THE EASTERN PANTHER IN HARFORD COUNTY, MD

history The eastern panther is officially listed an extirpated, extinct, species in Maryland and evidence suggests the native cats haven’t been prevalent in the region since the mid- to late-1800s. Nonetheless accounts of the large felines in Harford County have come in nearly as frequently as those of black bears, a species known to still exist and wander into the county now and again. Random scattered reports aside, no period on record produced as much evidence, as many sightings or generated as much concern as a stretch of time 40 years ago. A report of a dead pony, found viciously mutilated and partially eaten, appeared in a front page article of the Oct. 20, 1966 edition of The Aegis newspaper and kicked off several months of intrigue, fear and an all-out monster hunt. Subsequent editions of the newspaper blared the front page headlines, "Alarm Grows, Search Intensifies for Huge Cat That Killed Pony," "Area Now Genuinely Scared of Giant Cat As More Reports of Depredations Come In," and "Search Is Intensified For ‘That Thing’ As Deputy Sheriff Get Close-up Look At It." Whispers of mountain lions continued to circulate about Harford County as large paw print tracks were found, a calf was found partially eaten and dragged for a good distance and locals reported frequent sightings of the elusive lion. After the Baltimore Zoo confirmed the paw prints were indeed from a cougar, 250-man posses were formed to patrol the local woodlands and, while the bands of marauding hunters weren’t able to track down their quarry, a number of them found themselves in trouble with the law for brazenly brandishing firearms in their trek through the northern wilderness of the county. A deputy sheriff caught a glimpse of the tawny animal, which he described as about five feet long and weighing about 100 pounds, but it was never confirmed whether the roaming feline was an escaped pet or a wild resident. In the span of just two months, dozens of concerned residents relayed their fears to local law enforcement officials and many reported actually seeing the animal. In more recent times, cougar, panther, mountain lion and catamount sightings have occurred sporadically in the area. In 1992 and 1993, several residents described a brown or tawny colored cat roaming about the county’s woodlands and farmlands, but no definitive explanation was ever presented. Photographic evidence of a tawny-brown cat in 1992 and a grayish-brown cat during the blizzard of 1996 appear inconclusive and, while they certainly portray living cats, it is unclear whether the feline is a house cat, bobcat, panther or something else. What follows is a chronology of sightings, evidence and accounts of recent large cat activity in Harford County unlike any seen since the 1960s. location Harford County is a 448-square-mile area, still heavily agricultural, with 106 miles of shoreline located at the top of the Chesapeake Bay, the largest inland body of water on the Atlantic coast. The county is located in Maryland’s northeast corner and is bordered by the Susquehanna River on the east, Baltimore County to the west and Pennsylvania farmland to the north. Roughly 224,000 residents inhabit the county, which is located roughly 45 minutes from Baltimore City and an hour from Washington D.C. Harford County contains rolling hills and valleys, tidal wetlands, rocky ledges and a chain of river islands characteristic of the topography of Maryland, which earned the state the nickname, "America in miniature." sightings June 2001: As reported in naturalist Bob Chance’s "Earthline" column for The Aegis newspaper, a woman near Priestford Road (Route 136) near the Aberdeen Proving Ground tank testing area in Cool Spring saw what she described as a "wild cat." On a secluded dirt driveway leading to a farm, she saw the cat, described as tawny-gold with a white butt area and a long tail, walking near a small stream at 6:45 a.m. She watched it through binoculars at two intervals and later found its tracks in the dirt. Both Chance and the woman suggested nearby development in the rural area may have prompted the mammal to alter its normal exposure. The testing station is on Deer Creek and lies about five miles west of the heavily wooded 2,500-acre Susquehanna State Park on the west bank of the Susquehanna River. June 19, 2001: The before-mentioned sighting was almost completely ignored because it was overshadowed at the same time by what was called a close encounter with a bigfoot-type creature, but the similarities in situation, time and place warrant a closer look. At a home on Walters Mill Road, which sits on Deer Creek and only about five miles from the above cougar sighting, on the night of June 19, a strange noise, unlike anything the occupants had ever heard, echoed from behind the house. The occupants heard the strange grunting, snorting and screaming followed by the barking of their own dog and the screeching of a cat they hoped wasn’t their family pet. The residents were afraid to venture out in the dark of the night, but said it sounded as if something was carrying the screeching cat around because it seemed to be following the snorting as the animal moved closer and farther from the home. The entire incident lasted about 45 minutes