sfgate.com - Lynn Reed, a ranch owner, avid hunter and wildlife expert, said he and his wife watched what appeared to be a black mountain lion for more than 10 minutes in the foothills near Dublin in Alameda County. The next day, another one was seen by an engineer in the nearby San Ramon hills.
Reed's 10-minute sighting is the longest, eye-witness account of a black mountain lion reported by a wildlife expert in 20 years. It is similar to a Fish and Game warden's description from the 1980s near Sunol Regional Wilderness.
The pelt of a black mountain lion has never been recovered by officials, according to the Department of Fish and Game, and they say a black panther does not exist in California. One theory is that a genetic mutant is out there. Another is that the owner of exotic wildlife, such as a black jaguar, let an animal loose.
He was black as can be with a head the size of a cantaloupe," Reed said. "We watched it for 10 minutes. I said to my wife, 'Look how its tail goes back and curls up, look how its shoulders move.' It was 3 feet long, the tail 2 1/2 feet, maybe 60, 75 pounds."
http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/2009/08/northern-california-bay-area-melanistic.html
The Home Of The Bruce Collins Show
