Alien Big Cats ('ABCs')

[oldrover]

I think that compari with the width of the door and size of the bricks show that is a fairly average sized cat.

 

[David Plankton]

Difficult to gauge the exact size from that picture, but it does look to be a fair bigger than the average household moggie.

If that blue area on the front of the brick building is a door then it doesn't look that big at all.

 

[David Plankton]

I think that compari with the width of the door and size of the bricks show that is a fairly average sized cat.

Yes, beat me to it.

 

[Min Bannister]

That was exactly my thought. It just looks like a normal sized cat to me. Unless he has a truely massive shed with a gigantic door.

 

[Peripart]

If that blue area on the front of the brick building is a door then it doesn't look that big at all.

You're probably right. If it's a single door, the cat's not huge. I'd initially thought it was a wider than normal door, but I'm doubting it now.

 

[Stillill]

It’s probably easier to work out using the scale of the bricks. A standard brick is just under 9 inches. Measuring from the photo ( admittedly not entirely accurate) the door and door frame measures at 4.2 feet.

 

[Kondoru]

Its a sandy house cat. Hasnt this person seen a domestic cat before?

 

[Eponastill]

Something odd spotted in Cambridge, England.

'Large wildcat with big claws' spotted in central Cambridge
The 'big cat' has been compared to the size of a fully grown Labrador dog.
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/wildcat-spotted-cambridge-fen-tiger-18078609

All I have to say is "These cats are small. Those cats are Far Away."
Size of a fully grown labrador dog my arse. It's a cat on quite a small shed. What exactly is the confusion?!

 

[Kondoru]

Maybe a seriously desparate no news day?

Desparate to print something that doesnt involve COVID-19???

 

[Min Bannister]

I liked the detail about "my colleagues from the university" as if you are meant to assume that these colleagues automatically know everything about big cats. Because everyone from any university is an expert on everything.

 

[lordmongrove]

British Big cats on Bedtime Stories.

 

[Anome]

It’s probably easier to work out using the scale of the bricks. A standard brick is just under 9 inches. Measuring from the photo ( admittedly not entirely accurate) the door and door frame measures at 4.2 feet.

Even easier to tell from the size of the fence behind it. Keeping in mind that the fence is on the opposite side of the road from the cat, and seems to be a standard kind of low fence, that cat is positively tiny by comparison.

 

[Lord Lucan]

Difficult to gauge the exact size from that picture, but it does look to be a fair bigger than the average household moggie.

Hopefully, there'll be an update to this story. As always, it's difficult to tell, though the cat does seem to have a peculiar shape to it and from what I can tell, rather large feet (though that may just be fur).

 

[Kondoru]

Incidentaly, Fen Tigers are not cats........

 

[Mythopoeika]

Incidentaly, Fen Tigers are not cats........

What are they?

 

[Kondoru]

I believe they are marshmen who opposed the draining of the Fens?

 

[Mikefule]

All I have to say is "These cats are small. Those cats are Far Away."
Size of a fully grown labrador dog my arse. It's a cat on quite a small shed. What exactly is the confusion?!

Standard bricks are 9" (230mm) long. That cat is a couple of bricks long, plus its tail. Quite a tall tale for such a short cat.

 

[oldrover]

Standard bricks are 9" (230mm) long. That cat is a couple of bricks long, plus its tail. Quite a tall tale for such a short cat.

About 7 1/2' for the total width of the building with 9" bricks.

 

[Mikefule]

Incidentaly, Fen Tigers are not cats........

I looked it up. There was an ABC sighting that was filmed in Cambridgeshire in 1994 which was named "the Fen Tiger" by the media.

However, this name was also a reference to several historical precedents that were not cats, starting with a group who tried to prevent the draining of the fens in the 1600s. The name has been used for various local organisations or individuals, much as the fox has in Leicester or the bear in Warwickshire.

