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Alien Big Cats ('ABCs')

In your opinion what are alien big cats most likely to be?

  • Escapees from collections, breeding in the UK countryside

    Votes: 57 48.3%

  • A species of endemic British big cat somehow overlooked by science

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Zooform Phenomena - animal-shaped manifestations of paranormal activity

    Votes: 6 5.1%

  • Misidentifications of big dogs, normal cats etc

    Votes: 28 23.7%

  • A big hoax

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Summat else

    Votes: 4 3.4%

  • All of the above

    Votes: 23 19.5%
  • Total voters
    118
Kryptonite said:
I saw a big jet-black cat a couple of years ago at Shotts Golf Course in Lanarkshire. It was on a green, just sniffing around the way domestic cats do. Saw it for about 10 seconds, it looked to be around the size of a Lurcher, maybe 4 feet long, with a long straight tail.
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Wild cat/domestic cat hybrid perhaps?
 
Coal said:
Wild cat/domestic cat hybrid perhaps?
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Could be. This thing was big though, about 4 feet long, much bigger than any domestic cat I've ever known.

Scottish wildcats are bigger than domestic cats but they're only found in the Highlands, I think it'd be unlikely to find any in urban Lanarkshire.
 
Kryptonite said:
Could be. This thing was big though, about 4 feet long, much bigger than any domestic cat I've ever known.

Scottish wildcats are bigger than domestic cats but they're only found in the Highlands, I think it'd be unlikely to find any in urban Lanarkshire.
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I mention it because hybridisation with domestics is one of the problems the wild cat faces. 'Extinction by hybridisation'. Sounds too big tho' as you say.
 
gordonrutter said:
I can be there in three and a half hours. If I go now probably dark but if I leave tomorrow morning early... A quick poll - should I stay or should I go?
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Harvested, empty fields or a pint down the pub :

If you go there will be stubble,
If you stay it will be bubbles...

Wonder how much a good quality drone with thermographic camera would cost. Something that could quickly scan wide areas of woodlands and fields for heat signatures. Much cheaper to operate than a police helicopter. Big cats are usually quite warm, and now that it's cooler weather...

Edit : Ayrshire Police message :

POLICE SAFETY WARNING - DRONGAN AND COALHALL Officers are asking residents to be vigilant after a report has been received of a sighting of what is believed to be a black panther in the fields near to the B730. Do not approach it, contact Police via 101.

https://twitter.com/AyrshirePolice/status/1053232853104889856

Someone reckons it's a puma that's supposedly been seen before, others reckon it's a misidentified domestic moggy. Also plenty of Marvel film references.

Edit 2 :
@forteantimes

We're sending in our man on the spot Gordon Rutter to investigate. Let's hope he doesn't get eaten.

https://twitter.com/forteantimes/status/1053279527714152448
 
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gordonrutter said:
A bit vague in the description of where it is but there are a number of reports from the area previously . No chance to go now but if we could crowd fund me to give up my job and become a roving Fortean reporter...
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qn4qg5U.jpg

Should have a word with Rapido TV/Channel 4, get Fortean TV back on the air!
 
Tribble said:
qn4qg5U.jpg

Should have a word with Rapido TV/Channel 4, get Fortean TV back on the air!
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When the new management came into ch4 a few years back they wanted a distinct identity from what had gone before so that is why Fortean TV went and won’t be coming back. A Patreon for my Fortean adventures? :)
 
Coal said:
I find it odd that people come this close to a large predator and potter about unconcerned. If I'd seen a great big predatory cat, I'd be edging off somewhere else in short order.
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Yes, I'd be off like a shot.
 
Coal said:
I find it odd that people come this close to a large predator and potter about unconcerned. If I'd seen a great big predatory cat, I'd be edging off somewhere else in short order.
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It's the modern way. We see ourselves as sophisticated beings: humans, the pinnacle of evolution, and therefore somehow invulnerable to natural hazards.

That's why people go right up to active volcanoes and are surprised when they get showered with burning hot rocks; or they go swimming in the sea during a storm, and are astounded when they are overwhelmed by the waves; or they try to feed a wild racoon by hand and are dismayed to find their fingers get bitten; or they stand and film an inrushing tsunami because if they didn't capture it on their mobile, it didn't happen.

