Alien Big Cats ('ABCs')

[staticgirl]

The Sydenham Panther

Interesting story about a large black cat attacking a domestic moggy and a man. Most of my normal objections ('It's not a panther it's just far away!') answered by direct comparison with moggy and you can't really argue with a big cat when it's sat on your chest snarling.


http://tinyurl.com/5elvx

 

[NilesCalder]

Big cats attacked

(erm... merged)

 

[Anonymous]

I think there's a chance I saw a big cat yesterday while out with the dog. :shock:

I was walking along the edge of a field near where I live. It's at the top of a slope, down from me is a steepish drop, to the treeline and a railway embankment. I have a pic of it, taken some months before, it's an awful pic but you can see the type of environment it is at least.

http://img146.exs.cx/img146/5154/walk10lo.jpg

At the bottom of the slope, in the sun, was an animal. It was sandy brown, and the sunlight showed a definate reddish tint to the side of its body. It had its side to me, about 75 yards away, and was standing motionless, looking directly up the hill at me.

crap impression:

I stopped dead and tried to work out in my head what I was seeing. It looked bigger than my border collie, it was standing quite high and I could make out a very powerful looking hind leg. Its head was small, with pricked ears and quite a long neck. It was standing very upright, alert, as it had seen me. I stood for what seemed like an age watching it, eventually I clapped my hands to try and get it to move. No motion at all, it just stayed staring motionlessly at me.

Eventually, I started to doubt what I was seeing. I called the dog (who was snuffling round in bushed seemingly completely unaware of the animal, he's not very bright bless him), and started down the hill towards the animal. Suddenly, and making me jump out of my skin, it darted off into the trees. It was then that I realised that It definately was a largeish, sandy coloured animal.

When I was observing it, I had all kinds of things floating round in my head. At first I thought fox; but it seemed too large and there was something 'unfoxlike' about it. Then I thought deer, but from the way it moved it was clearly a predator of some kind.

My head says it might just have been a large fox, but my heart says it was a puma. I've contacted the British Big Cat Society for a second opinion.

 

[Human_84]

Without reading all 22 pages of this thread, can someone answer me this:


1) Is the existance ABC's still unproven or known fact they exist?

2) Are they something phenominal, or are these just large cats?

3) So what if large cats are roaming around?

 

[ruffready]

1) known fact they exist 2) big kittys"hybrids", escaped exotic pets etc..3) well they get hungry and kill stuff "see austraila"

 

[Rrose_Selavy]

My mother who lives in Walthamstow - near the marshes - told me earlier today she saw a big cat" the other day. Not just a big moggie but defintiely an ABC - just found this via google -
I haven't got a full description from her but could it have been the Beast of Ongar? This is a bit scary - I live even closer to the marshes near to the area in this report!

Beast Of Ongar Seen Prowling Walthamstow Marshes
[Original headline: Beast of Ongar now prowls the marshes]
The big cat known as the Beast of Ongar has been spotted in Walthamstow near the marshes.
A dark, silky-sleek figure of a panther or puma was spotted going through bins near houses in St James Village, a block of flats near Low Hall Lane, on Saturday, at 7.30pm. A woman was sitting in her car waiting for her son when she spotted the animal walk past her round the corner to some bins.

Big cat experts claim the animal may be living on the marshes and making food raids on local houses.

The resident, of Downsfield Road, Walthamstow, who saw the beast, said: "It came to the front of the car. It looked like a dog but with the face of a cat and it had a long tail. It was as big as a fox. "I thought this is a huge animal. It was looking for food and rooting around. I must admit I was not really scared even though I recognised it was a puma.

"I watched it go round the corner by the dustbins in Wickham Close. I am sure of what I saw."

John Hancock of Essex Big Cat Research, a group which monitors big cat activity, says it is quite possible that the animal could be living on the marshes and making occasional forays into residential areas.

He said: "We have noticed that these big cats seem to have lost their shyness and a lot of them have been seen going through people's rubbish.

"It is not unreasonable to think that it came from Walthamstow Marshes.

"It could have been passing through the area, and these animals do have quite large territories. It was probably on the look-out for an easy meal and they can pick out the smell of meat or fish in people's litter.

"There is certainly more than one of these creatures in Essex and my opinion is that they are breeding because people are seeing young animals. There are too many sightings for it to be one cat."




• Story originally published by •
Waltham Forest Guardian / London - January 25 2001

 

[Yithian]

Big cat experts claim the animal may be living on the marshes and making food raids on local houses.

Scary indeed. This makes it sound as if the inhabitants of these 'local houses' are themselves the 'food'!

