For those interested in Big Cat sightings...

Flywaver · #1 (**permalink**) 09-12-2009, 06:28 PM

2009 Sightings Map Big Cats in Britain

The map gets updated often. Keep your eyes peeled out there!

fairplay · #2 (**permalink**) 09-12-2009, 08:25 PM

You're having a laugh aint' ya

How can anybody be expected to take that map seriously.

Neil.

Jim Ford · #3 (**permalink**) 09-12-2009, 08:40 PM

Yeah - looks like we can't move in the countryside without bumping into them!

Jim

The Woodman · #4 (**permalink**) 09-12-2009, 09:21 PM

Impressive canine tooth and print eh Jim?

Jim Ford · #5 (**permalink**) 09-12-2009, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Woodman

Impressive canine tooth and print eh Jim?

Sabre Tooth Tigers are alive and well in Scotland!

Jim

Flywaver · #6 (**permalink**) 10-12-2009, 08:55 AM

Each to there own......

connerlake · #7 (**permalink**) 10-12-2009, 11:07 AM

i would like it if lynx were still here, if not that they were reintroduced.

charlieb · #8 (**permalink**) 10-12-2009, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fairplay

How can anybody be expected to take that map seriously.

It does say "Alledged sightings of large cats."

Jason Green · #9 (**permalink**) 10-12-2009, 12:16 PM

Hi Flywaver,

Thanks for posting, this is a topic that interests me

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlieb

It does say "Alledged sightings of large cats."

Agreed. Like all wildlife-based plottings, the map and distributions are only as good as the info coming in. Naturally some will just be feral cats or large dogs being taken into the countryside for a walk and mistaken by passers-by, but others could have something in them...

Take care,

Jason

Flywaver · #10 (**permalink**) 10-12-2009, 12:42 PM

I find this plausible. Big Cats are specialized hunters. They can easily hide from Man. The climate is right and so are the resources. Let alone food there is our waste. We have Muntjac, we now have Mink. The Dangerous Wild Animal act in the 70s more than likely triggered it. Farmers are finding there Ewes killed in typical Cat fashion and Paw prints. If it isnt that then do we have a Sabre Tooth Badger then.............

Ukwildlifeo · #11 (**permalink**) 10-12-2009, 12:46 PM

Its interesting stuff. You've got to take it with a pinch of salt but it makes you wonder if there is something to some of them. I was amused that there was a sighting where I went yesterday. I didn't see any big cats there though....

Jim Ford · #12 (**permalink**) 10-12-2009, 02:27 PM

With the U.K. virtually seething with 'big cats' it's odd that there aren't any convincing photo's.

There was a programme on T.V. some years back where someone was investigating every livestock kill by 'big cats'. In every case he demonstrated clearly that the damage was typically that caused by dogs.

Jim

epops · #13 (**permalink**) 10-12-2009, 02:58 PM

A mate and i have been looking for an alleged big cat for the past year,someone saw it by the A12 in Essex we've had stake outs at night and day but nothing plausible yet apart from what we thought to be a large animal that ran before we could get close to it,maybe it was a big cat maybe not who knows?

fairplay · #14 (**permalink**) 10-12-2009, 04:55 PM

I allegedly saw a flying saucer (minus the cup) this morning, it flew very low, in fact so low an alleged BIG CAT (back to topic !) suddenly jumped up and brought it down, then ate the aliens before I could reach them.
Bad cat.

Neil.

Picidae · #15 (**permalink**) 11-12-2009, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fairplay

You're having a laugh aint' ya

How can anybody be expected to take that map seriously.

Neil.

I agree with Jason - thanks for posting Flywaver and welcome to the forum. Obviously the people posting on that sightings map were 'serious' although the 'shocked' smilie and smile smilie on Flywaver's post probably sums up a healthy scepticism !!

diggleken · #16 (**permalink**) 11-12-2009, 08:22 AM

yeah, cheers flywaver, interesting stuff.
Some of these will be spurious, some misid'd, but some will be genuine - the ones at dobcross and wessenden moor, near me, seem so and they tie in with a sighting I know of.
In the countryside centre, a chap talked to me about a big black cat that scared the s... out of his dog - the dog knew it was there before it was spotted and ran home out of control. Very plausible detail -that sort of experience just calls the doubters into question I think.
Elements of realistic needed yes, but also a few quite likelies, so keep a look out.