In Nottingham (where I lived at the time (1970s)) we had "the Nottingham Lion" which was a lion allegedly seen by a milkman one morning. The fact that the two stone lions outside the Council House in the Old Market Square are considered to be significant landmarks and emblematic of the city was serendipitous. Perhaps without those two statues, the milkman would have been deemed to have seen a cougar or a puma.

Make up your own joke about milkmen "seeing" cougars if you wish.

 

[Analogue Boy]

From The Sun....

BEAST OF BOWNESS. Woman takes some of the clearest photos of a ‘wild puma’ ever seen in Britain while on her way to work.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11449327/clearest-puma-britain-cumbria/

 

[maximus otter]

From The Sun....

BEAST OF BOWNESS. Woman takes some of the clearest photos of a ‘wild puma’ ever seen in Britain while on her way to work.

View attachment 25494

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11449327/clearest-puma-britain-cumbria/

That stance says "dog" to me.

Also - and maybe I'm being very sceptical here - the position (conveniently camouflaged by undergrowth) and the slightly retouched look around the eye and muzzle don't reduce my doubts.

maximus otter

 

[Monstrosa]

It's an ordinary mog, look at the shape of the ears - pointy.

 

[Anome]

It's an ordinary mog, look at the shape of the ears - pointy.

I was going off the eyes, but yes.

 

[Stillill]

Another picture here. Looks like a domestic cat to me.

 

[Min Bannister]

Yes, you can't really get a sense of scale but it just looks like a kitty. I had a look at some photographs of pumas and they have a HUGE body and a tiny head. The tawny colour is the only similarity as far as I can see.

 

[tuco]

The shape of the head and face is definitely domestic cat and the over developed shoulder muscles show it is a dedicated hunter, giving it the big cat look to anyone used to the shape of a normal house cat.

 

[oldrover]

I've no idea how many 'big cat' photos this brings the total to and all of them have been domestics. People report seeing big cats, but give them a camera and they show you small cats, people report thylacines, give them a camera and you get foxes, dogs, and wallabies. It's always the same.

 

[Analogue Boy]

A quick search on the web seems to show pumas have smaller heads in relation to their body size. The body also looks weird.... almost rock-like.

 

[Lord Lucan]

An article from a Western Australian newspaper about a documentary to air on May 5 about ABC's in Australia. The article is hyped up as you'd expect making numerous comparisons along the way to the recent 'Tiger King' series, but the show itself could be promising for Aussie viewers.

On the hunt for mysterious big cats with WA's very own tiger king

He's been referred to as Australia's very own Tiger King, but apart from his surname, Vaughan King doesn't have much in common with Joe Exotic.

The Netflix show's star and the former WA boy both have a thing for big cats and, from May 5 when King appears in a new Discovery Channel documentary, both will be on television screens.

That, though, is where any similarity ends.

"I've only seen two episodes of the show, and it gave me the weirdest nightmares," King said.

"The guy's a crazy cat, but people can call me whatever they want. It's quite funny."

King, who grew up in Perth's southern suburbs before heading east to work with Steve Irwin at Australia Zoo, stars in The Hunt: In Search of Australia's Big Cats which debuts next week.

And while he won't give too much away, the professional big cat handler and researcher said the show was "compelling", and included footage of mysterious sightings collected from around the country, including Western Australia.

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/aust...ry-own-tiger-king/ar-BB13rtAI?ocid=spartandhp

 

[Eponastill]

Watching 'Tiger King' has maybe been playing on imaginations in Kent. A classic case of mistaken ABC identity. (They even got a helicopter out. No expense spared).

Armed police and a helicopter were scouring the Kent countryside for a big cat on the loose following a call from a member of the public, only to find a model tiger made of chicken wire and resin in the woodland of an 85-year-old sculptor. Juliet Simpson, who made the lifesize sculpture 20 years ago, was first alerted to the situation when a neighbour rang saying police were following up reports of a wild cat near her house in the village of Underriver.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/02/armed-police-called-out-to-catch-model-tigerThe police said they liked the model and thought it very lifelike, apparently