 

[Rrose_Selavy]

Big cat experts claim the animal may be living on the marshes and making food raids on local houses.

Scary indeed. This makes it sound as if the inhabitants of these 'local houses' are themselves the 'food'!

Just checked the description with my mother. it was spotted from her window - about midnight - seen crossing a road - it was dark and lean - like the "silky and sleek " beast of Ongar .


She says she's seen something similar before as well.

-

Beast of Ongar
From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engl ... 213535.stm

The cat is thought to be a lynx with black colouring. An Essex woman has described what she claims is a sighting of the mysterious "Beast of Ongar".
Kay Hayden, the clerk of the local parish council, told BBC Essex she was shocked when a large black cat appeared in a field in Stanford Rivers near Ongar off the A113.

Ms Hayden said: "All I can say is it was a great big leopard size. It was a muscular, completely black, strong-looking animal, much, much larger than a dog."

She said she was quite convinced the animal was the same "beast" spotted years ago by others in the area.

The secretive animal seen near Ongar was identified as possibly being a shy European lynx by experts on BBC1 wildlife series X-Creatures, in 1998.

A police officer at the Ongar station said there have not been any reports of wild animals of this type in the local area for years.

Big cat experts have estimated there may be more than 100 wild cats - mainly leopards and pumas - roaming the British countryside, a claim that has been disputed by the government.

 

[Anonymous]

Spotted this in yesterday's Mirror:

THE BEAST OF CWMBRAN Apr 16 2005


Snapper claims panther is on loose


A HUGE black cat gorges on a pigeon in a snap the photographer claims proves a wild panther is on the loose in a forest.

Norman Evans said he came face to face with the beast near a track three miles from his home.

The 43-year-old divorced dad-of-nine told how he feared the cat would attack him after taking the shots in Cwmbran, South Wales.

Norman said: "I couldn't believe my eyes. I was in utter shock.


"I had a heart attack three years ago and this nearly sparked another.

"My nerve went, I was shaking like a leaf. I was just worried about being attacked.

"It looked like a black panther from straight out of the jungle book.

"It was fully grown and really healthy, eating its lunch about 30ft away.

"I walked away quickly. People have been taking the mickey out of me. But I know what I saw. I won't be going for a walk in those woods again while he's on the loose.

"There have been several reported sightings of big cats in the area. I'm in no doubt it's true."

Norman was in the forest above Henllys village looking for a location to take photos of model Hayley Evans when he claims he spotted the animal.

He added: "I walked back to Hayley and said, 'Don't say a word, just grab your things and jump in the Jeep'. Once inside I showed her the picture."

Hayley, 23, said: "Norman looked white as a sheet. It's scary to think a panther's wandering around in an area where kids play."

Norman told police of the sighting. He returned to the spot with brother John later and found pigeon feathers but no big cat footprints.

John Partridge of Bristol Zoo said of the picture: "The image suggests this is a black panther. Fully grown."

Cwmbran police confirmed there have been reports of big cats roaming the area "over the last couple of years".

Last month Tony Holder, 36, claimed he was attacked by a black panther in his back garden at Sydenham, South East London

source

 

[Anonymous]

Cymbran is about 15 miles as the crow flies from Bont, home of the famous beast of Bont, if the picture isn't a hoax then it could be the same animal.

^picture © daily mirror 2005

 

[wembley8]

"1) Is the existance ABC's still unproven or known fact they exist? "

As far as Britain goes, still very much unproven.
And as more signtings etc pile up without hard evidence, the finger points to something other than solid animals.

 

[boynamedsue]

Looks shopped.....

In fact it´s almost certainly too photoshopped-looking to have actually been photoshopped...

Case proven. Large panther in woods, danger and excitement returns to the british isles.

 

[Human_84]

I may just be acting hard-headed, but who cares about alien big cats? They're large wild cats roaming britan which are a cross breed. Thats very natural in my opinion. Not as if they stand 6 feet in height to the shoulders or something. Its just cats. Thats not creepy, its not mysterious, its not strange. They may be elusive but that doesn't make it weird! Am I missing something here?

 

[Jerry_B]

'Fortean' doesn't mean 'weird' (altho' it can feature weird things). ABCs are out of place, as far as their as their natural habitat is concerned, as well as various other factors. Some ABC reports can also have a certain 'high strangeness' factor. Thus they are an anomaly, and thus 'Fortean'.

 

[Human_84]

'Fortean' doesn't mean 'weird' (altho' it can feature weird things). ABCs are out of place, as far as their as their natural habitat is concerned, as well as various other factors. Some ABC reports can also have a certain 'high strangeness' factor. Thus they are an anomaly, and thus 'Fortean'.

