Black Panthers of Piermont, Fact or Folklore?
March 24, 2009 by Bill Bliweiss
Filed under Featured, Tidbits & Gossip
Well, the gauntlet has been thrown down, and a bet placed. The loser treating to one of Philippe’s fine dinners at Freelance Café. One principal maintains unequivocally, black panthers are roaming the wilds of Piermont, a threat to both life and livestock. The other scoffs at the idea, and was called in to identify the alleged tracks. The tracks in question were certainly canine, not feline as suggested. The bet states that no black panthers will ever be discovered, nor will any definitive evidence of their existence ever be uncovered. The infamous black panthers of Piermont will enter into history alongside big foot, the abominable snowman, and the New Jersey Devil. So Jess, when has enough time passed until you want to PAY UP?
Fact or fiction? Was this picture taken in Piermont?
I believe Jesse Dorfman started this rumor.
I agree with the author having seen the alleged tracks up close and heard first person accounts of the incident there is no definitive proof of the Black Panthers of Piermont. Its time to pay your “BILL” Jess
My sister was bit by a moose once
Since at least 6 reputable Palisades residents have now reported seeing large black ‘panthers’ in the last several weeks it seems like there may be something to this. Also, if you decided they were canine tracks because of the ‘rule’ that canine prints have claws, and felines don’t, is too simplistic – I’ve got photos of large dog tracks with no claws showing, and large cats tracks will show claws under some conditions. You can’t make a definitive identification on that basis alone.
Annie thanks for the input. The identification was based on more than just the presence of claw marks. A cat track is wider than it is long, while a dog track is longer than wide. A dog track has its two front toes touching and extending forward, a cat track has its four toes evenly distributed around the semi-circle formed by the front of the heel. Big cats roam over huge area and would almost never stay in a place as small as the Piermont woods. A big cat requires the equivalent of one deer sized animal per week to survive. Since these supposed panthers would have to be illegal domestic escapes, they would most certainly have been declawed. (A common practice in the illegal exotic animal trade). As such, they would be totally unable to feed themselves in the wild. The numerous coyotes in the area would account for the droppings found containing hair and bones. I continue to maintain that there are no, nor have there ever been, any black panthers roaming the wilds of Southern Rockland County. People should keep their black labs and imaginations on a leash.
Well Paul, you certainly do sound like you know what you are talking about. Can we start a column, called: “Ask Mr. Wildlife”?? Maybe Piermont needs that, but perhaps all over the county could benefit. Ok, I am on the side of no panthers, or at the very least, just silly ones.
I thought most if not all of the sightings were in Palisades? My lady friend swears she saw a medium sized cat on the property of the old driving range last week. We know there are plenty of deer and turkey around for them to eat. Frankly, I would be a bit unnerved if I lived in the area and had small dogs or cats outside.
So Annie, what makes these 6 Palisades residents so “reputable” when it comes to panther tracks?? Like most other cats, black panthers’ have retractable claws. When the animals walk and run, they retract or pull in their claws to keep them sharp. In fact there is no such thing as a “black panther” they’re actually called black leopards and if you look closely you can notice their spots under the coloring. Also, “panthers” tend to live and thrive in warm climates and are found mainly in dense rainforest areas. The black leopard eats antelopes, deer, rodents, birds, monkeys and fish, which I don’t think there is too many antelopes or monkeys in Piermont. They’re also endangered so the likelyhood of actually seeing one is slim to none. Again, I’d agree with Paul about it being a black lab. They look pretty much like a huge “black panther”…..
“Reputable” means these are people who’ve lived in the community a long time, are known to be sane and reasonable, are NOT known to make up stories…or mistake cats or dogs for panthers in daylight at several yards distance. Dogs do not move like cats.
Since the original round of sightings there continued to be reports of a large black cat in the area over the summer, and several sightings of a cub in the fall – in fact my son saw it twice. At this point I suspect that the mother was killed by coyotes, and the cub – probably about 3 to 6 months old – did not survive on its own.
Panther is a generic term for large cats – jaguar and leopard are the most likely to appear in black variety. Yes, jaguars and leopards eat various native things in their native environments; whatever got loose here was obviously not native, but I’m fairly certain either of them could and would eat deer, rabbits, Canada geese, etc., all of which are here in abundance, or were until this year (the absent Canada geese seem to have believed stories of panther sightings).
well Cindy, no antelopes in Piermont, but monkeys, that’s another story, some even wearing cravats in bright colors, others in tight little skirts and they are shaved, no less. Im in the music business; yes I crank an organ and can’t wait to capture one of those little devils and teach him to hold up a cup.
This is getting out of control! I heard them mention the panther sightings of Rockland County on CBS RADIO 880AM.
they had trackers today dispatched in snedens landing looking for said panther. apparently they have found deer which were killed by a big cat. I’m more inclined to believe that its a mountain lion since they were originally native in the area; they moved out when the deer population decreased and now it seems like the deer conservation efforts have been working so when the deer are coming back it’s safe to assume that the mountain lion will.
