Indiana: Residents believe exotic cat roaming neighborhood (Via Chad Arment)

Lisa Trigg
The Tribune-Star
July 14, 2010

TERRE HAUTE — Reports of a large black exotic feline in a neighborhood near Deming Park have some Keane Lane residents concerned about public safety for the many people who live and play in the area.

Sheri Reck told the Tribune-Star that the animal, which she believes is a black leopard, frequently comes through her yard at night. Other neighbors have told her that they, too, have seen the animal.

The presence of an exotic feline in that area has not been confirmed by authorities. But Sheri said she thinks the public should be warned about the possible presence of a big cat in the area.

Early Tuesday morning, Sheri called 911 to report seeing the big cat in her back yard. She said she was sitting inside the gazebo connected to the back deck of her home when she heard the animal growl. She was too afraid to exit the screened gazebo to head for the back door of her home.

She said she has seen the animal run across the back deck, and she points out gouges on a large oak tree that she believes were made by the big cat scratching the bark.

“I wish that somebody would come out here and sit all night,” Sheri said Tuesday evening while sitting inside the gazebo, where she was painting an angel statue at the time of the incident. “You hear dogs go crazy barking and then it gets creepy silent.”

A neighbor, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Michelle, told the Tribune-Star that she recently saw the suspect animal, too, and that her own dogs are spooked by it.

“I saw it the other morning at about twenty after six,” neighbor Michelle said.

She said she was outside on her patio having coffee when she saw a large black feline that she estimated to be the size of her Labrador-poodle mix dog walking nearby.

“It was one of those things you look at and go, ‘No-o-o-o,’” Michelle said.

The big cat walked along a driveway and cut through another neighbor’s yard before she lost sight of it, she said. She estimated its body at about 3-feet long, with an equally long tail.

“Somebody really needs to come out here and really check it out,” Michelle added, noting that the peaceful neighborhood used to have an abundant population of squirrels, rabbits and deer. Now, it doesn’t.

Sheri’s husband, Larry Reck, said in the past he captured troublesome raccoons, skunks and opossums in his yard, then took the animals to another wild area to release them. Now, he said he believes there are no roaming critters because a four-legged predator has eaten them or scared them off.

Larry said during the past year he has found a deer leg, rabbit fur, balls of geese feathers and other animal remains in his yard. A den of foxes used to live nearby under a neighbor’s shed, but it appears that a larger predator got to them, he said.

Sheri and Larry both said they recently have heard what they believe to be young foxes yelping and screaming at night as if a predator is killing them.

Michelle said another adjoining neighbor also has reported hearing an animal ruckus outside that has stopped her from going outdoors at night.

She said the Keane Lane area — which runs between U.S. 40 and Poplar Street, and is adjacent to Deming Park and the Woodridge, Woodshire and Lincolnshire subdivisions — gets a lot of foot traffic even at night, and the public should be warned about the possible presence of an exotic feline.

The Recks recalled other big cat sightings last year.

The Tribune-Star reported in February 2009 a cougar sighting in the area of Ohio Boulevard and Brown Avenue, and then again later at Dobbs Park. The sightings resulted in precautionary measures at area schools.

In early May, a mountain lion sighting was confirmed in a rural part of Greene County east of Bloomfield by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, which has developed a policy to collect data and evaluate reported sightings of such animals.

The chance that the animal seen by the Recks and their neighbors is really a black leopard are slim, according to a state official.

Phil Bloom, DNR’s communications director, said no one in Vigo County holds a state-issued permit to legally possess an animal such as a leopard, cougar or other exotic feline. Part of that permit requirement would be to report the escape of any such animal. No escapes have been reported in the past five years, Bloom said.

The Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Clay County holds a federal permit issued through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates facilities that commercially exhibit animals, as well as commercial animal breeders and animal research facilities. The rescue center is home to about 200 big cats.

Joe Taft, owner of the center near Center Point, said he thinks it is unlikely that the animal seen was a black leopard, because they are not particularly common in captivity in this area, and they are certainly not native to Indiana.

Dave Sacks of the USDA said the federal agency has no permits issued for regulated animals in Vigo County. However he did say it is possible that someone in the area may have possessed a leopard illegally at some time, and such a person likely would not report it if the animal escaped.

The DNR’s Bloom said that anyone who sights a big cat in Vigo, Clay, Sullivan, Parke or Vermillion counties is asked to call the District 9 wildlife biologist at (812) 268-0300 to report the sighting.

If an animal poses no threat to people and causes no injury to livestock or pets, it likely would be allowed to remain free, Bloom said. An effort would be made to capture a problem animal.

Another option would be for people to contact the 911 dispatch center and ask to be put in touch with a conservation officer, he said.

The DNR recently has had 52 big cat sightings reported around the state, Bloom said. There was not sufficient evidence to confirm those sightings, and eight of the reports were determined to be an animal other than a mountain lion.

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