There is a similar folk tale that has been told around here for years. I have heard older people talk about a train wreck in an area refered to as Pond River Bottoms. According to the story a train wrecked way out in Pond River bottoms a low swampy area that seperates Hopkins and Muhlenberg counties in western Kentucky. All of the animals that ecsaped were recaptured except for a male and female black panther. During the 1950's there were a bunch of strange attacks on farm animals and a few humans. The locals startd calling the creature (or creatures) the Varmint. According to the eyewitnesses it resemebled a black panther. The panthers from the train wreck is where most people think th Varmint came from. The local newspapers ran stories and there were even Varmint Hunting clubs started up around the county. All at once the attakcs ceased but reports of black panthers are still common around this part of Western Kentucky.