GENTRY -- Could there be a big cat roaming the Gentry area? According to some, that is more than just a remote possibility.
Gentry police department logs list the report of a big cat in the southwest part of the city near Taylor's Orchard called in last week by Frank Holzkamper, Sr., who lives and owns a business in Gentry.
Holzkamper hunts deer in the area under a special Arkansas Game and Fish Commission permit to help control deer numbers on certain agricultural lands.
According to Holzkamper, he and his wife Sharon were out scouting for deer in the area of Marion Lee and Taylor Orchard Roads close to dusk on Jan. 22 and had watched a number of deer enter the orchard when they saw what he believed was a big cat.
"We were out scouting for deer on Wednesday night and saw 12 deer run into Taylor's Orchard. A couple of minutes later, we saw one coming back out. When my wife looked at it through binoculars, it wasn't a deer but a huge cat like a panther, cougar or mountain lion."
Holzkamper said the animal had a long tail like a big cat but that it was too dark to determine the color.
According to Holzkamper, a neighbor who lives south of the area where he saw the big cat had told him of seeing two black big cats along her driveway.
The Eagle Observer contacted Susan Newton, of rural Gentry, and she reported seeing a pair of large dark-colored bobcats along her driveway. She said the animals had tails about 8 inches long and that they were not cougars. She said she was surprised to see the two bobcats together.
Holzkamper said he and other area hunters have noticed a sharp decline in deer populations west of Gentry this year, and he suspects a big cat or cats might be the reason.
"A big cat will take a deer every three or four days," he said.
General News on 01/29/2014