# Panthers ?



## BassHunter25 (Apr 20, 2012)

I know this is redundant, but a recent conversation has made me want to comment about it.

So, it is said they are not in GA.  But some guy killed one a couple years ago in North Ga and got fined and lost his hunting license.  

I know GON offered a 1000 dollar reward for proof of a panther in Ga, but you would get in trouble if you kill one, which technically is not here, you get in deep doo doo.  

So, as far as I know no one has come forward with any proof, because they said the one the guy killed was a pet.

I recently talked to an "anonymous" person, who knows alot about our new property we are hunting.  He said to be careful that they have killed two tan panthers, there, (one on our property and the other right next door).  I don't know this man personally, but I don't think he is lying.  My buddy also, swears he saw one (tan panther or cougar) on the side of the road one night in Oliver, Ga.  So, I am becoming a believer.

I have decided to start taking my pistol turkey hunting with me now.  But if one of those things were to come in on a setup, I think I would have to shoot it.

Would you shoot one?


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## doenightmare (Apr 20, 2012)

No on shooting one.


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## GA DAWG (Apr 20, 2012)

Id shoot a black un in a heartbeat! Not real worried about seeing a regular ol panther.


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## groundhawg (Apr 22, 2012)

BassHunter25 said:


> I know this is redundant, but a recent conversation has made me want to comment about it.
> 
> So, it is said they are not in GA.  But some guy killed one a couple years ago in North Ga and got fined and lost his hunting license.
> 
> ...



Nope. No reason I can think of for shooting one unless it was attacking me or the kids.  Can think of lots of reason why to not shoot one.


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## Rich Kaminski (Apr 22, 2012)

*I would always obey the laws*

Now with that said: If there are no panthers in Georgia and I was to shoot one, then I guess I really didn't shoot one because it is impossible to shoot something that does not exist in the state where you are hunting; right?
Isn't that like shooting a Red Wolf??? The government said for years that the Red Wolf is extinct. Now we are beeginning to see them again. Now truth, I woould never in my lifetime shoot a Red Wolf (there would never be enough of them produced to make the government take them off the endangered species list), but if a panther were attempting to or actually attacking me - it would be DRT.


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## mountainraider68 (Apr 22, 2012)

If it was a black one for sure. i dont care who says there not here theres been to many ppl see one hear one and have stories since they were kids. for it all to be a fraud. im only 18 but ive probably heard 6 my whole life when you hear one you know for a fact there real and this is in North GA. Actually my grandpa was workin last year and he walked behind his house for some tools and one ran out in front of him from his shed. he said it was probably 3ft tall but had a tail 4 ft long. there real for sure!


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## shakey gizzard (Apr 22, 2012)

mountainraider68 said:


> If it was a black one for sure. i dont care who says there not here theres been to many ppl see one hear one and have stories since they were kids. for it all to be a fraud. im only 18 but ive probably heard 6 my whole life when you hear one you know for a fact there real and this is in North GA. Actually my grandpa was workin last year and he walked behind his house for some tools and one ran out in front of him from his shed. he said it was probably 3ft tall but had a tail 4 ft long. there real for sure!



Did it sound like a women being kilt?


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## NCMTNHunter (Apr 23, 2012)

What got the guy in trouble a few years ago was that the one he shot turned out to be a Florida Panther which is endangered.  If it had been a regular old cougar they never would have charged him with anything.  The thing is you can't tell them apart without a DNA test.  If I see one and it's not trying to make lunch out of me, I would round up the dogs and tree that bad boy.  Then call DNR and let them come take a look.


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## mountainraider68 (Apr 24, 2012)

yeah A loud screamin lady make your pants wet and your hair stand up haha!


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## rydert (Apr 24, 2012)

shakey gizzard said:


> Did it sound like a women being kilt?



..........kilt?....I thought that was a dress for men?.........just sayin.........


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## benosmose (Apr 24, 2012)

I have spent a lot of time in the woods more than most even dream of i have heard bobcats scream and yeah its hair raising sound but i have never seen any panther or cougar here no tracks nothing not saying there aint a couple of florida panthers in ga just very few and you should respect nature enough not to kill things we have pushed to the brink of extinction.


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## Thunder Head (Apr 26, 2012)

I wouldnt shoot it.
 You probably dont have to worry about it. Our version is extra smart. They dont walk in front of trail cameras, get hit by cars or any of other stuff that happens to florida panthers and there western cousins.


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## 10point (Apr 28, 2012)

Seen them in tattnall county. Three of us seen them. Also see them charlton county too. But apparently there ghosts? Or giant bobcats with long long tails?


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## crazy00hunter (May 2, 2012)

I don't know if its a panther or not... But sure looks like one! This was off my cam in Walton county.


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## HucK Finn (May 2, 2012)

crazy00hunter said:


> I don't know if its a panther or not... But sure looks like one! This was off my cam in Walton county.



