Several years ago Hiram and his daughter were cutting through the back roads by Pine Bluff on the way to see Mother and they both saw the adult panther and one baby. They stopped the car and watched them cross the road and ease into the woods. His description was "they gracefully walked into the woods stopping only once to look back at them in the car". He showed me where they were after that and it was north of the old Ferguson Houseplace just before you start up the hill. Another time he was on the farm-to-market road from Carmack to Natchez Trace and spotted three together crossing the road from the old Eli Palmertree place to an old log road on the south side of the road. Our father's sister and children were visiting the old J.Z. Palmertree house before it burned and someone had stolen all the windows and doors out of it so it was pretty open. They all were in the hallway and a panther jumped from the loft of the house into a back room and out a window. I think from the description we received it did not take 2 adults and 4 kids but 30 seconds to return to their car and head back to Jackson. (this was the Lois Palmertree-Therron Richardson family) All of these sightings prove to me there are some in the area and I for one believe they are truly here. Martina -------------- Original message from "patsy williamson" <patswill@bellsouth.net>: -------------- > I have been told that a panther was seen in the Pine Bluff area. It came > from the sister of a lady I worked with in Winona, but they both have passed > away. > > Peggy, give ole Danny Tompkins a call, since he lives down there he could > tell you more. Or maybe Basil may run into him some times and he could ask > him. > > Patsy > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jeannine K Smith" > To: > Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 4:00 PM > Subject: Re: [PTREE] panthers > > > > > > > > Donnie may remember this. The school at French Camp has the panther as > > their mascot. This mascot came about this way. > > > > Back years ago, a new building was going up on the school campus. For > > some reason the bricks were being made there and left overnight under a > > tree to dry. One morning the builders found a perfect pawprint in one of > > the bricks. It was immediately assumed that it was made by a panther that > > had been seen in the area. > > > > Thereby was born the French Camp Panthers and the 'Paw Print' emblem of > > the school. > > > > For many years this brick was kept in a small museum on the school > > grounds, then later in the administration building. I wonder if it still > > survives there. > > > > Donnie do you remember the pawprint brick and the old museum that Miss > > Gray had at the high school? > > > > Jeannine > > > > > > Jeannine Kirkpatrick Smith > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > Visit the Palmertree Family History website at > > http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~palmrtre/index.htm > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > PALMERTREE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > ------------------------------- > Visit the Palmertree Family History website at > http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~palmrtre/index.htm > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > PALMERTREE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message

Oh, yes, there ARE black panthers in the state of Mississippi - and definitely in Carroll County. Growing up in the country I had the privilege of hearing all kinds of things that go bump in the night. Coyotes were always howling and making the dogs go crazy barking at them all night. When in my adventurous stage as a "tween" I ventured far into the woods behind my house to swing across them deep gullies on grapevines. I'd follow the branch and discover arrow heads and neato rocks and stuff. Well, one day I was doing that and I came across a bear print in the mud. I immediately went paranoid, and took off back toward the house. Climbing out of that gully that time didn't take too long! And more than once at night we could hear that "woman screaming" cry of a panther. If you've never heard that, then you really don't know what "hair standing up on the back of your neck" really means! Daddy always told us that was a panther screaming. And I have actually seen one in recent years. One day I was at home in Carroll County and my Chows were outside in the front yard. I heard them barking like crazy and looked out and they were trying to climb up the chain-link fence. When I looked across the wide driveway, I saw a big black cat sitting at the edge of the woods. And I mean it was BIG. No housecat that was. It sat there for a few minutes, then got up, turned around and went into the woods. When it got up and turned, I saw that it had a long, fat tail. I saw it another time in about the same place. I started calling it "Sylvester", and still refer to it like that when telling people my story. I am psychologically damaged from being told as a child "if you don't come in right now that bear/panther is going to get you" when staying too long after dark playing outside.... Ken -----Original Message----- Several years ago Hiram and his daughter were cutting through the back roads by Pine Bluff on the way to see Mother and they both saw the adult panther and one baby. They stopped the car and watched them cross the road and ease into the woods. His description was "they gracefully walked into the woods stopping only once to look back at them in the car". He showed me where they were after that and it was north of the old Ferguson Houseplace just before you start up the hill. Another time he was on the farm-to-market road from Carmack to Natchez Trace and spotted three together crossing the road from the old Eli Palmertree place to an old log road on the south side of the road. Our father's sister and children were visiting the old J.Z. Palmertree house before it burned and someone had stolen all the windows and doors out of it so it was pretty open. They all were in the hallway and a panther jumped from the loft of the house into a back room and out a window. I think from the description we received it did not take 2 adults and 4 kids but 30 seconds to return to their car and head back to Jackson. (this was the Lois Palmertree-Therron Richardson family) All of these sightings prove to me there are some in the area and I for one believe they are truly here. Martina