magman Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Lets face it all this talk of cameras ? do they not carry a mobile phone :look: so few sightings yet them seem to carry on appearing ? are they breeding or just being imported (or bred) to be let lose . Have i seen a ghost no as they do not exist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 A good friend of mine has told me he's seen a large cat locally. Several sightings have been reported in the area so I'm not going to write it off completely. One thing is for sure though, my other half has just come back from Kenya and she has pictures of her stroking two tame Cheetahs. There's no way on earth you could mistake a donestic cat for one of these things, they're pretty big. I'd want at least my 6.5x55 before I'd even consider a shot at one! If I thought it was attacking me I'd shoot one with a shotgun or rimfire but whether it would help or not is questionable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mungler Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Unlike the author... Perhaps wearing tweeds would offer more protection when shooting dangerous big game? Feel free to try it and send us some pictures of the results. That made me laugh out loud. I can't but help think this is the prelude to a "have you shot a cat?" topic or, "if you were shooting at a large panther like creature and it turned out to be a domestic cat...." kind of thread :look: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realtreedave Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 i had an encounter about five years ago,i was able to observe the creature on a site where i had previously observed domestic dogs,cats and foxes,and it definately wasnt one of them,i was able to watch it hunting rabbits for aproximately five minutes until it caught sight of me moving to get a better view.this happened in broad daylight[about five in the evening in late spring].i didnt quite know what to think about what i had seen until the subject came up at our syndicate about 18 months ago,it turned out that two other members had had similar encounters within half a mile of my encounter,andanother lad,a very experienced foxer and countryman had had an encounter only five miles away.as a former pessimist i know nothing i say will convince the doubters but i know what i saw :look: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddog546 Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 I have encountered something I cannot identify twice here in Cornwall,the first occasion being 10 years ago on a misty evening on Bodmin moor where something ran across infront of me and my mate,the strangest thing being that I always use a red filter and that this beasts eyes reflected yellow in the light,it disappear as quickly as it arrived and after scouring the hills with a white light for half an hour we never saw it again.The second sighting was about 5 years ago and within a mile of home again the eyes reflected yellow,but this time the animal stayed crouched on top of a hedge watching us as we closed but suddenly it was gone without a trace,just leaving a sizeable flat spot on the top of the hadge where it had been hold up.Both animals were faun coloured,first of all I thought it might of been deer but they acted nothing like them. Only two sightings in over 30 years of shooting and usually out at least twice a week! There is something out there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbo Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 with regard to the photographs i have seen what i belived to be a lynx, i live in midwales my land is in the middle of now where my mum keeps horses and apon visting them at around 2 in the morning on a winter night we came down this track just off the road. as soon as the lights hit the track an 'animal' which i belived to be a lynx after research this was the night we had freinds over so all 5 of us saw the 'animal' as soon as it was seen. it bolted really like **** of a shovel darting across the road an out onto moor land. now the freinds are well traveled and have bein abroad many times an straight away an elderly lady said that looked like a lynx, now i know i dont have quick enough hands to draw my camera out an take some snap shots. but i would love to get an article in the paper appealing as to whether any sightings or possible runs on farmers land have appeared there have bein many sightings of 'pumas' i am very confident that there are numerous 'Big cats' around sorry to use the term if it offends anyone but gypsies have the larger cats as pets from kittens. as they grow to big an dangerous they are abondened. now im only 16 but im open minded an dont want to let my age come into a group were people think im just intreged and beileve an magic an all that ********. :L but i really do beileve there are big cats. and if so lets do something about it. honest pigeon watchers take the camera out every shoot. speak to neighbouring farmers organise an across county beat. aha maybe that wont happen but other wise either chuck norris or rambo or crococdile dun dee with have to prove us wrong. also i think i read once that a british sniper doing his endurance training. ' sitting in a hide for days an days spotted a puma as he though on i think . knighton moor or around there. regards Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nial Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 When people say they've seen a 'puma', is this not generic language for 