british big cats - your views

[robwolf]

hi i spend a great deal of time in the woods and i have seen some strange things but the strangest so far is scratches on a tree where a red deer had been taking the bark off the scratches were at chest hight, at first i thought it was kids messing around and so i made various claws out of garden rakes etc but couldnt get anywere near the same depth and cleaness of what i saw on the tree.I also found paw prints that were about 2 1/2 inches wide and droppings about the size of a med size dog but cat shaped its pads on the top of the paw print were offset not like a dog that are level, i still havent seen the owner of these tracks but heres hopeing regards rob

 

[thewanderer]

approx 5 weeks ago i found what appeared to be cat faeces larger than regular moggie and full of fur and very strong smelling then approx 3 weeks ago in a different location approx 3 mile on the other side of the valley from the faeces i found the remains of a carcass of a female roe deer approx 8ft off the ground in a tree I only notice it after seeing crows hanging around and finally the lower potion of a front leg on the ground under the tree I continued walking throught the area with my two springadors and left for home a week later i passed the location walking the dogs and the carcass was completely gone exept for the front leg portion. after thorough search I found no other sign of the carcass no pelt bones skull the carcass had been taken from the tree and away. a fox would be unable to climb the tree if the crows had dislodged the carcass to the ground a fox would have left the remains of pelt skull bones scattered in situ. leaving either human interferance or a large animal cable of climbing trees and carrying away a large carcass.

 

[Joonsy]

Stories of these big cats have been circulating for so many years now that if true then they are either breeding or a fresh stock is being occasionally released. There has been so many different species reported which would also mean there must be a considerable number out there as it is unlikely they are interbreeding. I think it pretty likely that some have been released or escaped but I think these would have been seen very quickly on the first few days as the animals would be disorientated at first and if released from captivity would probably not have their more normal ‘wild’ instincts tuned in, in which case I would have thought they would be quite vulnerable for some time after being released. If they have been breeding I would have thought that a vulnerable time too as they would have to remain in one area for a short time. Regards actual proof that is a bit of a grey area, one would think in our crowded land there would be more positive proof, when out in the countryside it is easy to feel you are remote and the only one for miles but there is an incredible variety of outdoor activists out there all doing their thing and you’d have thought the proof would be more definite considering the number of reported sightings. That being said we know for certain otters are in our rivers but the majority of people have never seen one and there are some people that have never seen a badger which are incredibly common, in a local wood I know of people who live close by have never seen the deer there. The difference is if you wanted to prove the otters/badgers/deer were there with a bit of care dedication and time you could do so whereas the cats remain elusive, it seems to me maybe wrongly that more people have apparently seen a big cat than an otter. For me the jury is still out and I remain open-minded, I do feel however that some folks lose all rationality with the unexplained, I once proved a ghost to be nothing more than an owl.

 

[spiritofold]

Spose you have to see it to believe it.

Tell you something i saw recently. Theres an oak tree with bloody great scratches on its trunk. My son saw it first, and we thought it could have been done by a badger. Could'nt see any other badger sign near though, latrine or trails etc. Looking at it reminds me of a cats scrating post, but on a larger scale. It dont mean that it was done by a big cat, just raised my heckles!

I'll try and get some pix of it and post on here.

 

[Aaron]

I always thought that it was pretty much an accepted fact that there were large cats roaming wild in various locations throughout the British Isles - after they passed the Dangerous Wild Animals Act back in the 1970's (?) that stopped people keeping them in private collections a number of owners admitted to releasing their 'pets' as they could not meet the animal welfare or insurance requirements that the act required.

 

[Tengu]

A pet wouldnt last long in the wild.

 

[gregorach]

A pet wouldnt last long in the wild.

I disagree - there's a huge number of feral moggies that manage just fine in the wild. And the more exotic felids don't domesticate very well, so they're more-or-less wild anyway.

 

[Aaron]

A pet wouldnt last long in the wild.

I would imagine that those seen today they are the descendents of released animals that have bred in the wild Tengu, not the original animals themselves.

 

[Tengu]

http://purtoninfo.org.uk/articles/gowild_bigcats.html

 

[British Red]

Purely as a matter of interest - how many skeletons of the big cats that have lived and died here have been found?

 

[stu1979uk]

Over ten years ago I found a dead intact body of a wild cat. Not a large puma kind or anything, but almost twice the size of your average household cat, dark with lighter colored stripes.
It was lying on the banks of Loch Earnhead in Scotland.
That year one of our fellow fishermen also swore he saw a large black puma like cat at Loch Tay.
Zoos have massive lists of all the animals that have escaped over the years throughout the country, some of them must have survived. Scotland especially has plenty of isolated woodlands and plenty of sheep and deer for feed.

 

[crwydryny]

there was a leopard in the forrest above my house a few years ago (about 5-6 years give or take) I never saw it myself but the police and everyone were going nuts trying to keep people out of the forrest until it could be sorted out. never found out what happened to it in the end but as far as I'm aware there wasn't any more reports. then again the forrest above my house is known for ferrel/wild dogs and the occasional big cat sighting but they usually get dismissed after a week or two

 

[Paganwolf]

And no ones ever shot or captured one even though so many are seen, amazing I suppose they hide with the Trolls, vampires and werewolves and come out when theres no guns or cameras about.

 

[Lodian]

The forest where i go Camping is supposed to have one or two kicking about and allegdly there have been numerous sitings however apart from pretty big tracks i have never seen any.

Lodian

 

[Apac]

Exactly! I wouldn’t think there are any tbh, you get alot of UFO sightings but in till there is evidence to prove or disprove I would dismiss it as attention seeking, I think if a panther was to attack a man he would have little chance in getting free... these animals have been know to kill 20st crocodiles.. And wouldn’t you imagine the BBC would have pictures of any wounds sustained in the attack? cynical me?

 

[spiritofold]

Years back there was a kid in the UK who was attacked, and wounded by a big cat in a field on his dads farm. It was on the local news but dunno about national.
I guess if you've never seen a big cat in UK woodland yourself then you wont belive it.

 

[Apac]

indeed, and the same goes for the lockness monster, vampires, ghosts, ect...

 

[spiritofold]

indeed, and the same goes for the lockness monster, vampires, ghosts, ect...

Maybe when you lived a bit you can have some of your own stories to tell

 

[Apac]

haha! obviously age must have something to do with ones ability to distinguish fact from fiction! I belive in tangible evidence thats all..:sad6:

 

[spiritofold]

haha! obviously age must have something to do with ones ability to distinguish fact from fiction! I belive in tangible evidence thats all..:sad6:

I do know how to distinguish fact from fiction!

Some people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!