and no one caught a glimpse of the culprit. Afterwards the family dog came running into the home with its tail between its legs. The next morning some unusual evidence was found. Bob Chance was again notified and he found about five or six tracks that were 42 inches apart, about 14-15 inches long, eight inches wide and with five toes. The residents found a strange oil mark left on the glass backdoor that stood about 7 feet off the ground and had the impressions of hair prints in it. Chance said the area of the Deer Creek valley has been known to harbor unusual mammal activity in the past several decades. Although it appears to be a bigfoot/bear-type incident, it is worth mentioning due to the proximity of this residence to the previously mentioned cougar sighting. This incident was about five miles northwest of the Cool Spring cougar sighting. November 2001 (a few days before Thanksgiving): Although unreported until the most recent big cat sightings in the summer of 2002, a resident of Havre de Grace, who lives on several acres of property backing up to Susquehanna State Park, was pulling into her driveway one evening when she saw a large animal sitting under her car port, apparently sleeping. Not knowing what it was, the woman got out of her car and came within 20 feet of the creature before it sat up and stretched and she retreated to the safety of her nearby car. She said as soon as she saw its paw, she knew the jet-black creature was a panther and that, interestingly enough, it was not her first experience with the large beast. A few years earlier, sometime in 1999, the same woman was on her way home one evening when a large animal passed in full view of her headlights. The animal froze in the beams and eventually crossed the road, but not before turning to glare at her. The woman described the animal as such, "It was definitely a panther. As a little girl, I used to watch a weekly show that had a panther in it, so I know what it looks like. I’m 100 percent sure that’s what I saw. It had no other color, it was coal-black." The black cat was said to weigh at least 100 pounds and sat up at a height of about three feet high. Its long tail was said to end in a "bulb." The panther was said to act very much like a normal house cat with the exception of its unusual size. The woman who saw the cat said she is certain it was a big cat and not a black labrador retriever saying, "We have lots of black labs in this development and we used to own one, but this was totally different. They have a totally different muscular structure in the face." The woman said her son’s friend also viewed the cat and she heard it screaming along with several others on subsequent nights. Concerned it may attack her or a neighbor, she contacted the Plumpton Park Zoo in nearby Cecil County and was told they were not missing any large cats. A ranger at Susquehanna State Park visited the site after the woman said she had found large scat on her patio and heard what she believed to be the large cat knocking a wreath off of her front door. The scat had been discarded, but she was instructed to save any further samples as evidence. Interestingly, both sightings in 1999 and 2001 occurred during periods of severe drought in the central Maryland area. The woman commented during each sighting the water levels of the Susquehanna River below the Conowingo Dam were low enough to see the rocks and so one could probably cross the river on foot. As to why her property was sought out by the panther both times, the woman hypothesized it may have been attracted by the overhang of her carport, the only one in the community, perhaps thinking of it as shelter or a cave. The woman’s property on the edge of Susquehanna State Park is about five miles east from the Cool Spring area of the June cougar sighting and about 10 miles east from the Walters Mill Road June bigfoot incident. November 2001: A resident living on Whiteford Road (Route 136) in Pylesville near Broad Creek saw what he described as a large, solid brown-colored cat crossing a field by his house one morning. The man, a hunter who lives on a farm with a goose-filled lake and deer-rich fields, described the animal he saw walking across the field as such: "It’s dark brown in color. It’s a good-sized cat. It’s about five feet long counting the tail and is about three feet off the ground. It is a humongous thing." The man saw the cat crossing a field from about a hundred feet away and was sure it was feline by its movements and appearance. When neighborhood children made some noise and commotion on their way to school he said the cat dropped flat to the ground in a crouch and remained in that pose until the children left, upon which it resumed its walk. The Pylesville property where the cat was seen is about five miles northwest of the Walters Mill Road incident and about 10 miles northwest from the Cool Spring sighting. February 20, 2002: Outdoors columnist for The Aegis newspaper, Hayward Putnam, concluded his weekly fishing and hunting report with a curious mention of a strange animal being sighted about Harford County. Putnam said he had talked to hunters and hikers who have seen what they call a "cat-like creature" in the northern part of the county. The animal was also referred to as a "black