Not to me..... further more why is the face blured out?


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## HucK Finn (May 2, 2012)

mountainraider68 said:


> If it was a black one for sure. i dont care who says there not here theres been to many ppl see one hear one and have stories since they were kids. for it all to be a fraud. im only 18 but ive probably heard 6 my whole life when you hear one you know for a fact there real and this is in North GA. Actually my grandpa was workin last year and he walked behind his house for some tools and one ran out in front of him from his shed. he said it was probably 3ft tall but had a tail 4 ft long. there real for sure!



How does a black panther sound versus a tan one?

Lots of people have seen bigfoot too, do you believe in that?


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## Thunder Head (May 2, 2012)

Crazy00hunter,
 How tall is the grass were its standing?


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## crazy00hunter (May 2, 2012)

Thunder Head said:


> Crazy00hunter,
> How tall is the grass were its standing?



Knee deep.. Thats why im convinced it's a panther!


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## Throwback (May 2, 2012)

looks like a gray fox to me.

T


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## 243Savage (May 2, 2012)

Throwback said:


> looks like a gray fox to me.
> 
> T



They're still around?  I would have thought burgeoning population of panthers would have pushed them out by now.


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## Nicodemus (May 2, 2012)

Throwback said:


> looks like a gray fox to me.
> 
> T





Yep, I`d say so.


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## GA DAWG (May 2, 2012)

So yall post up a pic of a fox that looks like that. That's no fox. I've never seen a fox like that.


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## Throwback (May 2, 2012)

when was the picture taken? Date? 

T


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## Throwback (May 2, 2012)

GA DAWG said:


> So yall post up a pic of a fox that looks like that. That's no fox. I've never seen a fox like that.



its either a mama gray about to drop (after getting fatter on feed) or maybe a bobcat. a freind of mine that traps 100+ fox a year says he has caught a few fox fat like that before-- they were trapped near a feeder where they get food regular. 



T


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## fish hawk (May 2, 2012)

That guy at West Point thought he saw a panther too...Turns out he did!!!


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## bfriendly (May 2, 2012)

shakey gizzard said:


> Did it sound like a women being kilt?



Man I'm always late.................Did it?


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## Tnwoodman (May 2, 2012)

Don't know bout Ga but here in middle Tn I've seen cougars on numerous occasions.  So it's possible they've migrated. We also have armadillos go figure.


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## droptine06 (May 3, 2012)

crazy00hunter said:


> I don't know if its a panther or not... But sure looks like one! This was off my cam in Walton county.



For comparison. Key in on the ear shape and space between them. Looks like a grey fox to me. Fox has a slight point to the top of its ear versus more rounded on the panther.


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## rydert (May 3, 2012)

droptine06 said:


> For comparison. Key in on the ear shape and space between them. Looks like a grey fox to me. Fox has a slight point to the top of its ear versus more rounded on the panther.




good call droptine..........fox.......


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## Thunder Head (May 3, 2012)

crazy00hunter said:


> Knee deep.. Thats why im convinced it's a panther!



A mountian lion should be between 27" & 30" tall. Thats higher than knee deep even on us short folks. I guess you could walk in front of the camera and stand in the same spot and see what kind of size reference it gives you. 
 I looked at a few trail cam pics of cats from out west. The ears dont look right to me either.


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## Throwback (May 3, 2012)

i tried to blow it up to look at the tail but it pixelated out on me. 

T


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## crazy00hunter (May 4, 2012)

I'm going to pull the card in the camera this weekend so i will keep yall posted. All i know whatever it is... it's big! lol


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## benosmose (May 4, 2012)

Bait it when you go back couple cans of jack mackerel and some cracklins in a hole in a bank bet we would see then.This is off the subject but has anyone ever found a bobcat den ive never seen one.


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## Gator McKlusky (May 4, 2012)

Have you found deer carcasses covered up with dirt and grass?

If you want to find out what you've got...get the dogs out there early morning after some rain moves through.


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## Gator McKlusky (May 4, 2012)

ain't no panther going to come near any cans of fish and cracklins!!  come on man!!  hahaaaaaaa!!!


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## benosmose (May 5, 2012)

I was aimin for that fox or bobcat in the pic but im willin to bet a panther would go for the jack.Unless its a black one they only eat small children or marshmallows.


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## saltysenior (May 5, 2012)

bigfoot always keeps the black panther on a leash..


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## saltysenior (May 5, 2012)

BassHunter25 said:


> I know this is redundant, but a recent conversation has made me want to comment about it.
> 
> So, it is said they are not in GA.  But some guy killed one a couple years ago in North Ga and got fined and lost his hunting license.
> 
> ...



question, if you are turkey hunting you most likely have a shotgun loaded w/ some mean ammo, so why carry a pistol ?? snakes maybe, but letting a shot go usually, sorta, somehow tends to screw up the hunt....but the big question is why would you want to shoot a panther ???


