Attack Panther “Like a Woolly Mammoth”

The photograph of the “Sidney Mystery Cat” taken in Maine late in June 2007.

Articles about incidents in British Columbia, Ontario, and Maine have appeared recently, detailing breaking news and updates about mountain lions, cougars, panthers, puma or whatever you wish to call these great cats (Puma concolor) of North America.

Here’s a roundup of panther news, from west to east:

A cougar attack has left Colton Reeb with strange memories, but little fear of the big cats that roam rural areas such as the B.C. Interior region where the 12-year-old was scratched and bitten this week.

“Colton remembers seeing the big eyes and the teeth and he says he remembers punching at it,” Colton’s father, Robin Reeb, told a news conference [on August 3] at BC Children’s Hospital where Colton is in good condition with multiple lacerations to his face and scalp.

“He says it kind of felt like a woolly mammoth to him.”

* * *

The boy was with [Teri] Patterson, her husband Marc, and their 12-year-old daughter Larah at the couple’s cabin near the village of Clinton when Colton was jumped by the cougar while going to the outhouse after dinner on Wednesday night [August 1, 2007].

Marc Patterson has been called a hero – “He’s a superhero to us,” Mr. Reeb said – for taking on the 27-kilogram cat, kicking and punching it, and pulling it off the boy. [For more click on:]Animal Attack, by Ian Bailey, August 4, 2007, Globe and Mail.

Meanwhile, in London, Ontario, the debate rages on about whether or not cougars are being seen or not. In an article entitled “Cougar presence still lacks evidence,” published on August 3, 2007, as the headline would seem to indicate is skeptical.

But within the article, it notes: “The city and police have received 32 reports of cougar sightings in four general areas: in the west from Byron to Lambeth; in the northeast near the Thames River, east of Adelaide Street; in south central London, near Exeter Road along Dingman Creek; and east central London, south of Wilton Grove along Dingman Creek.”

Despite finding fecal material and hair, “Natural Resources officials won’t send the evidence for DNA testing at its wildlife lab at Trent University unless it meets criteria that warrants further testing.”

While tracks from dogs and other animals may be being confused with some of the new cat prints, “during the last few years, there have been hundreds of cougar sightings across the province, including in London and the outlying area. In May [2007], Frank Mallory, a professor at Sudbury’s Laurentian University, announced DNA evidence of a cougar had been found in Wainfleet Conservation Area near Port Colborne.”

Onward to Maine, where in a recent article, it also gives a skeptical headline, “Cougar sights may indicate imported cats,” perhaps too quickly. The Sun Journal may be jumping the gun before any DNA results have been analyzed.

Oxford – After a rash of reported sightings of cougars this summer from Oxford to Sidney, there’s no doubt in the minds of Maine Warden Service Major Gregg Sanborn or service spokesman Mark Latti that a cougar or two might be in Maine.

The catch, however, is that both suspect the alleged mountain lions, pumas or panthers, as these big cats are also called, were probably trucked in from out of state as pets that either escaped or were freed.

“It’s very possible and it wouldn’t surprise me at all,” Sanborn said by phone late Thursday afternoon in Augusta. “Of course, it would be illegal and very hard to prove. But the loser of this is the animal. It’s being kept out in captivity and then turned loose, so it’s going to eat whatever’s easiest, like garbage from garbage cans or pet cats.”

“Could there be a single mountain lion, puma or panther here? Certainly,” Latti said by phone Tuesday in Augusta. “But it could be either an escaped pet or one that someone brought to Maine and couldn’t care for it and let it go.

“We know we don’t have a native population of mountain lions, or we’d be seeing plenty of evidence out there like deer kills, reports from hunters or trappers, or even road kills. But it’s just not happening.”

Importing a mountain lion or any other non-native wildlife, bird, amphibian or fish species into Maine without first getting a permit, or possessing species considered to be exotic without a permit are Class E misdemeanor crimes punishable by fines ranging from $100 to $2,000, and substantial jail time, Sanborn said.

“It’s quite a big deal. We get numerous requests from people who want to bring their exotic animals to the state of Maine, animals that may be native to Florida and other states but not here. We run into it frequently,” Sanborn said.

Last year, wardens removed huge snakes from a trailer that were in Maine illegally, and Warden Neal Wykes took a three-foot alligator found in Maine Audubon’s farm pond in Falmouth and gave it to the York Wild Animal Kingdom Zoo. Another alligator about the same size was discovered in 2000 in Kennebunkport, Latti said.

“When we get wind that someone’s got exotics, we try to go and bring them into compliance. Most of the time, it’s ignorance. People go to an animal pet store in New Jersey, get something, put it in their VW microvan and drive to Maine. We explain the situation to them and say, ‘These are your choices, either take it back to the pet store or, here’s your warning. It’s going to cost you big dollars.’ People don’t realize that trade in wildlife is a big business, but we have to take it serious,” Sanborn said.

To legally bring exotic critters into Maine, people must either be involved in professional husbandry, like the owners of the York Wild Animal Kingdom Zoo; or research, like that done at Jackson Lab in Bar Harbor, the world’s largest mammalian genetic research facility; or for therapy, because it benefits a person, he said.

Additionally, the critter must usually be on Maine’s list of allowed exotic species, a list that is currently being revamped.

Although mountain lions have yet to be found in Maine or documented through photography, reports of sightings annually top any other non-native animal, Latti said.

“Most cougar sightings are quickly resolved as bobcats and even big house cats. I remember a time in the middle of the winter when I saw a 40-pound bobcat feeding on fresh road-killed deer in a ditch beside the interstate. It was a gorgeous bobcat. Two hours later, we got a report of a mountain lion sighted on the interstate there, and I knew exactly what it was,” Sanborn said.“Cougar sights may indicate imported cats,” by Terry Karkos , Staff Writer, Friday, July 27, 2007,

Unfortunately, nature sometimes is not so easy to figure out. Bobcats have been seen at the same place that a mountain lion might frequent, as they both can be attracted, for example, by the same roadkill. It has happened. But then, of course, Sanborn never checked, so we don’t know, do we, if it occurred in the instance he gives for Maine?

In general, without DNA results one way or the other discussed or acknowledged, the overall editorial tone of this article merely gives some indication of the approach of the wildlife officials. These are the same officials who refused to even come out and look at the roadkill that created so much of a stir last year around the “Maine Mutant” non-mystery. That mystery could have been “officially” solved immediately, if they would have merely looked.

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

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