panther" and Putnam said others who haven’t seen the big cat have heard its "eerie cry" at night. April 5, 2002: A Bel Air man saw what he described as a dark, 3 to 3 ½ foot tall cat with a very long tail and pointed ears emerge from the woods sometime in the late morning as his son was mowing the lawn at a wooded property in Bel Air on McCormick Street. While the Town of Bel Air is a very much an urban area, there still remain small patches of woodland and larger section of wilderness, which follow Winters Run and Bynum Run as the creeks wind around the municipality. The man was adamant that what he saw was not a bobcat and that it was a very dark brownish or black color. He saw the animal from about 75 feet away and explicitly said there was no white chest or throat area. The man also reported several others who saw the cat in the same 3-4 acre wooded area in years past. His son saw a large black cat during a day in April or May of 2000 and a friend of his saw a similar black cat about one year later in April of May of 2001, both times at the same spot. The owner of the Bel Air property also saw a large animal, which she believes may be the big cat. Two other people in the Bel Air area, one living near Bynum Run and another living near Winters Run, each reported hearing a terrifying screaming at night. These reports kicked-off a flurry of nearly a dozen reported sightings of a cat-like animal, both tan and black, in the region. Bynum Run runs from Jarrettsville (about four miles northwest of Bel Air), through Laurel Bush in Abingdon before emptying into Otter Point Creek and, ultimately, the Bush River about eight miles southeast of Bel Air. April 18, 2002: Again in an "Earthline" column in The Aegis, Bob Chance said in recent weeks a diurnal mammal had been feeding on goats, deer and other herbivores in the hills just across the Susquehanna River in Cecil County. South of the Octoraro River, Chance examined the carcass of a large pet goat, which had been killed and dragged. A photograph of the goat and of a slightly eroded four and one half inch track ran in the paper and Chance said the track pads were too heavy for the native bobcat, a German shepherd or a coyote. While no one saw the predator, Chance said the forested Susquehanna River valley has served as a traditional migration route for bear, otter, mink, deer, fox and beaver for thousands of years. The Octoraro River runs roughly parallel to the Susquehanna River and is located in Cecil County less than three miles east and directly across from Susquehanna State Park in Harford County. April 2002: The same Pylesville resident who sighted the cat in November 2001 said he again saw the dark brown cat several months later as it again crossed his field. The man commented the cat, which he called "some type of a Pennsylvania mountain lion," perhaps was too old and that is why it was out in the day and not afraid of being seen. The man also said local hunters have been jack lighting deer at night and leaving the carcasses in the area, which may be attracting the large cat. Both times he saw the cat it was early in the morning and he believes it was the same dark brown individual. After April, corn began to grow in the field, blocking his view of whatever may be crossing the property. Several months later, when the cougar flap was in full swing, the man’s wife would claim a friend of hers, who is a wildlife rehabilitator in Jarrettsville, had not only seen the large cat, but also its kittens. She would further allege her friend actually found the lion’s den in the wilderness near her home, but was unwilling to divulge information for fear trophy hunters would seek out the den to kill the cat. May or June 2002: A Delaware man who uses the Harford County Airpark in Aldino reported he was flying an ultra-light plane low to the ground near the Conowingo Dam in Darlington when he saw a cougar chasing deer below him. The dam spans the Susquehanna River from Harford to Cecil County just about three miles north of Susquehanna State Park. Early June 2002: A Jarrettsville woman who lives close to Rocks State Park was working in her garden near dusk when she saw a large, tawny-brown cat with a white chest and pointed ears sitting at the edge of the woods near the rear of her property. She was able to run into her home and take a photograph of the animal from about 100 feet away and the pictures offer a large tan animal with triangularly pointed ears, a white chest and blazing eyes. No tail is visible in the photograph and the cat disappeared before the woman could see it move or determine if it had a tail. The woman said she owns three cats and that this animal was much larger and had tufts of hair on its ears. She believes what she saw and photographed was a bobcat, but described its screams she has heard as terrifying nonetheless. "You hear ghastly noises from the woods at night," she said. The 600-acre Rocks State Park is located in northwestern Harford County about eight miles north of Bel Air and about four miles southwest of Pylesville. Deer Creek runs through the park. June 13, 2002: The son-in-law of the Bel Air man who spotted the black cat on McCormick Street was coming home from a soccer game at 11 p.m. when, near Route 543 and Prospect Mill Road, a large cat