'big cat'? I'm sure few can tell the difference between a puma and lynx (and **** / elbow). BTW Babby, that picture must be staged 'cos if they were real peelers from NI ~13 years ago at least two would have had moustaches! Nial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbo Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 yes presumely they mean, just a big cat in general. but there are farmers around me, that are good freinds of the family. he is uncomparable to a bear. wild honestly. he can really tell some stories. an i advise anyone that wants to make a book about traditional farming or anything along that lines to come to newtown ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 They almost certainly do exist, In Hertfordshire around Ashridge they are accepted as a fact by gamekeepers and farmers and not treated as particularly remarkable. So many of these exotic cats were imported in the 50s and 60s and sold to idiots as trendy pets that its almost inevetable that some would escape or be released into the wild. I don't know about panthers, thats a hard one to be sure of because panthers are big and rare but there are non native species of cats living wild in Britain of that I have no doubt at all. You have to look at all the other animals that have been "introduced" into Britain. Even the common rabbit was brought over by the Romans along with the pheasant. Mink and grey squirrels are two more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winchester energy Posted June 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 This has been a very intresting topic and it seems that the majority do believe in some sort of LARGE feline animal being out there in some parts of the country. I still need to see "something" for myself and hope one day I do but maybe the word "Panther" is not the correct descriptive too use. It has been mentioned by some that it would be too dangerous to attempt a shot at a large wild cat and not have it come at you in anger. I would agree on something large and aggressive such as African game cats but surely on a Lynx or even Puma would be put down with a close shot 12g?? JUST IN............CHECK THE SUN NEWSPAPER TODAY.....PERFECT TIMING FOR THIS TOPIC!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groach1234 Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 The is almost defiantly 'big cats' out there or there was at some point just from released/escaped 'pets' One of my brothers friend's next door neighbor had big cats that escaped so there has to have at least one point been cats in the wild. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Please, please please let’s stop all this; my second cousins best mate told me that his uncle’s girlfriend’s brother had seen something so it must be true that BIG cats are alive and well and living in the UK. It’s all ********. Yes I've seen a BIG cat, a BIG BLACK cat that luckily for me stayed around long enough for me to observe it for probably 5 minutes and I can definitely say that it was a BIG BLACK cat but it wasn't anything other than a BIG BLACK domestic cat. With all the people out shooting on a nightly basis, myself included, if there were real live leopards, lynx, pumas etc living free and wild then don't you think we'd have seen the evidence of it by now. Get real. Read my earlier post about this if you want my views but as for the gun to use it depends. Personally I’d want to use a big rifle on anything ‘panther’ sized if I were shooting in Britain but my PH in Africa regularly (licensed to shoot 10 per year) uses a 12 gauge with large buckshot on leopards because the bush where he lives (Limpopo River boarder between Zimbabwe & SA) is very dense and shooting big cats is up close and personal. Like 40m max! His comment when out hunting leopards...’ YOU’RE the one being hunted’! and he has the scars to prove it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groach1234 Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Look i understand when i go 'my brothers, friends, neighbor had big cats that escaped' it sounds stupid because its 3 levels of separation but I knew the person well so could have said my friend's neighbor had exotic cats that escaped and it doesn't sound as far fetched IMO but anyway everyone has there views and thats just mine George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evoss Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 (edited) Highlander this is a very intresting topic where some of us have experianced this, just because you dont belive it dosent mean we dont have to. And how the **** can you get a domestic cat that large, you live in another world mate. "Big Cats" are arround, just stop being narrow minded. Edited June 4, 2009 by Evoss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leaseone Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Would you be safe climbing up a tree, then taking a picture you cannot shoot a sweet little black pussy cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realtreedave Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 the creature that i observed for 5 minutes was at least five times the size of an adult fox and definately not a large dog.i observed it at a distance of 60 metres in bright conditions.it certainly wasnt a large domestic cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz2202 Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 This whole thread interests me, as I really want to believe they exist and i would love to see one for myself. 