RaM
Shit Happens
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2015
- Messages
- 4,159
- Location
- NW UK
Re reading your post, I was struck with the fact that these cats are, as you correctly say, always described as 'muscular'. Which is odd, because if you look at a bunch of average house cats, some will be portly, some will be scrawny, a few will be muscular and some will be downright thin, with very evident shoulder bones. So what is behind the almost uniform 'muscularity' of these cats?A little more about the melanistic big cat conundrum:
"Harpur notes that around three-quarters of all the cats reported are black, and they are commonly described as glossy and muscular. She also makes the fascinating observation that while the most likely candidate is a melanistic leopard (the leopard is the species in which the black form, though rare, occurs most often) she has not been able to find a single account of an ordinary, spotted leopard seen in the wild in Britain.
Some species of large cat are among the shyest and most cunning of all wild animals, but they are creatures of regular habits. They have territories, dens in which cubs are raised, spraying points and scratching posts. They scatter prints, spraints and hairs wherever they go: the first are immediately recognisable, the provenance of the second and third can be confirmed by DNA testing."
https://www.monbiot.com/2013/05/22/the-never-spotted-leopard/
Author and researcher Merrily Harpur eventually concluded that such big black cats in Britain were paranormal in nature and I have to agree. We have so many sightings, here is just one example:
"“It’s not an issue for me. I saw what I saw and that’s that. People can either believe it or not. I’m not trying to convince anyone.”
He had heard the stories, seen pictures in the local paper of the prints found at Princes Gate, a few miles to the other side of Haverfordwest, and had not believed a word of it.
“If I’d been dreaming or thinking about them at the time, it might have been another matter. But it was the last thing on my mind. I was just driving along – and one crosses the road. He was probably about 3 feet high and six feet long. I would say bigger than a medium-sized dog, but definitely not a dog. He was powerful-looking, with a black, glossy, shiny coat, incredibly muscular, like a horse’s shoulders.”
Michael Disney, former policeman, county council officer, had, to his own astonishment, become one of roughly two thousand people who see a big cat in the wild in Britain every year."
https://www.monbiot.com/2013/05/22/the-never-spotted-leopard/
Yet we have no evidence whatsoever. I am fairly nailing my colours to the paranormal mast here (with the exception of the handful of identified escapees) and I love the fact that a new take on the 'Black Shuck' has emerged over the past half century.
Re reading your post, I was struck with the fact that these cats are, as you correctly say, always described as 'muscular'. Which is odd, because if you look at a bunch of average house cats, some will be portly, some will be scrawny, a few will be muscular and some will be downright thin, with very evident shoulder bones. So what is behind the almost uniform 'muscularity' of these cats?
With over a thousand sightings per year yet no physical proof there has to be something behind this?Re reading your post, I was struck with the fact that these cats are, as you correctly say, always described as 'muscular'. Which is odd, because if you look at a bunch of average house cats, some will be portly, some will be scrawny, a few will be muscular and some will be downright thin, with very evident shoulder bones. So what is behind the almost uniform 'muscularity' of these cats?
Black Shuck and other such black hounds of legend are always large and muscular. We don't seem to get any paranormal large Black Shuck-type encounters anymore (just the occasional case) but instead we have these paranormal large muscular black cats. Another difference is that these big black dogs were usually to be found along all manner of roads and highways whereas the modern-day black cats inhabit the woods and green lanes.Re reading your post, I was struck with the fact that these cats are, as you correctly say, always described as 'muscular'. Which is odd, because if you look at a bunch of average house cats, some will be portly, some will be scrawny, a few will be muscular and some will be downright thin, with very evident shoulder bones. So what is behind the almost uniform 'muscularity' of these cats?
Probably only a handful of the sightings would stand up to examination, but the solid cases are very persuasive indeed .With over a thousand sightings per year yet no physical proof there has to be something behind this?
I read 1000-2000 sightings a year,that’s a LOT with not one piece of physical evidence.Probably only a handful of the sightings would stand up to examination, but the solid cases are very persuasive indeed .
I read a Fortean article years ago when I bought a magazine suggesting black cats emerging from a portal,but what’s the reasoning behind it?I read 1000-2000 sightings a year,that’s a LOT with not one piece of physical evidence.