ran out in front of his car. The man said he almost hit what he said was definitely a big cat that he thought was black in color. The location of the Prospect Mill Road sighting is in a wooded area northeast of Bel Air and removed by about two miles from Bynum Run. It is also about five miles west of Deer Creek and the Cool Spring sighting. Mid-June 2002: A woman who lives in the curator’s house near the 4-H Camp at Rocks State Park saw a large cat at about 2 p.m. one afternoon in her yard. She described the cat as 3 to 3 ½ feet tall, dark brownish red in color with no white on it and a very long tail. The camp is located directly within the park on Deer Creek. July 5, 2002: A woman living in Abingdon said she saw a large animal with a very long tail. The sighting occurred in an area behind Laurel Bush, which lies directly on Bynum Run and the heavily wooded and protected Bynum Run Conservation Area. It is about four miles southeast of Bel Air and roughly four miles from where the creek empties into Long Bar Harbor of Otter Point Creek. July 8, 2002: During a severe electrical thunderstorm passing through the area, an Abingdon woman living in the Woodsdale Senior Housing Development went outside at about 10 p.m. to see if any other residences in the community were without power. As she shined her flashlight outside, she saw what she described as a jet-black cat with big eyes that appeared to be the size of a small bear. The woman quickly entered a neighbor’s home and together the two women watched the long-tailed animal pace for a while before they said it "lept" away very much like a large and heavy cat. The homes are heavily wooded in the rear and lie only about three miles from Bynum Run and the previous Abingdon sighting and about two miles from Otter Point Creek. July 11, 2002: A Fallston resident was returning to his home at about 11:30 p.m. when a red fox dashed out in front of his car, followed closely behind by a pursuing mountain lion. The man said had he not slammed on the brakes to avoid killing the fox, he would have certainly hit the large cat, which he said was about the size of a large dog with a long tail. He estimated the animal weighed about 80 pounds and was of a dark, solid color of deep brown or black. The man is a hunter and said he is familiar enough with wildlife to know what he saw was not a bobcat and resembled a cougar. He commented his rural property is home to many deer and geese, which the cat may be feeding upon. He also claimed to have heard what must have been the animal ferociously growling and screaming outside his home on July 13 and 14. The man commented recent development in the region may have driven the animal out of its wilderness home. This Fallston sighting occurred just three miles east of the Little Gunpowder Falls, the expansive 11,000-acre Gunpowder State Park and the Baltimore County line. The location lies about eight miles west of Bel Air and eight miles southwest of Rocks State Park and Deer Creek. Mid-July 2002: A woman residing in Cool Spring, within a mile of Deer Creek and the Aberdeen Proving Ground Tank Testing Station, saw a large animal appearing in her backyard each night at dusk for about a week straight. A neighbor took a photograph and the families believe what they have been seeing may be a coyote. July 12, 2002: A man living on the east side of Bel Air, within a mile of Bynum Run, heard what he described as two terrifying screams early in the morning, but was unable to locate their source or point of origin. The residence is located right on Bynum Run and about four miles north of the Bynum Run Conservation Area. July 22, 2002: The same Bel Air man, living within a mile of Bynum Run, again heard the terrifying screams at about 4 a.m. This time, upon looking out his window, he saw a big, cat-like animal pacing between two bushes in front of his house. The man said the animal was about 3 ½ feet tall and screamed four more times as he watched it pace. He was unable to see if the animal had any sort of a tail. When he called the Maryland Department of Natural Resources he was told it was most likely a fox, but he insists what he saw and heard was not a fox. July 24, 2002: A woman who resides on the flats near Deer Creek in Street said she had just returned home from a vacation when she heard an odd noise she described as a "woman screaming" in her back yard. As strange as the screaming was, she said she was familiar with it as she had heard a similar cry two years ago, when a neighbor’s goat was ripped to shreds by a predator. When she ran to her garage door and looked outside she said she saw a pair of eyes shining back at her and an animal about the size of a small collie run off. While she didn’t notice the color of the animal or if it had a tail, she did hear it hissing and screaming as it ran off into the woods. Familiar with indigenous fauna, the woman assumed it was a bobcat and, afraid of what threat the animal may pose to her children and pets, called a cat biologist in California and described the sounds she heard and creature she witnessed. To her amazement, the biologist told her she had just described a cougar. The validity of this witness is unique in that she was on vacation for the previous week and missed both stories in The Aegis