The legends of black cats living in the Piney Woods of Texas have long been told, but whether they’re fact or fiction remains to be seen. Black panther tales dating back close to two centuries speak of an eerie scream like that of a woman said to accompany a sighting of these dark and mysterious beasts in East Texas. Although the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has stated that black panthers do not exist in the Lone Star State, those who have spotted something dark, sleek, and strange (which a TPWD biologist has said is more likely a black hog or an otter) are filled with fear at the sight of it.
Tales of missing pets or livestock, their disemboweling, and sometimes their remains being found hanging high in the trees have fueled beliefs by East Texans that a black beast of some sort resides in the Piney Woods. They say the cries people hear are piercing in the night, and one you wouldn’t soon forget if it happened to fall on your ears. But why or how is it that such stories would begin to unfold?
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Before World War II, the gulf marshes of East Texas were enormous fields of sea cane. It’s said that as the evening light disappeared, black panthers would emerge from the sea cane marshlands en route to higher ground, in search of a meal. It was also said that their prey could consist of livestock or humans. During the Civil War, the East Texas families of Confederate Army soldiers would tell how their windows were barred and shuttered at night in an effort to keep out panthers. Over the course of the late 1800s, there were a number of articles printed with respect to “panther” attacks, including some victims who were said to be eaten, but it should be noted that many of these, unless otherwise stated, were likely cougars, rather than black panthers.
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The Galveston Weekly printed one such story in 1874. It spoke of the horrible end which a man suffered on a trip to deliver provisions in Louisiana by wagon. The article stated he had only been gone approximately 15 minutes when locals witnessed his team of horses running back on their own. When they set out in search of him, they claim to have seen his body lying in the road being gnawed on by a huge panther. They left to return with firearms, and again found the panther intently devouring the victim. Although they took aim and fired, the beast was reported to have disappeared into the Piney Woods. A similar account from 1881 told of a brazen attack by two such cats on two black men near what would now be known as Lumberton. The victims fought back with clubs and lived to tell the tale, but with very little clothing left to speak of. Still, a third article published in the Galveston Daily News told of a young boy and his dogs having an encounter with a panther that resulted in the boy’s father (a steamboat captain) having the cat stuffed and mounted as a trophy in the steamer’s pilot house.
Even now, more than 150 years later, reports of black cat sightings by East Texans remain consistent. In the early ‘80s, a Houston County woman claimed to have spotted a black panther on the hood of an old car as she approached her home at dusk, following a nursing shift. As she tried to get closer in her own vehicle, she said it disappeared into a thicket. In 1999, a Houston County couple say they witnessed a black panther vanishing off into the woods just past a local goat farm. The man used a spotlight, with which they both claimed to have watched it make a hasty retreat, barely seeming to even touch the ground, it was so stealthy. By their estimate, it was at least six feet in length, minus the tail.
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In 2009, a Palestine, Texas, man was taking a family trail ride when he spied a calf carcass hanging up in the tall pine trees. He explained that their horses were spooked and began anxiously dancing around the trails. They even developed a nervous, sweaty lather resulting from their obvious fear coupled with the East Texas heat and humidity. He had stopped to calm his horse while the others moved on, when he felt something warm dripping down on him. Upon looking upward, he viewed the remains of a calf hanging over some branches at approximately 20 feet, after which he and the rest of his party hurriedly made their exit from the area.
Stories of these elusive black panthers or signs of such continue to be told throughout East Texas. Many residents remain convinced they take up refuge in the Piney Woods. For some, the only evidence they need to know they exist comes from the eerie sounds heard in the dense forests, carried through the air on still nights.
