stxhunter,
Inasmuch as I've had a few incidents with El Tigre, when I was stationed down in LA at HQ, USASOUTHCOM, I know just enough about them to not want a "close encounter of the 3rd kind".
(For starters, I cannot count the times that a jaguar set off our "intrusion alarms".)
I had one "visit my tent" one night , as we found his prints at about 0630 the next morning. - Didn't see El Tigre & I was pleased that he didn't choose to "have a snack".
NOT a few peasants in that area have passed out by a campfire, dead drunk & were rudely awakened by being bitten.
yours, tex
Well, you have certainly led an interesting life...
The last supposed record of a jaguar in Louisiana is from Ascension Parish, about 10 miles east of the Mississippi River in 1886. We can't be sure that
is what it was, as the houndsmen who killed it referred to it as "an American tiger." They noted that it weighed 250 lbs and was "much bigger" than the native "panther," but that is well within the upper range of weights of large male mountain lions. We don't know for sure exactly what it was, as they didn't bother to mention whether the pelt was spotted, striped or plain.
If you have evidence of jaguars being in Louisiana recently, I am sure that the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (not to mention the Center for Biodiversity) would love to hear about it.