Panthers in New Jersey?

TRENTON, New Jersey (AP) — Residents of rural parts of New Jersey are used to seeing wild turkey, deer and even an occasional black bear. But the possibility of another kind of wild animal on the prowl has some people worried.

Residents of the community of Vineland reported seeing a large black animal with a cat-like long tail walking through the fields and woods during the weekend.

“I knew by the size that it was not a house cat. It wasn’t a tiny dog. It looked like some kind of wild cat,” said Zoe Paraskevas, who photographed it Saturday. “I just got chills. I said ‘Oh, my God!”‘

Felicia Fiocchi said she spotted something in the field behind their house on Sunday.

“I can’t tell you if it was a panther, but I can tell you that it wasn’t a domesticated house cat,” said Fiocchi. She’s worried about the possibility of a dangerous cat roaming the woods and fields where her four children sometimes play.

A wildlife officer visited the area three times during the weekend and found nothing to indicate a panther was in the area, said Darlene Yuhas, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.