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Original poster

To wonder if big cats really can be roaming the countryside?

304 replies

Qantaqa · 13/03/2023 08:14

Local news this morning reports "scratch marks" in trees in area where big cat sightings taken place over last decade.

I totally get that back in the 70s various big cats were released rather than people comply with the new laws coming in, but 50 years later can they really still be there?

Enough might have adapted to live wildly themselves (I assume many didn't, or died from cars etc), but they don't live 50 years so we must be on a 2nd / 3rd generation - surely mating with cross species? Aren't they quite territorial and solitary? Where do the next gen go when they mature? It's not like there is loads and loads of places they can hang out? Even if we didn't see the cats wouldn't there be more signs of them?

OP posts:
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6
TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 14/03/2023 08:26

Maverickess · 14/03/2023 02:27

This is a really interesting thread!

On the subject of remains not being found, I quite often walk on The North Yorkshire Moors and see skulls, bones and skeletons - I have assumed they're sheep but I'm no expert and as people are reporting GSD sizes and sheep are a similar size, I could have walked past a big cat skull and not known - would the average person know that it was the remains of a big cat unless it was obvious (as in not skeletal) to report/collect it and am I just very ignorant on the skeletal remains of animals? 🤷🏼‍♀️

The teeth are a bit of a giveaway.
I think the average person would think it was a strange sort of sheep skull if they bothered to look.

Takeitonthechin · 14/03/2023 08:46

Not only Big Cats but Bigfoots, anyone watch the tv programme regarding British Bigfoot in U.K. forests. A group of guys out camping in a forest on the north of England, Scottish Borders, they'd made a camp fire and were falling to sleep when one guy was picked up by his lower leg and hung upside down, the guy seemed genuine in his recollection of what happened.

LookingOldTheseDays · 14/03/2023 08:57

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 14/03/2023 08:26

The teeth are a bit of a giveaway.
I think the average person would think it was a strange sort of sheep skull if they bothered to look.

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Very true!

EmmaEmerald · 14/03/2023 09:24

Qantaqa · 14/03/2023 06:50

Hang on. How did I not know there was wild wallabies and parakeets living here! Have wasted plenty of time googling pics and now just need to plan a visit :)

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The parakeets are mostly in this area, depends where you live I guess. They're lovely.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_parakeets_in_Great_Britain

Wallabies was news to me too!

CaroleSinger · 14/03/2023 09:26

Justmeandthedog1 · 13/03/2023 08:20

I’m going back a long time, late 80s. I was in a very old building, like a farm building, with that glass that had waves in it you used to get years ago. I saw a large black animal, about the size of a small German Shepherd, jet black, appear from a field and jump the fence. It disappeared into long grass. The movement was cat- like, definitely not a dog and far too big to be a domestic cat.
Could scratch marks on trees be deer antlers though? Rutting time is approaching.

Rutting time started last autumn. It's finished.

Whitney168 · 14/03/2023 09:27

There are parakeets in large numbers all over the South of the UK at least, aren't they? See them every day over here (Berkshire) and they come down on to the bird feeders if the weather is bad. They are much bigger than they look flying!

Mistymoonsinastarrysky · 14/03/2023 09:43

Parakeets are pretty common in north and southwest London, probably in other places too.
My mother followed a raccoon along the A4 for some 400 yards in the 60’s, my nephew photographed a very large black cat in a field near his house, it definitely isn’t any domestic cat. Judging by the fence next to it it was at least 30” at the shoulder and nose to tail probably 5’ long? He watched it for several minutes before it loped across the field and jumped over a dry stone wall.

ClareBlue · 14/03/2023 17:54

EmmaEmerald · 14/03/2023 01:02

Clare which show is that please?

Love these stories.

People do get confused re sizes and legal breeds eg this

www.standard.co.uk/news/london/hampstead-heath-big-cat-armed-police-a4450391.html

Father Ted
Dougal getting confused that there are tiny cows outside the caravan but FT explaining they are far away so only look tiny. 😂

ClareBlue · 14/03/2023 18:13

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 14/03/2023 02:42

@ClareBlue I am to fat and unfit to outrun a mouse. You’ve either given me a reason to change that or a reason to holiday at home. Most likely will be latter. 🤣

do people have to boar proof gardens/public spaces?

This was in Spain when walking off the main track. He was huge. Got a speed up but couldn't sustain it as he was too fat. It was 20 years ago and not sure if I would win the race now. He was snorting and grunting like, well.., a pig. Locals said wait till he is on you and step to the side as they are not able to change direction. Not sure about doing that😂

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 14/03/2023 18:17

@ClareBlue that’s both amazing and terrifying. I can’t imagine having the timing to be able to step aside at the right moment! Glad you are ok and thanks for the info!!

EmmaEmerald · 14/03/2023 18:27

clare oh, I was hoping there was a show about big cats!

that would work well as a Black Books storyline....they get hammered on absinthe and see a big cat in Bloomsbury!

Botheredland · 14/03/2023 19:25

Has anyone got any photos they can share?
Oh ans there's parakeets up north in Liverpool and wirral too.

