Mammals of Carolina Bays 27 



color in North Carolina. It is reasonable to assume that Felis c. coryi 

 (Bangs), like various other "Florida" races of mammals, ranged into the 

 southeastern part of the state. Specific records for Felis concolor in the 

 North Carolina Coastal Plain are few. We are aware of the following: 



1721. Chowan Co. bounty records. (North Carolina State Archives). 



1776. "Wicker Davis was paid by court 10 shillings for killing a 

 panther." Carteret Co. court minutes, vol. X, page 327. 



Some years before the Civil War. One killed in Rose Bay, Hyde 

 County (NCSM records). 



1900. Trapped in a pocosin in Craven County (NCSM records). 



1930. Washington County, Lake Phelps, "skin seen by biologists" 

 (NCSM records). 

 Additionally, there are at least five Coastal Plain localities named after 

 Panthers, presumably each representing encounters of early settlers with 

 this cat. There are three different Panther Creeks, one each in Duplin, 

 Pitt, and Sampson counties; Panther Swamp, Northhampton County, 

 and Panther Swamp Creek, Greene County. 



Sight records of Panthers still continue to be reported. Lee (1977) 

 surveyed the numerous reports, and the information in our files has led 

 to the following conclusions: 1) no recent reports of panthers in North 

 Carolina are authenticated by specimens, photographs, identifiable 

 tracks, hair samples, or scats; 2) seemingly reliable reports accumulated 

 over the last 80 years have clustered in a few specific areas; 3) the fre- 

 quencies and localities of Panther reports are directly related to past 

 and present distributions and numbers of White-tailed Deer; and 4) 

 based on a four-point scale of reliability (Lee 1977), nearly all reliable 

 Coastal Plain sight records are from pocosin-rich areas. Forty-four 

 records of Panther sightings in 20 eastern North Carolina counties were 

 reported to the State Museum in the 1970's, but none was substantiated 

 by photographs, footprints, or by other means. Unless evidence to the 

 contrary appears, we consider the Panther extirpated. 



DISCUSSION 



Of the 40 mammals found, probably only Blarina sp., Pipistrellus 

 subflavus, Sylvilagus palustris, Sciurus carolinensis, Peromyscus gossy- 

 pinus, Ochrotomys nuttalli, Urocyon cinereoargenteus, Ursus america- 

 nus, Procyon lotor, and Odocoileus virginianus occur with enough den- 

 sity or regularity to be considered typical (although not characteristic) 

 inhabitants of pocosin/ Carolina bay communities. When open savannas 

 are included in this system, Cryptotis parva and Sigmodon hispidus 

 should be included. All species, except possibly the Black Bear, can be 

 found in equal or greater abundance in many other Coastal Plain habi- 

 tats and therefore are not to be regarded as index species for pocosins. 



