british big cats - your views

[Paganwolf]

Havent you seen the film Underworld? lost boys or Dog Soldiers?! if you have you would know vampires and werewolves are real,Tut!
Big Cats in the UK although hmmmmm thats a bit far fetched lol

 

[gregorach]

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

Except that we know for a fact that (a) big cats exist, and (b) they have been released into the British countryside by irresponsible owners. Therefore, it doesn't seem too unreasonable to believe that there are big cats out there.

Regular readers will know that I'm as sceptical as they come, but in this case I have no reason to doubt that they're out there.

 

[swagman]

And we have Tassie tigers still living in our bush.

 

[gregorach]

Now there's a question... I've certainly heard first-hand reports of thylacine sightings from people who should be reliable witnesses, but whether they're really true or not I couldn't say.

 

[Apac]

If something cannot be proven or disproved then it cannot theoretically be a fact, there for it is a belief! Belief is an opinion and everyone has there own and is entitled to it!

I personally believe that given the evidence they have apparently been realised/escaped in to the British countryside, there survival rate would dramatically be reduced as they have been captive and would most probably not be able to fend for them selves successfully, based on documentaries of realise programs in there native environments such animals that have not been thought to hunt by there parents do not do very well and that’s in there own environment!

Its all to do with the nature versus nurture argument, animals do have an instinctive hunting urge but success is driven by nurture and one could imagine it would be huge learning curve for a captive animal who is used to its food been handed to it on the proverbial plate

This coupled with the fact farmers would have something to say about live stock been taken regularly they would most probably be the number one target for such animals, given that there pretty much easy pray compared to there wild counterparts.

I would take an educated guess that if said animals could have survived then the chances of them still been alive today would be very minimal, the majority of these apparent animals realised (i assume) would have been around 1974 when the DWA act came in to play. As all captive animals coverd by the DWA have to be accounted for.

Big cats have a relatively short life expectance in the luxury of captivity and I would assume that this is greatly reduced in a non native environment. The chances of such rare animals coming in to contact with there own kind to bread is incredible small.

This is how I have based my opinion on whether or not they exist and not through someone’s momentary sightings or reports. Hard evidence has yet to emerge and there for I remain "close minded as some of you will no doubt view my opinions" in doubt.

I am not calling people who belive to have seen said animals liers, but seeing is believing in this case!

ill stop writing before my keybord dies me thinks lol..

 

[swagman]

A few years ago a Canadian trapper went over to the uk to see if he could find any
signs of big cats he found nothing to prove they were or werent there.
Most of the evidence he was presented with to prove big cats he said in his opinion
was done by dogs ie sheep kills.

In Australia there are as many sightings of the Tassie tiger on the main land as there are in Tassie but sadly we all know what happend to them.

 

[hammock monkey]

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.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/4830320.stm

if there are hundreds of scottish wildcats + the feral hybrids etc in scotland yet they are very rarely seen, its very plausible to me that there are large cats around....that and the fact that i've seen one myself (with 2 other people) but don't mention it too often cos i sound like a nutter

 

[spiritofold]

I spend alot of time in the woods and see lots of animals. My work involves me having a knowlege of what goes on in the same said area. Im self employed so i have the time There are various badger sets and foxes dens around me, and having watched them for many years, i know how they behave and what they look like from very many angles.
Even a hare can look strange when seen in a woodland setting! I was not the only person who saw the cat, there were 5 others with me!

We all *believe* we saw a big cat.

Its fine if you want to ridicule me, if it makes you feel bigger as a person, go ahead.

Another story...

Theres a place called Badger Farm near me. There were reports of animals being killed in somerset, then Wiltshire, and then into Hampshire. The farmer had people out at night patrolling to protect livestock just incase whatever was moving through was going to strike at his place. This is well known about in the area and was often talked about when going out beating. Happened in the early 90's

 

[stu1979uk]

Here is fuel to the fire, I was 3/4 of the way up Ben Lomond on the 29th September this year and found this

[img=http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/7302/p1020848nc3.th.jpg]

[img=http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/8273/p1020849ns3.th.jpg]

the tracks look to me like cats and were bigger than a domestic cat (chances of a general moggie up Ben Lomond-slim) around 6cm in length.

 

[hammock monkey]

hard to know what kind of cat - possibly hybrid, they can be pretty big.
thanks for posting them - did you see scat etc?
wildcat spotting has to be the ultimate uk wildlife experience (to me anyway)

 

[stanley lake]

The big hairy bugger's living in my garage:Wow:

 

[Rhoda]

They certainly are cat shaped tracks! Funny, it looks as though some of them have the middle two claws showing. Some domestic cats have trouble retracting their claws though so I guess the same thing could happen with wild cats.

 

[stu1979uk]

Nope didn't see any scat, no idea about tracking or any other signs to look for but thought I would keep my eyes open after previously reading this thread.

Always thought of going somewhere remote hanging a nice junk of raw meat and watching it from a distance to see what it atracts, might need some night goggles tho

 

[thewanderer]

the had been reports of a skull found

 

[Domino]

i myself have since witnessed a mountain lion (puma) near dipton county durham near to where i now live.

I live about 3 miles from you & I have also seen a large cat - tho at the head of the Derwent reservoir. It was daylight & no doubts.

 

[Geoff b]

About 6 years ago, i was walking the dog down an old track in some remote woodland, the track had a sharp right hand bend that lead into a clearing, on turning right into the clearing i was face to face with a large black cat.
It was bigger than any labarador ive ever seen, my first concern was my terrier as i thought it would kill him so i called him back whilst still staring at the cat, it just sat there and didnt move, to be honest i nearly shat myself.
I turned slowly and started to walk back in the opposite direction turning every now and again to make sure it wasnt behind me.
I returned the next day without the dog to have a look, when i got to where the cat had been sitting i found a really deep puddle so maybe it was taking a drink.
So i had been face to face with a scary but beautiful animal around 50 to 60 feet away, so to those of you who dont believe. I KNOW WHAT I SAW and im nowhere near scotland or any other large wilderness in britain.

 

[thewanderer]

In the 80s game keepers on the kellas estate scotland trapped and shot an nw unknown species of cat which was then named the kellas cat / rabbit eared cat due to its large ears and small head it brain size lead scientists to believe the cat cat possibly a hybrid solely ran on instinct. Google it for more info

 

[AussieBushcraft]

And we have Tassie tigers still living in our bush.

They are definately about, will be going bush searching for proof some time next year

 

[hog]

Mmmmmmmmm? an open mind on this one.

 

[thewanderer]

approx 2 yr ago there was a reported deer carcass found around iveston co durham whch after test was said to have been proved was predated on by a big cat