Postapocalypticcowgirl · 14/03/2023 20:04

Around 15 (maybe more now) years ago, there were some very credible sounding sightings of a Puma on Dartmoor- near Plymouth. The theory was it had escaped from the local zoo when it was owned by someone a bit bizarre- he definitely wouldn't have necessarily reported an escape.

On Dartmoor, there would be plenty of prey (sheep, small ponies, deer etc.) and it's wild enough that a large cat could find areas to hole up in the day and not necessarily be seen.

There were lots of "kills" of sheep at the time which were believed to show signs of being killed by a (large) cat and not a dog. Obviously some could be hoaxes. It was long enough ago that camera phones weren't ubiquitous and digital cameras weren't as good as they are now.

This went on for a few years until we had a really cold winter, and they seemed to stop. If there was a big cat out there, it probably died during that winter.

I do think escapees/releases are credible. I don't think that there's ever been a breeding population.

EmmaEmerald · 14/03/2023 20:05

On the other thread, I talked about organising a trip for MNers to go "strange creature spotting" - I think there's a nice spa hotel not far from the alleged sightings!! We'd need someone to drive getaway cars though!

EmmaEmerald · 14/03/2023 20:07

Postapocalypticcowgirl · 14/03/2023 20:04

Around 15 (maybe more now) years ago, there were some very credible sounding sightings of a Puma on Dartmoor- near Plymouth. The theory was it had escaped from the local zoo when it was owned by someone a bit bizarre- he definitely wouldn't have necessarily reported an escape.

On Dartmoor, there would be plenty of prey (sheep, small ponies, deer etc.) and it's wild enough that a large cat could find areas to hole up in the day and not necessarily be seen.

There were lots of "kills" of sheep at the time which were believed to show signs of being killed by a (large) cat and not a dog. Obviously some could be hoaxes. It was long enough ago that camera phones weren't ubiquitous and digital cameras weren't as good as they are now.

This went on for a few years until we had a really cold winter, and they seemed to stop. If there was a big cat out there, it probably died during that winter.

I do think escapees/releases are credible. I don't think that there's ever been a breeding population.

Cross post

Dartmoor is legendary for strange things roaming the moors, which might be even more confusing if you see something because you might think it's just subconscious programmimg.

Postapocalypticcowgirl · 14/03/2023 20:08

Maverickess · 14/03/2023 02:27

This is a really interesting thread!

On the subject of remains not being found, I quite often walk on The North Yorkshire Moors and see skulls, bones and skeletons - I have assumed they're sheep but I'm no expert and as people are reporting GSD sizes and sheep are a similar size, I could have walked past a big cat skull and not known - would the average person know that it was the remains of a big cat unless it was obvious (as in not skeletal) to report/collect it and am I just very ignorant on the skeletal remains of animals? 🤷🏼‍♀️

I think it would be noticeably not a sheep- but you'd need someone to investigate it.

I do think they'd be far less likely to die out in the open than a sheep.

How often does one see fox skulls etc, compared to sheep and deer?

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 14/03/2023 20:33

I've seen one the size of a lynx on a country lane at night, Cornwall/Devon border. Came round the corner and it was loping along in front of us, too big and didn't move right to be a domestic cat. Then it leapt up into the hedge, a massive jump, and it was gone. The driver and I looked at each other and both said 'did you see that?!' No doubt in either of us that we'd just seen a wild cat.

There's evidence for lynx sized cats. (dead ones, so real proof!)

www.britishbigcats.org/evidence.php

Also wallabies here, escaped from farm parks and the like. And peacocks. Noisy buggers they are. No parakeets that I've ever seen though, think they stick to big cities.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 14/03/2023 20:37

Postapocalypticcowgirl · 14/03/2023 20:08

I think it would be noticeably not a sheep- but you'd need someone to investigate it.

I do think they'd be far less likely to die out in the open than a sheep.

How often does one see fox skulls etc, compared to sheep and deer?

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That’s a good point, domestic cats often go and hide in cupboards etc to die.

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 14/03/2023 20:40

Oh, and I've also come across dead sheep on the Moor that are just skin or just a head. I've assumed it was dogs and foxes, but I wouldn't be able to tell if it was something bigger. Odd sheep also disappear from fields sometimes, sometimes they're found alive / dead but sometimes they never turn up.

Weedoormatnomore · 14/03/2023 21:02

In 2008 I saw a large black figure presumed it was a dog loose by the road the size of a German shepherd head was in the ditch when I looked back I saw it jump over the fence its tail was like a cats.

EmmaEmerald · 14/03/2023 21:11

Granny I remember the stuffed toy incident of 2005!

I am so jealous of posters who have seen something.

OnaBegonia · 14/03/2023 21:22

@Emmamoo89
That looks like a pet cat, it's not even very big.

Emmamoo89 · 14/03/2023 21:23

OnaBegonia · 14/03/2023 21:22

@Emmamoo89
That looks like a pet cat, it's not even very big.

It bloody doesn't. Looks like a panther

Whitney168 · 14/03/2023 21:24

Emmamoo89 · 14/03/2023 21:23

It bloody doesn't. Looks like a panther

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It really doesn’t …