Wellllllllll, if I were to visit the UK and talk with people living there who beleived in them would i get the impression that its not really a big deal to see these things? Or would I come to understand that a sighting is sort of a creepy thing just as a UFO would be? With most fortean stuff what makes it interesting for me is the creep factor, but I dont see any at all with these. We've got squirrels here, they roam the forests and lunge on unsuspecting acorns! You dont always see the squirrels, they can be elusive but there have been sightings by credible people. I'm not harping, I just do beleive I'm missing something about ABC's.

 

[Jerry_B]

As I said, the 'weird' or 'creepy' factor of Forteana is only one of it's many aspects.

Ordinarily, we don't have native big cat population that's indigenous in this country. Certainly not in the form of pumas, etc. So when people claim to see such animals, it's an anomalous event - which is partly what Forteana is all about. This anomaly is what makes ABCs unusual - they are out of place. Whether this is 'creepy' or not is neither here not there (although it could be said that witnesses find the event creepy, etc. at the time).

 

[oll_lewis]

I may just be acting hard-headed, but who cares about alien big cats? They're large wild cats roaming britan which are a cross breed. Thats very natural in my opinion. Not as if they stand 6 feet in height to the shoulders or something. Its just cats. Thats not creepy, its not mysterious, its not strange. They may be elusive but that doesn't make it weird! Am I missing something here?

Cryptozoology isn't always quite as unuseual and bizzare as other branches of forteania, like ghosts for instance.

One one end of the scale of strangeness are things like zooform phenomina, which are truly strange and on the othe are out of place animals that can have such mundane seeming explanations as having been unwanted pets released into the wild. It is the aparrent survival of many species of O.O.P.A. and even breeding in conditions removed from their speciesis natural biological niche that can get some cryptozoologists and even regular zoologists excited. In fact it's things like O.O.P.A. that get a lot of 'qualified' scientists interested in cryptozoology and cryptozoology certainly dose have a bigger share of qualified scientists than possibly anyother branch of forteania and can often get funding for propper scientific research from universitys.

but I digress, the question was, what is so special about ABCs, the answer is a lot. For starters britain is an island (a very large one but an island none the less) and as a result, amoungst other animals, mammals cannot independently migrate from mainland europe. The British have always had a paticular enjoyment of killing everything that moves, kills farm animals or looks at them in a funny tone of voice. As a result british wildlife is not very diverse so when big cats turn up over several years it creates a lot of excitement among zoologists, cryptozoologists and the general public. not least because given how cold and wet our winters are compared to where bigcats useully live in the wild it seems to defy logic that so many appear to survive.

There are many theorys as to what ABCs could be including that they could be zooform phenomina, dicarded pets, inordinately large tomcats, hoax or misidentified dogs. Given the nature of forteania it is more than likely to be caused by a combination of those things and others.

All in all a lot stranger than they may appear at first glance.

 

[canwyl_corf]

For starters britain is an island (a very large one but an island none the less) and as a result, amoungst other animals, mammals cannot independently migrate from mainland europe.

This may (obviously ) be off-subject, but I think it would depend on how you describe an island.

If you mean "a mass of land surrounded on all sides by water", then yes, we're an island. However that same description could relate to any one of several land masses (Autralia, for example). As I am given to understand, Britain is simply a portion of mainland Europe that, sometime in the past, broke away.

As far as I can remember, a "true" island is one that has erupted from the sea via volcanic/tectonic activity, or has grown from the centuries-old deposits of tiny marine life.

It is, therefore, quite possible that a number of species of large cat did indeed make it to the area that would later become Britain, and are now trapped in evolutionary stasis.

I realise that this is an improbable argument given the lack of historical evidence/sightings, but it is a theory nevertheless. It is also a probability that the geological time involved would not have that great an effect over the evolutionary cycle.

I also admit that I could be entirely wrong here (never was much cop at geology and zoology )

 

[oll_lewis]

An island is defined as any body of land surounded on all sides by water.
Australia is an island and also a continent.

Britain is an island but was also once part of the european mainland. During the last ice age it was possible, if you had a lot of time on your hands and nothing better to do, walk across what is now the bottom of the english channel without getting wet. This was because the sea level was lower because it was so cold that the ice cap that nowadays hovers about sheapishly near the north pole came as far south as Cardiff.

It was so cold that only animal that were specially adapted for the cold could survive anywhere in the landmass now known as britain, like neandathal's, wolly mamoths.

there was only a short window of time before the chanel flooded as the weather got warmer and the icesheet melted and it still was too cold for big cats to get anyware close to britain at the time.

hope that explanes that part of my post better.

