A BLACK PANTHER WAS WATCHING ME

I used to live in the wooded area of Owensburg, Indiana. One late afternoon in October 2003, I decided to take Mike, my red and white Bassett hound, for a walk on our land.

Mike was lame, when a neighbors pickup truck struck Mike one morning when he darted into the road. The accident had left him seriously injured. Mike had dislocated hips and one injured leg that required surgery..The surgery was successful and Mike recovered from his injuries.

Mike was not detoured by his old injury. He was soon able to run again. He limped with a stiff leg. He could move quickly when he felt like it!

Sometimes we'd take a walk through the woods. Mike would lead us up a small hill. We would walk through an open meadow. We loved to play and bask in the warmth of the sun!

Our neighbors lived close to us. They were not within sight.. They lived across the road from us. They had a long winding driveway that lead across a creek to their home.

Our neighbors, Ken and Sue Hawkins had recently bought a double wide home. They now lived on a hill overlooking the creek bed.

Close to their property was a hidden ice cave. .I had visited this wondrous hidden cave, a few times.

It was the only cave in this country that produced ice in the summertime!.I once lead a newspaper reporter, from The Bloomington Herald Times, to this interesting cave..The cave was caved in, but it also had a corridor, that lead to a 50 foot drop,

The reporter was fascinated when a neighbor of ours, Joe, brought up a handful of ice, from a caved in section of the cave. Its the only ice cave known in America. Its a good place to hide in, for animals and humans alike.

Despite Mike's lameness, and the cold weather, Mike always loved to walk with me. At this time, we owned a couple of acres of land.

We had plenty of land to roam on. Most of our land consisted of oaks, pines, black walnuts, apple, hickory nuts, persimmon trees, and flowers. Our woods were located on the right side of our property. We had a natural spring situated next to the woods. We had a lovely scenic route to explore and travel on. Often we would forage for morel mushrooms and ginseng in the spring and summer.

It was cold and windy, on this particular day. A chill ran through me, as I gathered my scarf around my neck.The trees were bare, except for the large pines, that sat on our small hill. They were fully loaded with pine cones.

We had a man-made pond which was nestled close to this one lovely pine tree that I loved. I enjoyed the view as I walked twenty rounds, around our property,

Mike and I walked from the front yard, to the back and then back around to the front..We"d been walking for about 45 minutes.

It was getting near dusk. I decided I wanted to walk one more lap around the yard.

Just as I was passing around the front of the yard, something caught my attention. Out of the corner of my eye..I saw something unusual.

 I glanced across the road. I saw a large black animal sitting up. He was alert. He was watching me, as he sat by the side of the road. He was sitting near the end of Ken's driveway.

I immediately thought It was "Jake",  Ken's black Labrador. I lifted my hand up in greeting, and yelled "HI Jake" He did not respond.

He sat there, quietly, erect, watching us. It was odd because Jake, would always come running across the road to greet me and Mike. This time there was no response.

Immediately, I knew something was wrong.. I had a strange intuitive feeling, that I needed to get Mike into the house..As a psychic, I trusted my intuition. I walked Mike across our yard.

Mike never saw the strange black animal sitting there at the end of the lane. Quickly, I took Mike safely into our house.

I told my husband Steve, that something was wrong outside. I stated, "there's a big black animal outside"..He never responded. He just kept watching television.

I bravely or foolishly, decided to once again, to go outside. Again I called out the name "Jake" as I stood near the front of our yard.

This time the large animal did respond! Suddenly and without warning, he sprang high into the air! Stunned, all I could do was stare at him!

He was a Black Panther! He had a long black tail. With his hips arched high, he leaped once, in front of me, into the woods,

With terror, and amazement, I quickly ran back into our back yard, safely into the house!

I was shocked..I had heard often through the years, that large black panthers lived in our woods..but to actually see one, that was altogether something else.

I related my story to my husband. This time he did listen. He deeply regretted that he did not go outside with me.I reminded him that our son, Dylan had previously had a panther run out in front of him, during a thunderstorm while driving to Bloomfield, the previous summer.

At the end of October, my neighbor Sue Hawkins, had a closer encounter, than I"d had.. She stated "she was 50 feet away, from the large black animal that she too, mistakenly thought was her Lab Jake"

She said, "her little dog barked at the large black animal".She said, " the panther turned his head around, and growled at her. She stated "he had a large cat head!.

