On Reported Occurrences of the Panther (Felis Concolor) in New Brunswick¹

Here, beside a portage road, are partridge feathers in the road; some of the cat tribe has seized its prey here. . . .

The idea for this item occurred to Ganong when he read the following article about a panther (felis concolor) sighting by Dr. Van Buren Thorne and his father. It paints a picture of a sudden encounter with the rare panther or cougar, when they were hunting in the Canaan woods:

A moment later there was a great confused cracking of branches a hundred yards away to the left. It sounded like a moose on the run. The sounds became plainer. The animal was evidently approaching. There was a pause, followed by a growling sound and more stealthy approach. The animal crept to within twenty feet, then crouched in the underbrush and growled steadily. A patch of the creatures tawny hide showed for a moment in an opening of the underbrush. The animal’s identity was no longer a mystery — it was a panther. There was not time to speculate then to what strange mischance had led an animal of this species, hitherto unknown in these regions, to invade the Canaan woods. It was time for action. The creature was lashing itself into a perfect gale of fury and growling ominously. As he crouched again to spring I fired blindly where the ferns quivered. His growling ceased and he forbore to spring. Instead, he turned and leaped haltingly and lamely away. The blood on the leaves showed that he was wounded, but pursuit, owing to the dense nature of the woods at this point, was futile.

Intrigued by the story, Ganong interviewed Dr. Thorne and did some further research to see if he could substantiate the sighting. He wrote that the doctor held firm that he had seen a panther, despite all arguments to the contrary. Ganong’s report states that the Saint John Gazette interviewed Boaz Corey of Canaan, who claimed to have trapped a monster Indian Devil, the local name for a panther. The article stated that it appeared to have been recently wounded and speculated that it was the same animal seen by Thorne. Unfortunately, it turned out that the cat trapped by Corey was a lynx, so the cat Thorne had shot was either not a panther or was still at large. Ganong wrote of the conundrum: “The Indian Devil is that animal which, when seen, is never believed to have been seen by anybody but the person who saw it.”

Ganong’s research found no historical record of panther sightings in the province. In his report, he concluded that Thorne had been mistaken about the cat. The description of the animal’s behaviour seemed to indicate that it was a lynx, a wild cat known to show little fear of man, but not a cougar, which by nature is stealthy, silent, and usually shy of humans. On January 6, 1903, Ganong presented his report to the Natural History Society, summarizing: “We are brought to the conclusion that there is not a solitary authentic record, or any other authentic evidence, of either the present or former occurrence of the panther within the limits of New Brunswick.”