Big cat paw print identification in Fife
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I think the interesting bit is that it's the offspring of released cats which means in theory it is possible for them to breed here.
That's a pretty terrible cast / picture to work from.
I am no expert so this can be taken with a pinch of salt, Leopards prints are approx 10cm / 4 inches in length, if you hold your palm up and measure it you will find it is around 3.5 - 4 inches for an adult male, so the size of the print in comparison to the policemans hand would be consistent.
Leopards prints are also supposed to be round and the general shape of the print is round, you can make out the toe (digital) pads, but not with a lot of definition. The intermediate (palmar/plantar) pads are not easy to distinguish in good detail, this is unfortunate becuase this is one of the major things that would distinguish this as being a cat (large or small) for me.
soryy for the terminology, I have been overdosing on Bang & Dahlstrom, Chris & Stuart Tilde and Leiberman recently
I am no expert so this can be taken with a pinch of salt, Leopards prints are approx 10cm / 4 inches in length, if you hold your palm up and measure it you will find it is around 3.5 - 4 inches for an adult male, so the size of the print in comparison to the policemans hand would be consistent.
Leopards prints are also supposed to be round and the general shape of the print is round, you can make out the toe (digital) pads, but not with a lot of definition. The intermediate (palmar/plantar) pads are not easy to distinguish in good detail, this is unfortunate becuase this is one of the major things that would distinguish this as being a cat (large or small) for me.
soryy for the terminology, I have been overdosing on Bang & Dahlstrom, Chris & Stuart Tilde and Leiberman recently
I am wondering if we could enquire about a better picture from either the Fife police or the BBC??
They must have one and it only takes a few minutes to e-mail to someone.
They must have one and it only takes a few minutes to e-mail to someone.
it would be difficult for 99% of trackers to tell you, not because of the picture quality etc, but because as with any other subject, you can only advise on what you know, and looking at prints in a book just doesnt cut it, the only poeple that could advise you are those trackers that have touched the print of that sort of animal
Not knocking these articles, but how come no-one ever recovers a body or skeleton from one of these big cats?
They've been around for decades now, supposedly from Bodmin to Yorkshire. I know big cats are solitary, but I'm amazed that I have never seen an article on a body being recovered, a skull found etc. Is there a "big cat graveyard" soemwhere?
They've been around for decades now, supposedly from Bodmin to Yorkshire. I know big cats are solitary, but I'm amazed that I have never seen an article on a body being recovered, a skull found etc. Is there a "big cat graveyard" soemwhere?
I found this site awhile back and it fits right into your discussion here.
http://www.ukbigcats.co.uk/
http://www.ukbigcats.co.uk/
bambodoggy
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Fallow Way said:
I'm not getting into an arguement here so all I'll say is that I do not agree with your statement and leave it at that as that's my personal oppinion. :tapedshut
On a happier note, I don't think for one minute it's a genuin big cat print...there's never been one in this whole country verified as such by anyone who might actually have a clue. Still I might be wrong, only time will tell
Cheers,
Bam.
If they have been having sightings for a decade or more and they are supposedly breeding, there would be kill sites, buried kill, scat, strong urine smell, tufts of hair and unless cats learned to fly lately, tracks. It certainly wouldn't take a decade or more to find a set of tracks. At least I wouldn't think that it would.
As far as identifying a track, by looking at a photo of a single track, you could probably indentify the animal that made the track, but all of the particulars like length of stride, size of the track, depth of the track, the soil conditions it was found in and whether or not weather and time had deteriorated the sign around the track, wouldn't really be known.
It's easy to make it appear like an animal left a track or even a few, but getting a string of them put together, to where a tracker could say that the animal came from there and went to there, would be very difficult. It would take someone that is experienced in tracking, to fool a tracker and any tracker worth his/her salt would spot the phony right away. Which can't always be done from a photo that depicts a single track.
As far as identifying a track, by looking at a photo of a single track, you could probably indentify the animal that made the track, but all of the particulars like length of stride, size of the track, depth of the track, the soil conditions it was found in and whether or not weather and time had deteriorated the sign around the track, wouldn't really be known.
It's easy to make it appear like an animal left a track or even a few, but getting a string of them put together, to where a tracker could say that the animal came from there and went to there, would be very difficult. It would take someone that is experienced in tracking, to fool a tracker and any tracker worth his/her salt would spot the phony right away. Which can't always be done from a photo that depicts a single track.
bambodoggy
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
RovingArcher said:
Totally agree RA
and put so much better than I could Bam.
(Fallow, thanks for not taking offence
)
British Red said:Not knocking these articles, but how come no-one ever recovers a body or skeleton from one of these big cats?
They've been around for decades now, supposedly from Bodmin to Yorkshire. I know big cats are solitary, but I'm amazed that I have never seen an article on a body being recovered, a skull found etc. Is there a "big cat graveyard" soemwhere?
Not too surprising. I've never seen a cat carcass, and we have lynx, cougar, and bobcat in our area, though not too many of lynx and cougar. More surprising, I've only ever seen one wolf carcass (car kill), and we have many in our area.
PG
PG brings up an interesting point, because for as many years as I've stalked the unbeaten paths here in California where cats are abundant, I've yet to find a bobcat or cougar carcass. However, I have found kill sites, hair, kills buried for later enjoyment, a couple of dens and lots of tracks. One set that I was able to follow for several miles as they criss-crossed through the wilderness. Fortunately it was in relatively flat country with a dusting of snow.
Marts said:
Perhaps the behaviour I've noticed with domestic cats might provide a model of sorts for this phenomenon? Whenever a snake or tick finished one of our domestic cats off ( in Aus) they'd head for somewhere dark, safe and out of the way to die, like under the shed. I can imagine if you are a big cat, and vulnerable through injury or disease you'd want to get out of the way too.
What do you think?
I watched a nature film a couple of years back, which showed a male lion that had been attacked by another pride, and went off to die.
The lion had a radio collar, and when they caught up with him, all that was left was some of his mane, and the metal from the radio itself.
Although we havent got the same scale of predator here, I would have thought that nature would take its course, and the carcass would be eaten, broken down, and gradually return to its constituent parts.
The lion had a radio collar, and when they caught up with him, all that was left was some of his mane, and the metal from the radio itself.
Although we havent got the same scale of predator here, I would have thought that nature would take its course, and the carcass would be eaten, broken down, and gradually return to its constituent parts.
F
Fiddleback
Guest
In the article is says not to worry about the presence of these cats because if you leave them alone they'll leave you alone. I think that point is debatable. In my experience it only holds true for large men or groups. Women or children alone by themselves, or an injured person would certainly draw the attention of these "big cats." Unless of course its only a bobcat or lynx. A cougar, jaguar, or leopard would certainly attack a person if it thought it was an easy kill. What do you guys think?
My first post by the way. Seems like a great place.
My first post by the way. Seems like a great place.
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