Cheers
Ken

Flywaver · #17 (**permalink**) 11-12-2009, 12:01 PM

I see lots of wildlife in my job and feel pretty lucky although some of it i hit on my Train. Last Sunday a Pheasant almost took the windscreen off at 90mph
A total mess i can tell you. Had to take the Train out of service. Just lucky its heavily laminated. Anyway...... I have come across a few Drivers in my 18 year career who have witnessed these Cats. Bear in mind our vision needs to be spot on. A chap at my depot saw one near Ketton.Thought nothing of it at first untill the Black Cat crossed the 4foot. Which is our guage.....
Anyone know a Tabby that length?
Another Driver had one chase a Hare outside Kings Lynn on his approach there. Years ago another chap told me he saw one dragging a road kill near Epping Forest. I havent witnessed anything unusual i have to say. Im happy seeing Barn Owls on the trackside as long as i dont collide with them

diggleken · #18 (**permalink**) 11-12-2009, 03:08 PM

errr, pedantic old grumpy here, 4'8.5'' is closer?

(and yes, I know its called the 4ft)
tee hee, with apologies,
Ken

ollyk · #19 (**permalink**) 11-12-2009, 08:04 PM

Anyone remembers Riber castle zoo? It is said a Lynx escaped when animals were auctioned off after it was closed down! You only have to see how animals were treated during this period to realise that there might be some truth to this!

Alex90 · #20 (**permalink**) 11-12-2009, 10:17 PM

I have no doubt there are big cats around in the UK, and have had a few friends see them.

There was a big cat over my way that a friend told me about when speaking to him, He used to keep chickens out the back of his house around 10 years ago and one morning woke up to the sound of the chickens panicking went out and saw a large black cat jump straigh up onto the roof of the garages (7ft) he ran roudn the back and saw it disappearing into some fields. 2 weeks after this there was a black panther shot and killed on hayling island just over 20 miles away, there was a news paper report on this at the time. Seeing as the guy is an extremely well respected zoologist and has kept hundreds of species in his private collection including leopards, puma's and jaguars i doubt very much whether he would have got this sighting wrong.

there have been a number of incidents where big cats have been killed by cars although most common are lynx and other smaller felines. most of these cases are not highly publicised.

However despite my belief there are certainly big cats around or have been around that map doesnt appear to be terribly reliable seeing as there are big cat sightings in the center of some very large cities including london ... did anyone tell people that zoo sightings don't count?

Dogs · #21 (**permalink**) 11-12-2009, 10:40 PM

I KNOW these things exist

But how the hell do they keep so hidden????

And why havent we had a confirmed body found or shot????

Ukwildlifeo · #22 (**permalink**) 11-12-2009, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dogs

I KNOW these things exist

But how the hell do they keep so hidden????

And why havent we had a confirmed body found or shot????

Bodies have been found, but they've just not been widely reported. It doesn't help that most scientists wont touch research into big cats in the UK for fear of ridicule and possibly the loss of funding/job/position

fairplay · #23 (**permalink**) 12-12-2009, 12:32 AM

A big cat isn't going to hang around a Kentucky Fried Chicken like a fox would for food, it will head off into the deep country side which is where I found 'my' big cat over 15 years ago (so I accept and know they do exist in Britain)

What I cannot accept is the amount of unconfirmed sightings on that map, the majority which seem to be centred around major towns and cities. You may as well have produced a map of 'angel' sightings and it probably would not look much different.

OK, I accept a lot will have escaped from illegal private collections, so therefore will be used to humans, but having been kept in captivity by humans, surely it's natural instinct will be to keep as far away as possible, yet looking carefully at the map the big open country has far fewer sightings compared to the high population areas around Birmingham.

Neil.

Picidae · #24 (**permalink**) 12-12-2009, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fairplay

OK, I accept a lot will have escaped from illegal private collections, so therefore will be used to humans, but having been kept in captivity by humans, surely it's natural instinct will be to keep as far away as possible ..
Neil.

We don't have any indigenous 'Big Cats' in the UK, Neil, so all would be feral and have derived originally from private collections. Why 'illegal'? Many of these were kept legally but turfed out illegally with the introduction of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, which brought with it burdensome licensing with costs of up to £700 for a Local Authority Licence. However, sightings stem back to the 1,800s, also probably as a result of escaped pets. As for your suggestion that 'natural instinct' would keep escaped pets away from humans, on the contrary, usually escaped exotics, whether they be birds or animals, are even more inclined to linger round human activity than wild animals/birds. With birds, often one of the casual litmus tests of it's 'wild' credentials, is the fact it was seen feeding, eg, with the local ducks on the bread being chucked into the pond, or in a garden on a bird feeder.

Many of the 'big cat' sightings are in urban areas, we've had many reputed sightings in Sussex over the years, although none substantiated (as none have been substantiated in rural areas either)

New big cat sighting in Sussex (From The Argus)

Jim Ford · #25 (**permalink**) 12-12-2009, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dogs

But how the hell do they keep so hidden????

They hide in the same places as the escaped giraffes!
;^)

How is it that in big cats' native habitats naturalists observe and photograph them, even great rarities like the snow leopard, yet over here they are as elusive a the will-o'-the-wisp? I would suspect that in America the population density of the cougar is much lower than that of big cats over here, as shown by the map, and yet there's plenty of photo's, film and authenticated encounters with them there.

Jim