My uncle lives in Barryville,NY just west of Red Hook,NY. He saw a black Cougar-like animal walk up his driveway. I grilled him on it and he said, “Hey, it was a friggin black cougar,OK..!!!” He is 81 years old and NOT the type to make up something like that. I believe him… Neighbors have also seen it, he says… I’m going to ask around there and see what I can dig up…
Black Panther Attack Thwarted By Palisades Artist Grace Knowlton At The OUTSIDE IN Piermont, NY.
Nationally Renowned Artist Donates A Percentage Of Sales From New Mixed Media Works To Aid Community.
Grace Knowlton and The Outside In Piermont have agreed to donate a percentage of sales from an upcoming show to assist a tracker in finding and removing black panther(s) that have sighted in Palisades, NY from the area. The artist and owners believe that, even if the panther(s) fade to legend, action must be taken because, if true, someone could become seriously injured, or even worse. Black Panthers are carnivorous and will eat anything when hungry, including humans. The OUTSIDE IN Piermont will host the new mixed media works of nationally known artist Grace Knowlton Piermont from September 17th through November 2nd, 2009, with an opening reception on Sunday September 20th from 2-5pm.
The show represents the new mixed media works by artist Grace Knowlton. This work consists of hand-altered digital prints depicting once everyday, now discarded sawhorses. Knowlton captures these accessible, utilitarian objects with a handheld digital camera. The objects are then removed or abstracted from their surrounding context by washes of pastel, paint and ink inviting a play of line, angle and spatial relationship, subsequently revealing anthropomorphic images that appear to recede or to emerge dimensionally from the prints. Knowlton’s treated photos are a significant departure from the work for which she is most known, particularly her three dimensional spheres, 10 of which are part of the Storm King Art Center’s permanent collection.
Grace Knowlton received her MFA from Columbia University and has taught at the Art Students League among other teaching posts. Nationally known, Ms. Knowlton has been widely exhibited and is represented in many public collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Newark Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England and others.
The OUTSIDE IN Piermont, an unusual gallery representing the unique pursuits of well over one hundred artists and artisans, the majority of whom are located within the Hudson Valley region. The OUTSIDE IN Piermont specializes in handmade pieces for the home and beyond; from furniture to benches, pottery to sculpture and paintings to plants. The OUTSIDE IN Piermont is located at 249 Ferdon Avenue, nestled along the Sparkill Creek ~0.25mi southwest of downtown Piermont. Hours of operation are 11 AM – 6 PM Thursdays through Sunday and by appointment.
Really? Did you really just take the time for a major plug to your business in the middle of the panther conversation? Call it desire for adventure and excitement, but I truly hope that the sightings are true. I saw that show telling the story of the guy in the park with his son on the bike trail and I’m pretty sure any normal adult would be able to tell a black lab from a panther. Also, … a black leopard IS commonly referred to as a black panther. Also, there are other large cats that can mutate to all black. They are not a species but a genetic “defect” if you will. I think they’re gorgeous. They should be treated as the regal and intelligent animals that they are. If they, (mountain lions, panthers, etc.), are going to start living in remote areas of NY then I’m sure we can be aware of our surroundings enough not to get eaten by one.
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
This is very true! I live around this area and I saw 2 in the past month! Very scary creatures…. I almost hit one with my car, it jumped in front and leaped so very high above all of these trees.. Then the other night my friend was going for a run up and down our street and we saw one running so fast down tallman mountain and then down my street ( we of course ran inside ) … now i’m a little scared to go outside
About 3 years ago I saw one in Chestnut Ridge stalking through my next door neighbor’s yard. I was freaking out! By the time I ran to get my binoculars to see it better, it had gone. When I later told my husband, he told me it must have been just a regular black cat. I said, a black cat the size of a german shepherd???? So he asked me, “Think about it – do black panthers even live in America?” I said, “No, but I know I just saw one!” Finally he convinced me by this logic that I had just been seeing things, and had somehow distorted the image (men!).
For 3 years, until these reports came out, I would stand and look into my neighbor’s yard and wonder how my eyes has played such an enormous trick on me, when such a thing has never happened before – how could I have seen a little black cat and perceived it to be the size of a panther? Now I know it WAS a panther, and I was right all along!
I told this story to a friend in the neighborhood who told me the kids on her block had seen it – it was hiding in a bush and swiped at one of the kids. The kid said the shocking thing about this black “cat” was that it was so big that it’s paw reached as high as a kids face without it having to jump, it was so big. So I filled her in about the panther sightings. So yes, I think they’re out there!
By the way, there is PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE of a black panther sighting in northern New Jersey (which is a stone’s throw from my house). Here’s the link from fox news:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,269831,00.html
A much better set of pictures: http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/vineland-panther/
You can tell it’s a panther from its long tail.
So Rocklanders need not be skeptical about their existence in our parts.
Here’s a news article AND VIDEO of a black panther trying to get into a home in Kansas, which was killed by police when the woman called 911. They are out there!
http://www.kmbc.com/news/16369255/detail.html
Sorry, it was Missouri, not Kansas.
I think I just saw a panther!