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First Posted: 8/19/2012 Marlene DeAnthony and Carol Hudson don't know each other. 
DeAnthony lives in Bear Creek and Hudson resides 1,100 miles away in Florida. 
Despite the distance, they both share a common bond. 
DeAnthony and Hudson both claim to have seen a black mountain lion. 
Hudson spotted it first &amp;#8211; at 6:50 p.m. on July 14. She and her husband were on Interstate 81 driving home from Maine when Hudson spotted what she believes was a black panther standing in the median, just north of Exit 170. 
She said it had a shiny, black coat, stood taller than a German shepherd, had a cat-like face and a crook in the last four inches of its long tail. 
"It was walking and I saw the entire profile," Hudson said. "I was thrilled to death to see it."
About a week later, about a mile away, DeAnthony was traveling along Jumper Road when she saw a black cat. 
The details &amp;#8211; larger then a German Shephard, long tail -- are identical to Hudson's account. It took two leaps for the cat to leap across the road and disappear into the woods. 
For a few days the sighting was the subject of some kidding from her husband, Victor. 
"That was until we saw the letter from Carol Hudson in the paper, and we both said &amp;#8216;whoa,'" he said. "It's unbelievable, sure, but when you have two different people saying they saw this thing in the same area, within a week &amp;#8230; I don't know."
Neither do I. 
I do think it's highly improbable to see a mountain lion, much less a black panther in Pennsylvania. Considering there are no known instances of a melanistic mountain lion &amp;#8211; the feline that DeAnthony and Hudson saw, given its size &amp;#8211; it would have to be melanistic leopard or jaguar. 
They can be found in the wild in Asia but not in North America, ruling out the possibility that the black cats migrated here from another state. 
Perhaps someone raised one in captivity and let it loose around here? 
Possible, but not likely. 
According to Bill Williams, information and education supervisor for the Pennsylvania Game Commission's northeast region, the agency has issued just two permits in the area for the possession of exotic wildlife. One of the permitted locations is in Monroe County where a cougar and a bobcat are possessed.
The other is in Marshall's Creek, and that individual has a cougar, two leopards and a bobcat.
As far as Williams knew, none are black and none have escaped. 
And as far as someone from out of the area releasing a black leopard or jaguar in our area, Williams is doubtful. 
Acquiring such a big, rare cat is obviously expensive to begin with.
The sightings, Williams said, could be a case of mistaken identity &amp;#8211; a black bear, a large black domestic cat or even a fisher. 
But DeAnthony and Hudson aren't the only ones claiming to have seen a panther or mountain lion in the area. Williams said each of the region's four PGC dispatchers gets three to four mountain lion calls each month. 
Just about all of the calls, he said, come in during the spring, summer and fall. 
That's too bad. Winter would be the best time for such a sighting because then there could be snow on the ground. 
And a cat bigger than a German shepherd would surely leave plenty of tracks. 
Still, DeAnthony and Hudson are certain of what they saw, and I don't doubt them. 
And what they saw was shocking enough to link two strangers more than 1,000 miles apart. 
Tom Venesky covers the outdoors for the Times Leader. Reach him at <a href="mailto:tvenesky@www.timesleader.com">tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</a>

Did a black cat actually cross their paths? TOM VENESKY OUTDOORS