story quickly went viral, it also highlighted a familiar issue in wildlife reporting: misidentification.
When you think of animals that look like a mountain it’s of course the French bulldog.
But misidentification doesn’t mean reports should be dismissed outright. It means they should be verified.
That distinction matters when discussing mountain lions, especially outside the western United States. In many regions, cougars are still considered absent based on official range maps. When sightings occur outside those boundaries, they are often written off immediately.
Sometimes that’s justified. Sometimes it isn’t.
I recently documented clear photographic evidence of mountain lions outside the accepted range, taken in East Texas. These images are not folklore or rumor. They are photographs evaluated in context with known mountain lion anatomy, behavior, and dispersal patterns.
I break down the evidence and what it does and does not suggest — in this video:
Mountain Lions Where They’re Not Supposed to Be (Photographic Evidence from East Texas) 👉Click here to watch.
The Sacramento case ended with a dog being rescued because someone took a report seriously enough to investigate. That same principle applies everywhere.
Verification matters.
Chester Moore
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A family hike turned into a fight for survival when a father, his wife, their toddler, and infant daughter came face-to-face with a mountain lion. Dark Outdoors dives deep into the wilderness dangers that most people never see coming.
On this gripping episode of Dark Outdoors,® we recount the terrifying true story of a family’s dangerous encounter with a mountain lion.
What began as an ordinary hike quickly spiraled into a life-or-death struggle when a father, hiking with his wife, three-year-old son, and infant daughter strapped to his chest, came face-to-face with one of nature’s most feared predators.
Listeners will hear how this quiet day on the trail turned into a desperate fight for survival. With his young children and wife at risk, every decision mattered. The father’s quick thinking, protective instincts, and raw courage kept his family alive against all odds.
This episode goes beyond the story itself, exploring the realities of mountain lion behavior, how families can prepare for dangerous wildlife encounters, and what survival experts recommend if you ever come face-to-face with a predator in the wild.
What you’ll learn in this episode:
A firsthand account of a family’s mountain lion encounter on the trail.
How a father protected his wife, toddler, and infant from a deadly threat.
Survival insights and safety tips for hikers and families in mountain lion country.
The hidden dangers of hiking with young children — and how to prepare.
If you’re fascinated by true survival stories, wildlife encounters, and the resilience of the human spirit, this episode will keep you on the edge of your seat.
The existence of mountain lions (cougars) in East Texas has been a controversial topic over the last 50 years.
Wildlife officials have balked at their existence and at one point their distribution was officially designated as living only West of Interstate 35 with breeding populations only in the Trans Pecos (far West Texas) and the South Texas Brush Country.
The fact is cougars are native in East Texas and have never been eliminated completely.
They are indigenous to the entire Lower 48, much of Canada and extend their range into the southern tip of South America.
When wildlife was wiped out in the late 1800s and early 1900s cougars like everything else declined. But as science-based wildlife management took root whitetail populations rose from 500,000 continent-wide to 25 million.
Cougar populations rose too.
It is my opinion through much research and many interviews they never left East Texas but they did decline and their seems to be ample of evidence more are showing up in the region.
In 2010-11 I reached out to many hunters, hunting clubs and wildlife enthusiasts and was given three different photos of cougars taken in that span in Newton and Jasper Counties. These photos were never circulated on the Internet. These were firsthand accounts. I thought I had lost these but was recently able to recover an old computer and found them.
These two photo were taken near Newton, the seat of Newton County on the Louisiana border. They were taken a few miles apart a fairly short time apart and me and the taker of the second photo believe it’s the same cat.
My beautiful picture
This next photo is a much larger cat-a mature male (no doubt) and this was taken on a hunting club in Jasper County. This is not the same animal and was taken the previous year.
These are not grainy shots with a motion blur showing a bobcat with the tail obscured. These are actual mountain lions and none of them showed up on the Internet before I published them in a series I was doing at the time in the Port Arthur News.
I get photos of cats sent to me multiple times a week for identification. Some think they’ve seen a black panther while others are wondering if they got a cougar.
The vast majority of the “cougar” photos are bobcats. People have a hard time judging scale and recognizing bobcats actually do have tails and some of them are pretty long.
Some of these “cougars” are actually feral house cats.
And I don’t fault anyone for misidentification. Not everyone is a wildlife expert.
But there are cougars out there west of Interstate 35 in Texas and there are legitimate photos and videos nows from Louisiana, Arkanas and other states.
There certainly isn’t a dense population like those that exist in Colorado or even the Trans Pecos of Texas but there are cougars out there. They have a big range and I believe they are reestablishing themselves in areas where many have thought them extinct for decades.
They are in East Texas.
How many? No one knows but their existence is unquestionable.
If you have photos or videos of cougars -mountain lions -or of any mysterious cat email me at chester@chestermoore.com. I would love to see the photos and can maybe share some insights with you.
