Another big cat seen

I believe Sharon Williams saw a black panther, because I saw one about 35 years ago.

It was about 6:30 on a mid-April morning. I had finished my morning rounds at the hospital. Being too early to go to the office, I decided to drive over the completed, but not yet opened, Ouachita River Bridge and down the new four-lane highway.

About a half-mile down the highway, perched on the concrete median barricade, sat the largest black cat I ever saw. I stopped within 10 yards of the animal and watched it for a few minutes until it hopped off and slowly crossed the highway in front of me and down into the woods. From snout to the end of its tail it had to be eight to 10 feet long, and I would guess its weight to be close to 200 pounds.

I wrote the Game and Fish Commission and was told that there are no black panthers in Arkansas. I know there was at least one!

JUDSON N. HOUT

Camden