US SIGHTINGS: Second report of black cougar in county

Posted: Wednesday, October 15, 2014 3:00 am

By Scott Wilson of the Leader 

Another Jefferson County resident, Dusty Massie, has reported that he saw a jet-black large predator cat on a Jefferson County road about six weeks ago.

Massie, a Port Townsend painting contractor, believes he saw a large black cat about six weeks ago, or four weeks earlier than the sighting turned in by Forrest Aldrich last week. Massie said he saw the cat near Port Ludlow; Aldrich saw it near Point Hudson in downtown Port Townsend.

But Massie added a twist to the story.

He said he is certain it was a panther, not a dark-colored cougar.

Here’s Massie’s report of what he saw when driving out of Port Ludlow on Oak Bay Road toward its intersection with Beaver Valley Road, (SR 19).

“I saw that cat as well, except it's not a cougar, it's a panther!” he wrote. “I know how crazy that sounds, but I'm telling you that I was close enough to it to see the color of its eyes – yellow.”

Read on ...