2 people I know claim to have seen (separate occasions) but i am staying open minded untill i see for myself. Only prob i have is I never carry a camera when out shooting so unless i feed it on some of my lead, drag it home for a photo shoot, none of you lot will believe me. I stay open minded in hope that one day ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 I don't understand why some of you are so doubtful about this? Look at it this way, wild Boar have only recently been recognised by some police forces as being reasonable quarry in the UK. I guess for some people they just refuse to accept anything out of the ordinary and you'd have to get bitten on the *** before you believe in them! There are fairly regular sightings around here. I've never seen one, but people I trust have. Why would someone who doesn't feel the need to bull*hit their way through life make up something like that? They have nothing to gain by it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
30-6 Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 When my brother-in-law was alive we used to shoot together regular, and he always took the p**s out of me for carrying two SG's in a red cloth post office money bag ( for quick identification ), in case a big cat tried to have us. He reckoned by the time I wiped my a**e, took them out and loaded them it would be all over. One of my farmers has told me he's seen on two occasions, he really believes in them. Imagine sitting there miles away with ear plugs in, and a bloody big cat jumps at the net or taps you on the shoulder. P.S. I now use the red post office money bag for something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 NJC, the overwhelming lack of unequivocal photographic evidence of big cats at large in the British countryside is the problem. Boar were being photographed and videoed on a regular basis over the last two decades, with results of such blinding clarity that the police, Home Office, DEFRA and Natural England were forced to accept that boar were prevalent. Where amongst all the woolly, anecdotal evidence is the actual proof that big cats exist here in the UK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shot shot Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Highlander this is a very intresting topic where some of us have experianced this, just because you dont belive it dosent mean we dont have to. And how the **** can you get a domestic cat that large, you live in another world mate. "Big Cats" are arround, just stop being narrow minded. agreed, BIG CATS! cats never stop growing, so you take one large mixed breed black male cat, feed it lots, it lives for 15 odd years, and there you have it, one very large BLACK CAT. I'm in no doubt that theres alien species in the uk, but the vast majority of "evidence" pointing towards panthers is, shall we say odd. besides, a black cat is basically just a scaled down panther, and in the dead of night, your typical punter won't know the difference. "now dougal, this one is small, that one is far away" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 The other issue is most of these cats have a lifespan of 15 years so if you believe they descend from ones released in the 70's then you also believe there are breeding populations out there. So you have to have two cats of different sexes and the same breed all the ifs just start getting less plausible Lynx's are more believable and i've seen one of these close up however shortly after someone drove up in a pickup and rounded it up they are far easier to get a dangerous animals license to keep and once you have the license you don't technically have to inform anyone if they breed so numbers aren't known. So were one to escape if you report it you have a load of agro and stand to loose your license to keep the others you can understand why people may not report them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flytie Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 I will admit that I do know someone who is convinced that there are big cats in Worcestershire and claims to have seen them. He is a professional, well qualified and highly thought of in his field. He is not renowned for his puckish sense of humour and is a sober type of person, being a very moderate drinker. Unfortunately he is a vicar, and spends his time trying to persuade people of the existence of a being for which there is no proof at all................... and big cats too! ft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rigwallet Posted June 7, 2009 Report Share Posted June 7, 2009 if you do think you will shoot it with a shotgun then i suggest you take up running cause sure as eggs is eggs you wont kill it and it will chase you and even wounded will move fast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flytie Posted June 7, 2009 Report Share Posted June 7, 2009 if you do think you will shoot it with a shotgun then i suggest you take up running cause sure as eggs is eggs you wont kill it and it will chase you and even wounded will move fast Rigwallet, I think you could kill a big cat with a shotgun, a 1oz solid slug would easily penetrate it's vitals. Probably a 42g load of SSG would do it too. But, and it is a big but, it would be at so close a range as to make it very nerveracking and decidedly unsafe. Not for the faint hearted, certainly not something i would want to do. ft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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