The Panther Project

  On the Blue Ridge (near Aho, Watauga County) in the section known as The Laurel is a large overhanging rock known as the Josh Rock. About 1840 or later, Joshua Story was hunting in this section and was overtaken by night and a dense fog. He took up camp under this rock and made a fire. No sooner was this done than he heard the scream of a panther in the nearby thicket. This animal kept him on the alert throughout the night. When his fire would burn low, the panther would come on the top of the rock so close that it would knock off the dry leaves on him. He could often hear it pat its tail on the rock as it would crouch near the cliff edge. When the fire was made to burn brighter, the animal would move away for some distance.

  Mr. Coffee, I saw your ad on Ray’s weather channel… I also live between Boone and Blowing Rock, just below the reservoir off Winker’s Creek Rd. My father talked about driving through Cone Forest (Flannery Fork Rd.) in the 1970’s late one night and seeing a mountain lion leap across the road in front of his truck. There was a lot less traffic through the park back then and the road was much more narrow. Although a neighbor of ours at the time was a forest ranger and said that there were no mountain lions left in these mountains, dad insisted he saw one that night. My father was an honest man and not a man to exaggerate, so I believe him. Good luck with your collection of stories. Cheryl M. Smith

Jerome Ford says that when he was about ten years old in the 1970s, he and his family saw something along a ridge near where they lived. It shrieked very loud, which sounded like a woman screaming. His father said it was a panther. This incident occurred in the Blackberry community in Caldwell County.    

  Kelly, I have two stories about panthers in WNC that might interest you. I worked as a part-time interpreter at the Zebulon B. Vance home-place (NC State Historic site) on Reems Creek RD in Weaverville of Buncombe County. One of the full-time employees, Sudie Wheeler, who lived next to the property, told of a mountain lion that she saw walking between the two (2) properties toward Reems Creek. She described the tan color, the long tail, and the size of the cat. This would have been in the early 1970’s. The  second story is from one of my sixth grade students; I was a teacher at Pisgah E.S. (Pisgah Highway in Candler of Buncombe County) from  1974-1985. One of my sixth grade students, Kurt Burnette, told me about hearing a “Painter” screaming one night near his home on Black Oak Cove RD. When I told him that  panthers were on the extinct list in WNC, he described the scream as a woman screaming as loud as she could scr...

  Jordan Councill Sr.’s (1769-1839) dog treed something near Boone one dark and drizzly night, up a white pine tree. He assumed it was a coon and climbed the tree to make the coon jump out. He said when he got near to it, it climbed farther on up the tree, and he noticed an unusual amount of bark and trash fall. He went on after it and got close enough for it to drag its tail across his face. He knew then it was a panther. He climbed down in a hurry and went home, got his gun and a torch, and shot the panther out. It measured ten feet from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail. Jordan's son,  Jesse Councill (1797-died before 1880) went hunting along New River but before he left, he told his dog to stay home. As he was walking along a path, he heard a dog growl behind him. His dog, in fact, had followed him. Looking around to see what the dog was growling at, he noticed up ahead of him a tree that was leaning across the path. On the tree was a large panther, crouched an...