Credible Big Cat Sighting (1 Viewer)

I see a business opportunity here,Martin, what with flocks of ring necked parakeets in Twickenham, wallabies running loose in Bedfordshire and big pussy cats all over the place we could start UK safaries. Fancy putting on your Jungle Jim kit and getting involved? Trooper
 
Wild Boar's in the Forest of Dean now too, I understand wild Boar ragu is positively yummy!;)

Rob
 
Rob said:
Wild Boar's in the Forest of Dean now too, I understand wild Boar ragu is positively yummy!;)

Rob
Click to expand...

Can't have Wild boar, Rob, the do gooders won't allow it. The best you can hope for is Mildly Irritated Boar. Trooper
 
trooper said:
Can't have Wild boar, Rob, the do gooders won't allow it. The best you can hope for is Mildly Irritated Boar. Trooper
Click to expand...

:D

And anyway now they are selling off our forests we probably won't be allowed in there to shoot them anyway! .

Rob
 
Rob, Is that area anywhere near a place called Exmore (not sure of spelling)?Several shows here in the US have spread the story of"The Beast of Exmore" Some doing some pretty interesting research
Bill W
 
trooper said:
I see a business opportunity here,Martin, what with flocks of ring necked parakeets in Twickenham, wallabies running loose in Bedfordshire and big pussy cats all over the place we could start UK safaries. Fancy putting on your Jungle Jim kit and getting involved? Trooper
Click to expand...

U.K. Safaries? I don't need it, just going to Newcastle on a Saturday night is rough enough for me, there's always lots of "wildlife":D:D

Martin
 
kx1a said:
Rob, Is that area anywhere near a place called Exmore (not sure of spelling)?Several shows here in the US have spread the story of"The Beast of Exmore" Some doing some pretty interesting research
Bill W
Click to expand...

There are lots of wild sparsely polulated areas all over the U.K. including Exmoor, Dartmoor, Bodmin moor and of course the North Yorkshire moors that were featured in "An American Werewolf in London". My own county of Northumberland is mostly rural with Hadrian's wall running through the southern part and the Scots border to the north. We also have stories of big ugly wild animals wondering around in the dead of night making strange sounds, I personally just think it's a lost Scotsman!:D:D:D

Martin
 
I recall a piece about black panthers loose in Britain, maybe on the History Channel. The show examined reported sightings, and discussed whether it was some indigenous cat that has gone unnoticed throughout the history of human habitation on the island, or some idiot's exotic pet that escaped or was turned loose.

I think in Stone Age Britain, there were lions on the island, weren't there? Not African, but related. I recall that there were lions in Greece, too, when the Doric peoples migrated in.

Prost!
Brad
 
This is an interesting subject, it reminds me of an event over 25 years ago in my home town area of Western Massachusetts when there were several reports of Mountain Lion sightings. The folks in the Fish and Wildlife Department scoffed at these reports because they claimed no big cat could or would want to reside in such a heavily populated area as this... Needless to say they have been proved wrong and they now admit to a population of Mountain Lions in the area. They are amazing when you see them. My father nearly hit a young one dragging a deer carcus across the road that runs past our home. He was amazed at how strong they were. A few years ago in Southern Arizona we had a similar experience with the Jaguar. They have been extinct in Arizona for a long time because of men killing them off over cattle but a scientist who was researching a different animal in the area got several photos off of a camera trap of a very large and healthy looking Jaguar. So I imagine they could set some camera traps in your Moor area and see what they see. Might take a while but I bet they would get some great photos eventually.

Dave
 
theBaron said:
I recall a piece about black panthers loose in Britain, maybe on the History Channel. The show examined reported sightings, and discussed whether it was some indigenous cat that has gone unnoticed throughout the history of human habitation on the island, or some idiot's exotic pet that escaped or was turned loose.

I think in Stone Age Britain, there were lions on the island, weren't there? Not African, but related. I recall that there were lions in Greece, too, when the Doric peoples migrated in.

Prost!
Brad
Click to expand...

The general opinion is that the sightings are of pets that have either escaped or been released by irresponsible owners when the new laws regarding the licencing of such creatures was introduced. Although in the past archeological evidence shows that Britain closely resembled the Serengati plains with lion, rhinos, elephant and hippopotamus lolloping about, the likelyhood of any of them surviving unnoticed in such an overcrowded island for such a length of time is so infinitesimal as to be dismissed out of hand. The interesting thing is that, judging by some of the reports, some of them are actually breeding, but until more concrete evidence surfaces this is unproven. Trooper
 
theBaron said:
I recall a piece about black panthers loose in Britain, maybe on the History Channel. The show examined reported sightings, and discussed whether it was some indigenous cat that has gone unnoticed throughout the history of human habitation on the island, or some idiot's exotic pet that escaped or was turned loose.

I think in Stone Age Britain, there were lions on the island, weren't there? Not African, but related. I recall that there were lions in Greece, too, when the Doric peoples migrated in.

Prost!
Brad
Click to expand...

I remember reading that the European Lion servived until the Roman. The first lions in the arena would have been local, as were all of the animals.

Martin
 
DMNamiot said:
This is an interesting subject, it reminds me of an event over 25 years ago in my home town area of Western Massachusetts when there were several reports of Mountain Lion sightings. The folks in the Fish and Wildlife Department scoffed at these reports because they claimed no big cat could or would want to reside in such a heavily populated area as this... Needless to say they have been proved wrong and they now admit to a population of Mountain Lions in the area. They are amazing when you see them. My father nearly hit a young one dragging a deer carcus across the road that runs past our home. He was amazed at how strong they were. A few years ago in Southern Arizona we had a similar experience with the Jaguar. They have been extinct in Arizona for a long time because of men killing them off over cattle but a scientist who was researching a different animal in the area got several photos off of a camera trap of a very large and healthy looking Jaguar. So I imagine they could set some camera traps in your Moor area and see what they see. Might take a while but I bet they would get some great photos eventually.

Dave
Click to expand...

I hope that people learn to live with Jaguars this time round. It's quite amazing what can escape our attention if it doesn't want to be seen.

Martin
 
Not as exotic, but here on Staten Island we have the only "Deer Crossing" signs in NYC. For years locals have reported seeing deer on the Island, only to have officials scoff at it. You guessed it, an official car got involved in an accident with a doe near the Outerbrige Crossing.
 
We've got coyotes now in PA, too. I saw one a couple of years ago, crossing a road down in Montgomery County. They've spread from west of the Mississippi, in the the East. I don't think they were native, in pre-colonial times, because they had to compete with wolves. But now, there's no larger predator to keep them out, and they're very good at adapting.

Same goes for deer, they actually do much better around human habitation, and there's no predator population, apart from humans, to keep them in check. They're not deep-woods animals, but prefer the transition zone at the edge of forests, where the variety of food is greater. And farmland and backyard gardens are just buffets for the whitetail. Estimates are that there are far more around now, than there were in the 17th century.

Prost!
Brad
 
It's quite suprising the amount of non-native species that can be found across the U.K. Australian ring neck parakeets have become a garden bird in London. 10% of the world population of Chinese water deer and even walabies from Australia and coypu from South America. Of course not all are welcome. Mink, crayfish and harlequine bugs in particular.

Martin
 
Talking of deer, there is some debate as to how many pure Red deer are left on mainland U.K. Most it's believed have interbred with the Sika which is native to South East Asia but the first to escape from a private park was C1870.

Martin
 
Tiny muntjac deer are very common in Leicestershire, and I've heard of black squirrels elsewhere in the Midlands. Trooper
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Community platform by XenForo® © 2010-2024 XenForo Ltd.
Back
Top