I’ve received the following four photos so many times lately, I figured I better address the flow of alerts to me about them. The email usually is labeled “Kitty, Kitty, Kitty.” The location is given as someplace familiar and near you. I saw copies of these, wow, first about five years ago. It is amazing they are making a return appearance.

Therefore, let me just mention them here as they are not what they seem to be.

These are nothing more than what must be termed an internet rural legend!

I guess some would call them a hoax.

They are not startling photographic proof of the return of the eastern panther in whatever location your email sent you told you. They were, instead, taken in Wyoming. Read more here and at the end of this negative article about “panther paranoia.”

The unfortunate whiplash of these photographs is that they tend to make it harder for real eyewitnesses of actual eastern mystery cats to be taken seriously.