Nellie the Lion is an Eastern puma reported from Illinois (Area around Decatur). Large cat. Tawny or yellowish. Attacks humans and cars. Can leap 20 feet. Cat-like tracks, 5 inches long and 4 inches wide. Some show claw marks. May be a specimen of Panthera atrox, the American lion. Pic to right is prob African lion
Significant sightings[]
- On July 13, 1917, a large cat attacked butler Thomas Gullett while he was picking flowers on the Robert Allerton estate southwest of Monticello, Illinois. The incident sparked a lion hunt that lasted through the end of the month.
- On the night of July 29, 1917, the cat leaped at and struck a car occupied by Earl Hill, Chester Osborn, and their wives on the Springfield Road. It was stunned but left when Hill returned with the police.
- Loren Coleman saw a black cat in 1967
- even tho nellie is not black
- nellie is not to be confused w/ nelly the rapper