Luckily, she escaped into her double wide home, treading carefully, not turning her back on the panther, with her little dog tucked snuggly in her arms..

I heard the screams of this big cat one summer evening. We were sitting on our front porch. He screamed just like a woman. These rhythmic screams continued for an hour. It's a lonely, piercing sound to hear at night. Its eerie to hear these high pitched screams.

Very unnerving to encounter one, but if you should encounter a big cat, make yourself as big as you can, and wave!

"Just yell loudly, "HI Jake" It worked for me!

Never, run from a big cat. It will chase you.I was very fortunate to escape harm.and so was my neighbor Sue!

After my incident I reported these incidents to the Department of Natural Resources in Bloomington In.

They said," they were aware of the big black cats in Greene County". I suggested strongly, they needed to notify the public. I told them, that I was also aware that there was a $3000.00 fine for shooting a big cat in Indiana.

I was concerned about all the children standing at the bus stop, while waiting for the bus. It would get dark on those wintry mornings. I knew the panthers were out hunting in the mornings!

Luckily no one has been injured or killed by these big cats. An article did come out shortly afterwards, in the Bloominton Herald Times describing the unusual animals of Indiana, including the unidentified large black cats!

Another Owensburg resident, our former postmaster Wilma Rollins once related to me, how one day, she decided to lay out in her lounge chair, on a warm summer day.

A mountain lion walked right by her, He looked in the opposite direction. She said, "she froze, terrified; she said, "she never made a sound"

He never gave her a look". He just walked by her. After that she said,"she never laid out again on her lounge chair, in broad daylight".

Since that time many more people of Owensburg, have met up not only with the black panthers, but with the mountain lions!..

Several months ago, on Facebook, another former neighbor, Janet Rush told me she met up not only with the black panther, but also with the cougar.

She's seen both of them. She told me the cougar had been in my son's back yard. He was walking on his back porch! My son later told me that he found the cougar's tracks in his back yard!

In fact, one big mountain lion was actually photographed by a hidden sensor camera at night. Two mushroom hunters reported a Cougar killing a deer, while they were out walking in the woods last May 1, 2010.

They reported, he was about 30 feet away from them. They heard the squalls of the deer, when they walked up on the panther. Scared, they hurried home and called the DNR in Bloomington.

Monday May 10, 2010, It was reported from the Greene County Daily World, that a photograph of a mountain lion was caught on infrared-motion activated camera during the morning hours of May 1 in a Highland wooded township not far from County road 450 E in Greene County.

Indiana State Dept. of Natural Resources wildlife specialist and State Conservation Officers continue to receive unconfirmed reports of a mountain lion roaming in a rural area of Greene County.

3 or 4 reports of mountain lions were seen according, to Scott Johnson, DNR's non game mammal biologist and member of the DNR. Division of Fish and Wildlife's teams that assists in reviewing reports having credible evidence.

Johnson made the determination from photographs taken in the area after a preliminary investigation found evidence consistent with mountain lion behavior including a eviscerated deer carcass buried under a pile of leaves. (Its called a cache, when a mountain lion covers its prey under a pile of leaves).

A couple of mushroom hunters heard this squalling sound and it was a deer. When they went to see what it was, this mountain lion was on top of the deer. This occurred on May 1, 2010, cameras caught the image of the lion at 2:30 AM.

The Indy channel 6 news reports that a mountain lion on camera was roaming in rural Greene County, according to the Indiana department of Natural Resources. The huge cat was caught by motor-sensitive cameras east of Bloomfield last week after reports of mountain lion activity in the area, according to spokesman Phil Bloom.

Without additional evidence, DNR, said its impossible to say if the mountain lion photographed in Greene county is wild or is a formerly captive cat. Bloom, said, "people should be alert to their surroundings, and try not to approach, corner or run from a mountain lion". Instead, the DNR urges people to stand and face an animal, make eye contact, and try to appear as large as possible. If confronted by a mountain lion, a person should wave their arms slowly and speak firmly in a large voice.

Mountain lions are a protected species in Indiana, but state law allows a tenant or landowner to kill a mountain lion, while it is causing damage to property.

.I heard recently from a former neighbor, "that almost, everyone is now afraid, to walk outdoors. I know, it was an experience that I'll never forget!!!

Paul Harvey, once announced on his radio show, " that only in Greene County, do people disappear, and are never seen again".