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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: 58 47.2%

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

    Votes: 1 0.8%

  • Zooform Phenomena - animal-shaped manifestations of paranormal activity

    Votes: 6 4.9%

  • Misidentifications of big dogs, normal cats etc

    Votes: 30 24.4%

  • A big hoax

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Summat else

    Votes: 4 3.3%

  • All of the above

    Votes: 24 19.5%
  • Total voters
    123
Interesting theory in the latest FT in the Fortean Library section, about an 80s book that posited ABCs are actually indigenous creatures which have lasted since ancient times, when they were more common in the countryside. However, while that could include lions, I don't think black pumas were ever native to the British Isles.
 
Large wildcat 'the size of a medium dog' is spotted casually strolling through Cambridgeshire countryside

1597175922670.jpeg
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video here....
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-strolling-Cambridgeshire-nature-reserve.html
 
New Zealand ABC's.

"The long-running debate over the presence of big cats in the South Island has been reignited after two new sightings.

In the most recent case, a North Canterbury possum hunter has vowed never to go in the bush alone after encountering a wild “monstrous” cat.

The mysterious animals – said to be similar to pumas or panthers – have been spotted in Canterbury, Otago and Marlborough for more than 50 years."



https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/12...-cat-sightings-the-latest-in-a-50year-mystery
 
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brownmane said:
Naughty_Felid said:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/12...-cat-sightings-the-latest-in-a-50year-mystery
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I kind of laughed at the pic that is described as "a baby big cat". It looks like an adult regular cat. It has no kittenish features that all cats have when young, eg body fat pudginess and roundedness.
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Also, the rifle given for perspective, domestic cats easily get to that size, as discussed earlier, especially ferals.

I agree, it's not a cub or kitten of any large cat species, it's an adult of whatever it is, and I suspect it's just a cat. I have a feeling it might be someone's pet.
 
So, this guy is scared to go into the woods because he encounted a cat?

What. A. Pussy.
 
Anome said:
Also, the rifle given for perspective, domestic cats easily get to that size, as discussed earlier, especially ferals.

I agree, it's not a cub or kitten of any large cat species, it's an adult of whatever it is, and I suspect it's just a cat. I have a feeling it might be someone's pet.
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It's NZ so no wildcat population.

Have you any figures on size/weight of feral domesticated cats that haven't interbred with wildcats?

Not saying you are wrong but that second pic with the Lab is a big beast. Although I'd say normal - They won't shoot animals unless it's well away from a population base.
 
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Naughty_Felid said:
It's NZ so no wildcat population.

Have you any figures on size/weight of feral domesticated cats that haven't interbred with wildcats?

Not saying you are wrong but that second pic with the Lab is a big beast. Although I'd say normal - They won't shoot animals unless it's well away from a population base.
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My cat was probably born to a feral barn cat because I rescued him when he was only about 4 weeks old (he fell out of a nest and though we left him where the other cats came for food, none claimed him). He is now 19 lbs., possibly 2 1/2 feet long fully stretched out. If he were feral, you wouldn't want to take him on.
 
Naughty_Felid said:
It's NZ so no wildcat population.

Have you any figures on size/weight of feral domesticated cats that haven't interbred with wildcats?

Not saying you are wrong but that second pic with the Lab is a big beast. Although I'd say normal - They won't shoot animals unless it's well away from a population base.
Click to expand...
I believe in New Zealand, the official size classification for feral cats is "The size of a horse!"

One for the fans of old New Zealand newspaper comic strips.
 
Big Cat Tracker Claims There's Wild Puma, Lynx And Leopards In The UK

Rhoda Watkins has spent more than two decades investigating and learning about big cats, even spending time with the San bushmen in Namibia, who are thought to be amongst the best trackers in the world.

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The 42-year-old, who lives in Cornwall, says she believes that big cats including pumas and leopards are in the wild in the UK, and even reckons there's a 'healthy breeding population'.

Rhoda and her partner Jay Opie are set to feature in a new documentary entitled Britain's Big Cat Mystery, which aims to lift the lid on the ongoing claims about the animals being spotted in the UK.

Rhoda thinks big cats may have been introduced to the wilds of Britain following the introduction of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act in the 1970s - anyone who owned a big cat after then would need to apply for a special licence and she believes many didn't bother and simply released the animals instead.

"There were scrapyards that used to use pumas as guard animals. What happened to all of these? They did not want to go for the licences or have them put down so they just let them go.”

https://www.ladbible.com/news/inter...ild-puma-lynx-and-leopards-in-the-uk-20201012

maximus otter
 
"The 42-year-old, who lives in Cornwall, says she believes that indigeneous people including bushmen and pygmies are in the wild in the UK, and even reckons there's a 'healthy breeding population'."

(Sorry guys, Im in that mood today...)

So, what is she going to say that wasnt said twenty years ago??
 
Its just a repeat of the old canard because there can be no other scientific explanation, the phenomena will oblige by leaving lots of clues that will leave her down the a blind ally, I bet its rubbing its paws together at the thought of another hunt
 
Just laughed after getting the mental image of a panther rubbing its paws together in anticipation!
 
It would be interesting if the documentary featured some information about tracking and what she learned from the Namibia trackers to track ABC's in the UK.
 
Hiker describes being metres away from 'big cat' in Snowdonia

'It was three and a half feet tall, four feet long and the legs were about three to four inches thick'

A hiker has described being metres away from a 'big cat' in Snowdonia.
Jacques Wood, 28, from Leeds, reached Crib Goch in the early hours of Saturday morning when he came face to face with the four-foot long silhouette.

Mr Wood said he set off from Leeds and travelled to north Wales at 2am on October 17, and started on his route at around 5.30am. But only 45 minutes later, he noticed he wasn't alone on the mountain, GloucestershireLive reports.

He said: "I had only been 45 minutes into the walk before I came face to face with the big cat."

The hiker had stopped to have a drink of water and take off his jumper as he was getting hot. After adjusting his head torch, he saw something in the not-too-far distance.
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(c)WoL '20
 
Nemo said:
Hiker describes being metres away from 'big cat' in Snowdonia

(c)WoL '20
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Crib Goch is at roughly the same latitude as Chester, so sunrise time would have been at 0742hrs on 17th October. The combination of:

a) “Not-too-far distance”,
b) Illumination by head torch, and;
c) ~90 minutes before sunrise

- suggests a misjudgement to me.

He reports seeing “two yellow dots” 45 yards away by just the light of a head torch, which is impressive performance. (l own a Tikka head torch, and l am not infrequently out in the countryside at/before dawn).

The only movement he reports seeing during the initial encounter, then a slow backwards walk of 100 yards, was the creature’s head. l find that implausible. A trick of the light/shadow/perspective from his head torch caused by his own movement seems a better fit.

Crib Goch is a “dangerous knife-edged ridge” which can kill even experienced scramblers. One would have to be pretty ballsy to tackle it in the pre-dawn hours of a Welsh October, just by the light of a head torch.

maximus otter
 
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