Cougars are amazing animals and their ability to remain elusive is what makes them so special. I’m grateful we have trail cameras now to even the odds a bit and give us a look at their lives in the wild areas-even of East Texas.
Chester Moore
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A recent photograph from Port Arthur, TX has sparked debate about whether the animal captured on camera is a cougar (mountain lion) or just an ordinary domestic house cat.
Southeast Texas is within the cougar’s range, despite some state officials downplaying their presence over the years.
They are not common here but they do inhabit the greater Southeast Texas area and are technically native to all of the Lower 48. Actually, they’re native from Canada all the way to Argentina.
A cougar looking quite intense. (Photo by Chester Moore)
Upon close inspection of the photo in question the animal in my opinion is a large domestic cat, made to appear more imposing due to its distance from the camera.
Perspective can play tricks, and this in my opinion is a classic case of misidentification—a phenomenon I’ve encountered many times in my investigations of alleged cougar sightings.
People make mistakes in identifying things in blurry pictures. It happens.
Over the years, I’ve analyzed numerous photos that were believed to depict cougars. In many instances, these turned out to be domestic cats or even bobcats, their true size exaggerated by camera angles or distances.
Something I noticed about the animal in the photos is the size of the paws. They are domestic cat size in proportion to the body.
Cougars have big paws from juveniles to adults. I have included a photo of me when I filmed with a young cougar in 2013 at a zoological facility.
See how big the paws are?
I have a full body cougar mounted in my office that I inherited years ago. The cat was probably 120 pounds. Notice the paws in comparison to my fairly large hand.
I cast a cougar track around 2010 in Orange County and had a sighting there when I was a teenager at a very close range that I have documented here.
These cats will show up in our area but I am in agreement with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department official consulted by the news agency here.
They said it was most likely a domestic house cat.
I believe it is one as well.
And this comes from someone who has written many articles about these cats in East Texas.
I just don’t believe we’re looking at one here.
I will be glad to be proven wrong with clearer photographic evidence but I don’t see that happening in this situation.
Chester Moore
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A cougar (mountain lion) has reportedly killed a man from Hood County, TX.
According to the Hood County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were told Christopher Allen Whiteley (age 28) was missing and last seen on 12-2-20 in the early morning hours.
Photo by Chester Moore
Deputies checked a wooded area nearby and eventually found Whiteley, who was found deceased.
Whiteley’s body was sent to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. The preliminary findings say he died from a wild animal attack, possibly a mountain lion.
Sherriff’s Office officials said they contacted a Governmental Trapper with the USDA, who specializes in tracking and removing mountain lions.
The Hood County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Game Wardens, and the Governmental Trapper are working on locating the mountain lion.
Animal attacks bring out many responses from the public and various animal interests. Undoubtedly there will be controversy surrounding this so I want to address the following points.
Cougars are native to the region-despite what some will report. Although not common in Hood County, cougars are known to dwell there and it’s part of their native range. In fact, officials with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department verified on Dec. 1 a cougar sighting near Rowlett which is 111 miles to the northeast of the attack.
Someone will blame a cat sanctuary. In every single instance of cougar attacks I have seen outside of deep wilderness, naysayers claim it is the result of someone keeping a cougar as a pet and escaping or an escapee from a small zoo or sanctuary. I will go out on a limb here and say this was a wild cat, not an escaped captive.
Someone will blame the victim. Cougars kill people It’s not often but tell that to the man who lost his life here and his family. People will say the man shouldn’t have been in the woods, cougars were here first and similar pathetic excuses for the fact they do kill. Cougars are awesome. I believe in their conservation but blaming humans for every animal attack has got to go.
Blame another animal. Last year we reported on a fatal hog attack near Anahuac, TX and people defended hogs saying a person or perhaps dogs killed the woman, not hogs. A cougar attack has specific evidence that is hard to miss. It is most likely a cougar.
Sherriff’s Dept. officials said the public in the Lipan area are urged to be mindful of their surroundings and keep young children and animals inside at night.
“The safety of Hood County Citizens are my priority one, but please don’t interfere with the process of locating the animal and stay clear of the area being actively worked by officials,” said Sheriff Roger Deeds
According to Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) officials there have been four cougar attacks on people since 1980 in Texas, all of them in the Trans Pecos region.
The author has been interested in cougars since childhood. Here he gets an up close look at a baby cougar on a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department radio-collaring mission in 1997. He got to accompany for a special story on cougars.
This is the first modern era attack I have reported on outside of the Trans Pecos.
Seeing a cougar is a great thrill.
But these are potentially dangerous animals.
Perhaps it’s time for more cougar education in Texas as game cameras and this recent attack along with the aforementioned TPWD-verified sightings are showing these great cats in areas people don’t expect to encounter them.
We should certainly manage these great animals for population viability but keep in mind that means managing cougars around people and people around cougars.