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## jughead (May 8, 2012)

If cats were in ga. you would find kills. It takes a lot of food for cats.


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## Throwback (May 9, 2012)

jughead said:


> If cats were in ga. you would find kills. It takes a lot of food for cats.



logic and facts are not allowed in this debate.

T


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## shakey gizzard (May 10, 2012)

jughead said:


> If cats were in ga. you would find kills. It takes a lot of food for cats.



Yotes eat em all gone!


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## Throwback (May 10, 2012)

shakey gizzard said:


> Yotes eat em all gone!



you don't think they don't still find cat kills out west where they have coyotes (not to mention wolves?)

T


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## dannybuck (May 10, 2012)

I might get bashed, but yur not gonna tell me there's no panthers in GA. I couldn't believe it when I saw it, but I did, and watched it on the edge of a gas line for about 5 minutes. I've been hunting for 35 years, seen cougars out west, and there's no doubt it was a BIG cat.


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## GA DAWG (May 10, 2012)

Throwback said:


> you don't think they don't still find cat kills out west where they have coyotes (not to mention wolves?)
> 
> T


You think the one from troup co made any kills? Anybody find them? Maybe he didn't kill nothing from Fl up here. Mighta eat fast food or something.  Anyhow that kill PROVED they are here


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## Nicodemus (May 10, 2012)

A normal colored panther showin` up anywhere in Georgia doesn`t surprise me the least little bit. 

As for my open challenge on one of those mythical black ones I issued several years ago, the challenge stands. And I`m still waitin`.


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## maxwell42583 (May 11, 2012)

Im down here in Grady County. We see big cats and there tracks about once a year. We here them often, too. We took a plaster cast of one set of prints next to our horse barn. We sent them in to DNR and to FWC. FWC said it was panther tracks. DNR never responded. For some reason, it seems like DNR has a desire to deny panthers at all cost. I mean a man SHOT a FLORIDA PANTHER near Americus! How much more proof is needed! There are game camera pics out of Colquitt County of a panther carrying a freshly killed buck!! There are plaster casts of prints! It will take someone getting killed to prove they exist here. A panther has a range of 300 square miles. That is pretty dang big!


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## Lukethedrifter (May 11, 2012)

I have no dog in this fight, just want to comment on the above post. The camera pics out of colquitt county with the panther carrying the buck have also been on half the trail cams in every county in the state. It was - I AM A POTTY MOUTH -- I AM A POTTY MOUTH - about it being from Ga. 3 different buddies have sent me that picture from 3 different counties. 

I also would like to say that my family owns a nature preserve and houses a mountain lion along with some yotes coons foxes and bobcats. The cougar isnt nearly as vocal as some of the other animals mentioned and the whole sounds like woman being killed comments all over here.... there are a few NATIVE Ga animals that make similar sounds. Oh, and the bigfoot folks are just nuts.


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## Nastytater (May 11, 2012)

saltysenior said:


> bigfoot always keeps the black panther on a leash..



Thats what I've always been told


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## Nicodemus (May 11, 2012)

For the new folks.




Bring me a BLACK mt. lion-panther-puma-cougar, and I will take it to the Lee County courthouse yard, skin it with a flint flake, kindle a fire by rubbin` two sticks together, cook said critter over this fire, and use one of the claws for a toothpick when I`m done. This challenge also applies to a jaguar, spotted, or black as the tires on a truck, IF, you can prove without a doubt that it was wild, originated in the southern United States, and was not some escaped pet, fair, or zoo animal.

I believe that my words above are purty clear, and easily understood, but just so everybody understands, a BLACK one, not tan, not brown, not gray. Don`t believe me? Try me.

Don`t bring me a picture or photo. Bring me the critter. Oh yea, I get to keep the skin.

I`ve been waitin` a couple of years now, and I`m still waitin`... 
__________________


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## shakey gizzard (May 11, 2012)

Throwback said:


> you don't think they don't still find cat kills out west where they have coyotes (not to mention wolves?)
> 
> T



Yotes are also on the menu out west!


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## chehawknapper (May 11, 2012)

I will match Nick's challenge and help him in the process (we aren't getting any younger Nick).


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## Throwback (May 11, 2012)

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## Beartrkkr (May 21, 2012)

Rich Kaminski said:


> Now with that said: If there are no panthers in Georgia and I was to shoot one, then I guess I really didn't shoot one because it is impossible to shoot something that does not exist in the state where you are hunting; right?
> Isn't that like shooting a Red Wolf??? The government said for years that the Red Wolf is extinct. Now we are beeginning to see them again. Now truth, I woould never in my lifetime shoot a Red Wolf (there would never be enough of them produced to make the government take them off the endangered species list), but if a panther were attempting to or actually attacking me - it would be DRT.



http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/01/0131_030131_redwolf.html

http://www.fws.gov/redwolf/


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## Nicodemus (May 21, 2012)

chehawknapper said:


> I will match Nick's challenge and help him in the process (we aren't getting any younger Nick).