Selling the magazine I’d imagine..I read a Fortean article years ago when I bought a magazine suggesting black cats emerging from a portal,but what’s the reasoning behind it?
No,I am meaning what’s the reason behind thousands of sightings of the cats but no proof whatsoever black panther are living and breeding in the UK? The portal makes more sense.Selling the magazine I’d imagine..
Does it? Seems even more unlikely to me. Big black cats are at least known to exist in the world whereas portals..No,I am meaning what’s the reason behind thousands of sightings of the cats but no proof whatsoever black panther are living and breeding in the UK? The portal makes more sense.
Exist in the world yes,but with 1000-2000 reports in the UK annually but not one shred of proof?Theres just been an echidna spotted and filmed after being thought extinct in the middle of thick remote jungle in Indonesia,but in densely populated UK there’s no proof whatsoever of a creature that’s sighted let’s say 3-6 times every single day?Does it? Seems even more unlikely to me. Big black cats are at least known to exist in the world whereas portals..
Amur leopards in the wild 2023 population in the wild approx 100 in a sparsely populated huge terrain,photographed often.Does it? Seems even more unlikely to me. Big black cats are at least known to exist in the world whereas portals..
No-one is arguing with you that these figures are ludicrous - I think we can all agree on that. Let’s be honest - most ABC stories are clickbait. Shadowy things seen at night, ordinary black moggies filmed in daytime. Someone gets their name in the paper for a while for some sort of short-lived fame. I wouldn’t totally discount the possibility though - it’s possible, which is why it still has traction.Amur leopards in the wild 2023 population in the wild approx 100 in a sparsely populated huge terrain,photographed often.
Brit black panther “experts” put the population at 500-1000 in a tiny country with a big population,photographed never.
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There’s people making a living with podcasts and books from those figures.Do you believe leopards are breeding in the UK?No-one is arguing with you that these figures are ludicrous - I think we can all agree on that. Let’s be honest - most ABC stories are clickbait. Shadowy things seen at night, ordinary black moggies filmed in daytime. Someone gets their name in the paper for a while for some sort of short-lived fame. I wouldn’t totally discount the possibility though - it’s possible, which is why it still has traction.
I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but no. People make money from all sorts of podcasts & books..There’s people making a living with podcasts and books from those figures.Do you believe leopards are breeding in the UK?
It’s a discussionI don’t know how many times I have to say this, but no. People make money from all sorts of podcasts & books..
Absence of evidence that would normally be expected to be present is a form of evidence.I read a Fortean article years ago when I bought a magazine suggesting black cats emerging from a portal,but what’s the reasoning behind it?
Yes but it’s getting a bit repetitive - I don’t think anyone here gives any credence to hundreds of ABCs existing/breeding in the UK. Some people will believe all sorts of shit, as I’ve found with my conspiracy-minded friend.It’s a discussion![]()
I have seen all of those in London.Years ago, I used to visit Dartmoor regularly. The place is no doubt teaming with foxes, badgers, deer, stoats, weasels, adders, grass snakes... but I never saw any of these species out on the moor.
Thats a Ragdoll getting in training to catch a mouse.
I see these species fairly regularly on or near the roads where I live in Lincolnshire.I have seen all of those in London.
I don’t subscribe to that theory,an observant person spots wildlife or genuine sign in town or city,I was halfway up a mountain once and found bear tracks then spotted the animal on a far ridge,but cest la vie.I see these species fairly regularly on or near the roads where I live in Lincolnshire.
My point was that on the wild expanse of Dartmoor (one place associated with big cat reports) I haven't seen them away from the roads. If these common species can remain out of sight all or most of the time then perhaps so can a rare creature such as a big cat.
I would agree. I find it odd that as the animal nears the fence and roadway (something with which we could gage the cat's size) he turns his phone/camera to the ground at his feet
The feline equivalent of……I would agree. I find it odd that as the animal nears the fence and roadway (something with which we could gage the cat's size) he turns his phone/camera to the ground at his feet. His video was fairly clear and you can see it's a cat, but suddenly we're looking at the ground.