newspaper about cougar sightings. When she casually mentioned to a friend that she thought a bobcat was in the area again, but that a biologist told her it was a cougar, her friends quickly alerted her to the situation involving the numerous mountain lion sightings in the area recently. It was only then, that the woman found out about the flap of sightings. The heavily wooded area where the woman resides lies directly on Deer Creek and, while it is about eight miles away from the previous Bel Air sighting on Bynum Run, it is within three miles of the Cool Springs and Walters Mill incidents. August 26, 2002: A woman living on Ady Road (Route 543) witnessed a long, dark brown, cat-like animal eating apples from under a tree in her back yard. At about 11 a.m., the resident noticed a peculiar animal in her yard feasting on fallen apples, pacing about and even relieving itself on her lawn. After finding her camera, but unable to locate any film, the woman grabbed binoculars and decided the best thing to do would be to study the animal’s behaviors from afar, which she did for about 10 minutes. She described the animal as dark brown in color with no white or lighter areas, short-haired with big, pointed ears, a long body, just bigger than a fox, with an approximately three-foot long tail and a pointed, fox-like face. The woman went on to say she was able to get a good look at its face and would have thought it was a mange-ridden fox with a cat-like tail, but she is familiar with local wildlife and knew this animal was something different. Having seen several of the above-mentioned photographs, the woman said this was definitely something different. Upon researching the topic, the woman concluded, to the best of her judgement, it could not have been a fox, bobcat, cougar or dog, but matched identically with photographs she had seen of the Central American jaguarundi. The woman said the most curious features of the animal were its pointed snout, excessively long tail, solid brown coloration and its eating of the fallen fruit, each of which, she said matches the habits of the jaguarundi. The woman said several cats had been missing in the area and she noticed a dramatic reduction in the number of young rabbits on her property this season. She also noted that the day she spotted the animal coincided with the day she brought her dog back to the property after it had been boarded for some time. The woman’s property lies less than a mile from Deer Creek, the heavily wooded Deer Creek Park and Walters Mill Road, where the aforementioned "bigfoot" encounter occurred. November 4, 2002: From the police blotter of The Aegis newspaper, a man residing on Whiteford Road told police there was a cougar behind his home and he was concerned for his dogs because he believed a previous dog he owned was killed by a cougar. The man’s home is located directly on Broad Creek about five miles northeast of Rocks State Park. analysis There are several certainties which cannot be disputed in this case. First, people are definitely seeing something. Not only have a dozen sightings been reported, but there is photographic evidence in at least three of the instances. Having personally viewed the photos, I can say with certainty that there are animals out there that people are seeing; whether they are panthers, bobcats or something else, I cannot. Second, Harford County and indeed much of Maryland is suffering from the worst drought since the 1960’s. Ponds and creeks are literally drying up and typically elusive wildlife has been moving out of seclusion in search of food and water. County workers are reporting a record number of road-killed beavers, traveling from one water source to another, and many are reporting numerous sightings of large multi-pointed bucks emerging from the deep woods in search of food and water. Wildlife was on the move this summer. The last drought of this magnitude to parch Harford County was in 1960, the same year, as mentioned above, that cougar sightings were at there greatest on record. Third, one front page story and another follow-up story, both written by myself, appeared within the pages of The Aegis newspaper along with several columns by Bob Chance, perhaps prolonging the flap or eliciting further evidence. With one photo, which appears to show a large fox-like cat, orange with a brilliant white underbelly and feet and pointed ears, another photo showing a large, gray and black cat that appears to be a massive house cat and a dozen reports of cougars or panthers, it is obvious people believe what they are seeing is feline. People aren’t reporting the canine features of a wolf or coyote or the ursine characteristics of the occasional bear and cub which wander from the north and west into Harford County. They are seeing large, sometimes dark-colored cats with long tails. Given such characteristics, the native, yet elusive bobcat and coyote are eliminated from contention, although it is fair to say a glimpse of a fleeing bobcat or coyote may appear to be many things. However, several of these sightings occurred during the day and two such sets of photographs exist. Some witnesses were "certain" what they had seen was a mountain lion, while others scoffed at the notion and said it had to be a bobcat they saw because panthers don’t live in these parts anymore. That assertion, I suppose is the crux of this case. If evidence existed to support the claim eastern panthers still range on the Atlantic side of the Mississippi River, north of Florida and south of Canada, we would have little trouble accepting these cougar sightings as legitimate. In his work as director of the Eastern Puma Research Network, John Lutz has documented more than 6,000 such sightings in the last two decades alone, yet the notion still elicits a laugh from local wildlife officials. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources claimed it hasn’t had a legitimate cougar sighting in the state in a decade and even then it was a pet chained to a tree in a front yard. When asked, representatives from DNR flat out denied they were hearing any whisperings or calls about large cats, even though several of the witnesses said they called the agency themselves to file a report. I have heard of secretaries at both DNR and the Harford County Sheriff’s Office quickly terminating phone conversations with people they said were "crazy" because they were ranting on about a mountain lion or bigfoot being in their back yard. The agencies seem to have a decidedly close-minded approach to the entire matter of the existence of eastern cougars. Without the support, records and resources of such organizations and left with only the testimony of eye-witnesses, the only recourse is looking into the past. Fortunately, Chad Arment, a researcher with the North American Bio-Fortean Review, has done just that. Aside from detailing the 1966 and 1992 cougar sightings, Arment has unearthed a curious, yet intriguing piece of evidence, especially in light of the recent sightings. In his research of strange occurrences in Harford County, Arment came across the story of the White Ghost Dog of Spesutie Island. The island is owned by the federal government as part of Aberdeen Proving Ground and is located in the Chesapeake Bay just south of where the Susquehanna River pours into the body of water. In his research of the legend, Arment came upon mention of the wildlife on the island from a 1954 article in The Baltimore Sun, which says a motorist traveling on the island is apt to startle a fawn, red fox "or it may alert one of a peculiar race of black hunting cats discovered on the island." While Arment was never able to track down the curious meaning of that statement, it appears to take on new significance given the recent proliferation of sightings that are described by most as...a peculiar race of black hunting cats. For the record, APG is one of the nation’s top military bases and has recently become the country’s center for anti-terrorism training. Air Force One regularly takes off and lands in testing flights at the base and Middle Eastern tanks and weaponry are tested and maneuvered on post. Despite the above descriptions, APG is perhaps the greatest of all local wildlife sanctuaries. It was one of the first areas in the nation to see bald eagles return in record numbers and today Harford County residents can drive five minutes down the street and routinely observe numerous eagles. Similarly, before September 11, 2001 when the post was open to the general public, visitors could drive through the base and watch white-tailed deer stroll casually about the property along with a proliferation of groundhogs. A recent report indicated APG was looking to expand its deer-hunting season to include wild turkey and studies show bald eagles are so plentiful they have been moving back into residential areas where they are being electrocuted on power lines. At night, passersby can hear the howl of coyotes echoing from the base, which also houses 85 percent of the county’s shoreline. Albino deer, a snake-like cryptozoologic-mystery creature dubbed "Chessie" and, mountain lions have been spotted on post. If what is being seen is truly a large cat, it makes sense that it would follow a waterway like Deer Creek, Bynum Run or Winters Run, which all empty into the Susquehanna River, Otter Point Creek or Swan Creek, which in turn each empty into the Chesapeake Bay. A local Cecil County zoo has reported no loss of large or exotic cat and although people have told me they know of at least one nearby resident who keeps a cougar penned in his backyard, no one has come forward to claim a missing pet. Could the 50-year drought and continued development into the woodlands of Harford County be pushing a reclusive native cat into the public eye? If what people are seeing is a bobcat or cougar than perhaps, but if the reports of jaguarundi and other exotics abound than the answer most certainly lies in an escaped or released pet. A tiger, ocelot, savannah cat, caiman and even a red macaw have all been pets that have been released or escaped into the county, so a jaguarundi wouldn’t be out of the question. Yet, thus far, only one witness has proclaimed what she saw was positively an exotic species and not a bobcat or cougar. other evidence May, 20 1989: A man living in the vicinity of the nearly 600-acre wooded property which would later become Bulle Rock golf course in Havre de Grace came upon a line of unusually large paw prints in the mud as he walked the property one day. The property lies in eastern