Welcome to "the long wait", old Friend.


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## Chase4556 (May 22, 2012)

Cougars are not uncommon out in Texas. No, we don't see them all the time, but still common. 

I have see a cougar twice on our property in the 6 years we have had it. Probably the same one. Heard stories about them when we bought it from the neighbors, but we didn't start believing until they brought us over to check out the deer carcass they found in a tree. Also found a couple hogs we had shot that were half eated and drug up underneath some pines and covered with pine straw. Finally I made my first sighting about 3 1/2 years ago, then saw it again later that year during deer season. I have no real reason to kill one, even out there where it is legal.

Just funny to come from out there, to here where they are a huge mystery type animal.


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## Darkhorse15 (May 22, 2012)

mountainraider68 said:


> yeah A loud screamin lady make your pants wet and your hair stand up haha!



Most of the people that I've heard say they heard a panther/cougar scream were actually just hearing a red fox.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk1mAd77Hr4


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## Throwback (May 25, 2012)

Chase4556 said:


> Cougars are not uncommon out in Texas. No, we don't see them all the time, but still common.
> 
> I have see a cougar twice on our property in the 6 years we have had it. Probably the same one. Heard stories about them when we bought it from the neighbors, but we didn't start believing until they brought us over to check out the deer carcass they found in a tree. Also found a couple hogs we had shot that were half eated and drug up underneath some pines and covered with pine straw. Finally I made my first sighting about 3 1/2 years ago, then saw it again later that year during deer season. I have no real reason to kill one, even out there where it is legal.
> 
> Just funny to come from out there, to here where they are a huge mystery type animal.





so in a place where they are known to exist you found actual physical evidence other than poor trail camera pictures and stories told round the fire by pawpaw about what his uncle's cousin heard? 

Imagine that. 

T


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## miles58 (May 25, 2012)

mountainraider68 said:


> yeah A loud screamin lady make your pants wet and your hair stand up haha!



Not me!  I got so used to that nonsense with first wife it didn't even wake me up from a nap after a couple of years.

Dave


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## Chase4556 (May 25, 2012)

Throwback said:


> so in a place where they are known to exist you found actual physical evidence other than poor trail camera pictures and stories told round the fire by pawpaw about what his uncle's cousin heard?
> 
> Imagine that.
> 
> T



If you knew the people that surround our property and some of the claims they have made, you would be amazed that one was true as well. Haha.

I mainly find it funny the pictures people put up, asking if its a cougar/panther. When they finally see a picture of one on their cameras... they will know. Thats really what made me post, but I forgot to add that little tid bit.


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## Throwback (May 25, 2012)

Chase4556 said:


> If you knew the people that surround our property and some of the claims they have made, you would be amazed that one was true as well. Haha.
> 
> I mainly find it funny the pictures people put up, asking if its a cougar/panther. When they finally see a picture of one on their cameras... they will know. Thats really what made me post, but I forgot to add that little tid bit.



I saw one at the nashville zoo this week. I almost fell out in hysterics when I thought of the pics of "panthers" posted on here. 


T


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## Throwback (May 25, 2012)

hey chase, 

how many "jet black" panthers are seen out there?

T


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## Chase4556 (May 25, 2012)

None.

Last one I saw was chasing Mowgli through the jungle with Baloo hot on his heels.


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## Throwback (May 25, 2012)

Chase4556 said:


> None.
> 
> Last one I saw was chasing Mowgli through the jungle with Baloo hot on his heels.



impossible. They're everywhere in georgia. they HAVE to be there. 

T


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## joedublin (May 25, 2012)

Nic, you'll get a spotted one before you'll get a black one 'cause, as you know, there is no such animal as the black panther/ cougar. I've seen cougar/panther tracks in the Ocala National Forest on several occasions, but never seen the live animal . I would NEVER shoot a panther/cougar or a bear except in self-defense...normally they are very,very shy animals.


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## BRANCHWYNN (May 25, 2012)

*Sighting*

Decatur County sighting in a field full of cows. By a Veterinarian. His field .....his cows....his panther. 'I know what I saw" were his words.


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## BRANCHWYNN (May 25, 2012)

black or tan? Panthers can be either....a panther is basically a cougar in a different part of the US


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## Throwback (May 25, 2012)

BRANCHWYNN said:


> black or tan? Panthers can be either....a panther is basically a cougar in a different part of the US




there has never been a conifirmed melanistic phase (black) cougar/panther in the wild or in captivity. 


T


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## BRANCHWYNN (May 25, 2012)

I know I was referring to mascots for football teams...


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