Was it a fox or puma ??????

[redfairy]

Hi there I live in a suburban township and yesterday at 11oclock in the morning I was out walking my dog in a nearby farmers feild when an animal i assume was a fox crossed my path about 12ft in front of me . what threw me was its size(I would say abot4-5ft long from nose to end of brush and about 4 ft high) and the fact that it was almost black. I have never seen a fox in the wild before and although its whole body shape eg ears, brush ect looked "foxy" now I am not so sure, esp as I have since heard rumours of a big cat sighting in my area! I live in south northumberland if that helps, thanks so much for any advice!!

[Jaeviatrix]

Sounds like a German Shepherd or some such, surely? You sure there wasn't a person walking nonchalantly a few yards behind it?

Pumas don't look foxy, and foxes aren't 5ft long!

[Jim Ford]

Let's say it's a puma and make a lot of folk on this forum happy!
;^)

Jim

[redfairy]

Hi It def was not a dog(have always had dogs and as a matter of fact used to have german shepard!)the measurements might be a bit off as it was in long grass and hard to get exact, but it did look much larger than foxes I have seen on a TV and a good 3-4 times larger than my Jack Russell terrier hope that clarifies a bit..thanks!

[eeyore]

Fox


puma


the two arent remotely similar - and the puma is in no way foxy

therefore you either saw a big fox, or a fox like dog (unless you have a coyote or similar loose - they are like big foxes )

[Simples]

I myself have seen large cats roaming wild in the UK and I am not some nutter or attention-seeker. Frankly I don't care who believes me - those that say I am wrong have no proof there are no such creatures here, and are therefore unreliable and ignorant in their claims.

However, I am confused about the likeness to a fox, as anyone who has seen a fox could not easily mistake it for anything else. I therefore think perhaps this was a dog. A big cat has a very different tail to a fox.

If I were you I would return to the site and look for footprints, the only sure-fire means of identifying it short of another close visual sighting.

[Beekeeper]

Don't suppose it could have been a black panther by any chance, here is a link to description with picture.Black Panthers

Ian

[Jim Ford]

[quote=Simples;616903 those that say I am wrong have no proof there are no such creatures here, and are therefore unreliable and ignorant in their claims.
[/QUOTE]

What, as in - 'absence of proof is not proof of absence', I guess!

Jim

[blackb1rd]

Originally Posted by Simples

I myself have seen large cats roaming wild in the UK and I am not some nutter or attention-seeker. Frankly I don't care who believes me - those that say I am wrong have no proof there are no such creatures here, and are therefore unreliable and ignorant in their claims.

As most scientists would agree it isn't our job to prove they don't exist it's your job to prove they do. And I'd hazard a guess you have absolutely no evidence of the multiple big cats you've seen. Am i right?

[eeyore]

well to be fair to simples both lynx and puma have been live trapped in the uk and its fairly well documented that quite a few were released after the ban.

i have no doubts that there are wild populations of both - it is the existence of big big cats that i doubt , tigers, lions, leopards, panthers etc ... it is likely that those supposed panther sitings that werent domestic cats or dogs were probably actually puma.

going back to the OPs question, i supose lynx is a possiblity, they have ear tufts and bushy tails and are near the dimensions mentioned - though they are grey or tawny not fox coloured