The Panther Project

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...

  Scotty Eller of Pottertown, Watauga County, North Carolina, reports that in the summer of 2002 or 2003 his father saw a panther. It was about 6:30 to 7:00 pm (still daylight) and he was sitting on his deck when he saw it walk across the yard below him about 20 feet away. His dog went after it and it turned around and “squalled,” causing the dog to quit chasing it and hunker-down and whimper in fear. Scotty saw paw prints near the creek as big as his hand. The next night Scotty and his wife heard it scream about 11:00 pm, which he said sounded “freaky” and would make “your hair stand on end.” Around 2014, Scotty’s son, who was 11 years old at the time, saw a long panther tail extending above a log, flicking back and forth like it was ready to pounce.