Harford County close to the banks of the Susquehanna River. It is bisected by Gashey’s Creek - a stream which leads through the protected land of Swan Harbor Farm Park before emptying into the Chesapeake Bay. After finding the prints, the man remembered some of his Boy Scout training and went home to get the necessary supplies to make plaster casts of the paw prints, which contained impressions of both the front and hind feet of the animal. The front paw prints measure four inches long and four inches across and the rear paw prints measure three and a half inches long and three and a half inches across. None of the paw prints had claw marks, but a second line of tracks, apparently following or being followed by the maker of the cat-like tracks, was obviously a dog and clearly showed claw marks. The man said he had the prints confirmed as cougar tracks by several local hunters. Although a veterinarian admitted they could have been the prints of a declawed dog, the vet also admitted most pet owners only have their dog’s front paws declawed. At the time he cast the tracks, the man said there were reports of missing pets in the nearby community and he occasionally heard "blood-curdling" screams at night. January 12, 1996: A Fallston man living in a heavily wooded and still rural area spotted a large feline in his backyard during the week-long blizzard of 1996. The property is located in a wooded area in the western portion of the county. It is known to carry many deer and groundhogs and backs up to Bread & Cheese Branch - a waterway which connects into Winters Run. It is located roughly five miles from Gunpowder Falls State Park. At approximately 1:45 p.m., while the man and his family were removing decorations from their Christmas tree, a large cat was seen coming towards their property from a barn on the lot next door. When he saw the feline, the man grabbed his 35-mm. camera and, using 35-mm. color slide film and a 125-mm. telephoto lens with a 2x extender, photographed the cat as it neared a woodpile, which is about 75 feet from the house. It was windy and snowing at the time and, on open areas, the snow was approximately 24 inches deep. The feline walked over to a shed and woodpile and moved into a hollow in front of the woodpile, which was carved in the snow by the wind. The hollow was approximately 20 inches from the ground to the snow ridge and the feline looked back at the house (or the photographer) several times before retracing its steps toward the barn. The feline had a mottled, multi-colored coat and a tail. The man estimated its length as greater than 36-inches, excluding the tail. He estimated the tail to have been at least 18 inches. The height, ground to back, was 18-22 inches. The cat looked into the open end of the barn and then moved around the near side to a single, closed door. This door leads to a room at the far end of the barn. This room is closed off from the part of the barn that is open to the outside at this level. The door has a large hole at the bottom and at least one groundhog was known to live inside. The feline sniffed around the hole before climbing through it. (The man was loading film at the time and took no photos of the cat’s entrance.) Because children of the barn’s owner had been seen playing outside in the snow earlier in the day, the man called her and warned her of what they had seen. The man went back to the woodpile and took photos of the footprints with an 18-inch ruler next to the best footprint for perspective. The print was at least 4.5 inches across in snow that was less than a half-inch deep in the hollow. Within an hour or so, two deputies with the Harford County Sheriff’s Office arrived and were led to look at the footprints near the woodpile. The group then made its way over to the open end of the barn. The barn was dark and, although the man explained the back room was closed off from the open end of the barn, the deputies decided there was no reason to go inside. They also said if something were inside the barn, it would probably leave overnight. When visiting the nearby Fallston High School several years after the incident, the man happened upon numerous pictures of cougar cubs hanging in the hallways - as the school’s mascot is a cougar. After viewing the images of the young cougars, the man said he no longer had any doubt what he captured on film was a cougar cub. Although the photographer is sure he captured an eastern cougar on film, Bob Chance reviewed the pictures and suggested a bobcat was a more likely culprit. Interestingly, the photographer first called the animal a "mutant bobcat" because he said it had all the features of a bobcat - the mottled coat, tufted ears and small size, but had the long tail of a cougar. acknowledgements The author, Brian Goodman, is a reporter for The Aegis newspaper in Harford County and was assisted in his research by Bob Chance, John Lutz, Frank Dagostin and each of the above-mentioned witnesses. The photographs appear courtesy of David Easter and Maggie Patton. This article originally appeared in the North American BioFortean Review vol. 4, no. 2, Issue #9 in December 2002. The publication can be found in its entirety at http://www.strangeark.com. Words by Brian

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