That said, if you can see a big predatory cat, it is either not stalking you, or it's already too late to get away. Watch any Attenborough episode to see prey species blithely ignoring lions, because most of the time the lions are not hungry and are not hunting. When they do hunt, they stalk their prey stealthily then charge in for the last few yards faster than any person could run.
 
Mikefule said:
That said, if you can see a big predatory cat, it is either not stalking you, or it's already too late to get away. Watch any Attenborough episode to see prey species blithely ignoring lions, because most of the time the lions are not hungry and are not hunting. When they do hunt, they stalk their prey stealthily then charge in for the last few yards faster than any person could run.
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Possibly. Or it may not have scented or seen you. Either way, the smart thing to do is move quietly in the opposite direction.
 
Coal said:
I find it odd that people come this close to a large predator and potter about unconcerned. If I'd seen a great big predatory cat, I'd be edging off somewhere else in short order.
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My immediate thoughts were that it's focus was not on me - besides, I was 14 and was in possession of a rifle.
 
If they are truly wild they would likely have a fear of humans and move away,
on the other hand if escapees they may see humans as a meal ticket and approach hoping for a free feed.
 
Mungoman said:
My immediate thoughts were that it's focus was not on me - besides, I was 14 and was in possession of a rifle.
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that a young man in possession of a rifle must be in want of advice...
 
Man claims he was attacked by a cross between a domestic cat and a panther with a "20 inch claw" but isn't injured due to a medical condition that gives him very tough skin...


Man claims big cat attacked him in Porthleven
By Marco FerrariReporter
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Matthew Wild claims he was attacked by a big cat


A man claims that he was attacked by a big cat that reached through an open window and scratched him with its 20 inch claw.
5 comments
Matthew Wild was at his girlfriend's house in Porthleven on Sunday night when they noticed a creature throwing itself against the window, which was slightly ajar.
etc
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https://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/ne...sGQpL474PrmhD1vJSWYCxFTPTzwyILKmdmhcgGbcFXJ_I
 
Bigphoot2 said:
Man claims he was attacked by a cross between a domestic cat and a panther with a "20 inch claw" but isn't injured due to a medical condition that gives him very tough skin...



https://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/ne...sGQpL474PrmhD1vJSWYCxFTPTzwyILKmdmhcgGbcFXJ_I
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From link -
The Ruan Minor martial arts practitioner said that the cat clawed him and let out a deep growl. Luckily he has "very tough skin" due to a medical condition and was not badly injured.
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Why do martial arts practitioners always seem to be getting into news-worthy scrapes? And why do they feel the need to describe themselves thus to the journos writing the story? If he was an instructor then fair enough it's his actual profession, but 'practitioner' suggests he goes to a class once a week in a church hall somewhere. Like yoga or pilates but more boisterous.

I've got a few hobbies but I wouldn't want them to define me in the event I was attacked by an ABC.
 
David Plankton said:
From link -


Why do martial arts practitioners always seem to be getting into news-worthy scrapes? And why do they feel the need to describe themselves thus to the journos writing the story? If he was an instructor then fair enough it's his actual profession, but 'practitioner' suggests he goes to a class once a week in a church hall somewhere. Like yoga or pilates but more boisterous.

I've got a few hobbies but I wouldn't want them to define me in the event I was attacked by an ABC.
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Ha ha. Yorkshire people, school teachers, retired engineers, and martial arts practitioners: don't ask someone, because if they are one, they'll tell you, because it is always relevant.

More to the point, that has to be the least convincing ABC sighting of all time.
 
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Mikefule said:
Ha ha. Yorkshire people, school teachers, retired engineers, and martial arts practitioners: don't ask someone, because if they are one, they'll tell you, because it is always relevant.

More to the point, that has to be the least convincing ABC sighting of all time.
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Which part of martial arts practitioner with super-tough skin survives attack by panther/domestic cat hybrid with 20 inch claws that "growled deeper and louder than anything on Tarzan except the lion" and would have eaten his girflfriend if he hadn't been there, did you find unconvincing? :)
 
Bigphoot2 said:
Which part of martial arts practitioner with super-tough skin survives attack by panther/domestic cat hybrid with 20 inch claws that "growled deeper and louder than anything on Tarzan except the lion" and would have eaten his girflfriend if he hadn't been there, did you find unconvincing? :)
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That he has a girlfriend.
 
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