 

[CygnusRex]

Return of the beast

Jim Hornby may have seen a panther
By Linda Piper


THE Beast of Bexley has returned and this time it has left behind a huge paw print.

The large black panther, which has been spotted stalking areas of Bexley over the past three years, made its latest appearance last Thursday.

It was seen in Bexleyheath by astonished care worker Jim Hornby, 48, at his work just off Bexleyheath Broadway.

He said: "It was some time between 11pm and midnight. I was in the utility room at the back of the building and standing next to the open door which leads onto the car park and then onto woods.

"I was chatting with the night superviser when I saw something out of the corner of my eye, moving in the car park.

"I turned and saw the shape of a big black cat, creeping along the ground on its belly by the side of my car, as if it was stalking something."

Mr Hornby, from St James Close, Plumstead, confessed he was so surprised he swore.

He added: "I said to the superviser What the hell was that?' "She had also caught a glimpse of it and she replied I don't know'."

Mr Hornby then dashed out into the car park to try and get another look at the creature but by the time he got there it had gone.

He said: "It was much bigger than an ordinary cat, a fox or even a dog.

"We all spent the rest of the night trying to work out what the superviser and I had seen."

But there was another big surprise waiting.

The care home where Mr Hornby works has a sensory garden which includes an area of sand.

The following morning when the staff went out for another look, they found a perfectly preserved, huge paw print in the sand.

It was nearly 5in across and its depth indicated it was made by something heavy.

Mr Hornby said: "A couple of weeks ago one of the doves went missing from next door. All they found were feathers and lots of blood.

"I am not frightened but I am now really curious. I have never seen anything like it before.

"I couldn't make out any features, just the shape of a cat, nearly as big as a man.

"I shall now be keeping one eye looking out of the window, in case I see it again."

In the past year, the Beast of Bexley, as it has been dubbed, has been seen at the Hillview Cemetery in Welling, around the woodlands at Shooters Hill, Plumstead Common, Danson Park, Barnehurst and Northumberland Heath.

Experts believe big cats may use railway lines and the cover of their embankments to travel long distances.

Danny Bamping, founder of the British Big Cats Society, said: "Looking by the paw print, I am quite convinced this was made by big cat.

"There are no claws visible in the print and cats are the only animals which do not have their claws out when they walk.

"The sighting was particularly strong. Two people saw it and it was in an area where big cats have been seen before. I would say it was highly likely it was a big cat."


4:46pm Wednesday 25th May 2005

Source

 

[Anonymous]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/4599441.stm

Big cat blamed after cow attack

A big cat is being blamed for an attack on a cow at a farm near Plymouth.
There have been a series of alleged sightings of big cats in the area around Langage Farm.

The cow's owners say they have no other explanation for the animal's injuries and say vets have agreed they are consistent with a big cat attack.

The animal is expected to make a full recovery, but the incident is likely to relight the debate over the existence of big cats in the area.

Farm manager Andrew Stead said they were unsure at first about the Jersey cow's injuries.

He said: "When we looked at her initially we thought she may have been caught in barbed wire.

"But when we got her into the crush and we could see the extent of the damage we could see what looked like four parallel scratch marks on her muzzle and the side of her cheek was damaged.

"She's got barbed wire scratches on her back end. She's been pushed up against a fence I think. They're totally different from the scratches on her face.

"Her ear's been chewed up slightly. It's an injury I've never seen before. It's not barbed wire, it's not a dog.

"There are plenty of rumours and sightings of large cats around here. It's a big animal for a cat to have a go at but I can't explain these things any other way."

'Quite exciting'

Colleague Paul Winterton said: "The vets have to be very careful but they're saying it's a probable large cat attack.

"Twelve months ago two guys were having a break when they saw a big cat. When it saw them it began to make it's way towards them and cleared a 6ft high hedge.

"As you can imagine there was a bit of ridicule in the factory at the time, but this latest attack just endorses what happened last year."

However staff at the farm are not too concerned.

Commercial manager Dave Pearce said: "It's quite exciting something like this has happened."

 

[MagikBug]

Warning after 'big cat' sighting

Holidaymakers in Dorset are being warned to dial 999 if they see a big cat-like creature following a number of sightings across the county.
Pc John Snellin, wildlife officer for Dorset Police, has advised people not to approach them or corner them, especially if they are injured.

His warning comes after Wiltshire salesman Kevin Hamersley claimed he saw a puma in West Cliff Road, Bournemouth.

Pc Snellin said there were 30 reported big cat sightings in Dorset every year.

He advised: "If you did see one, 99.9 times out of 100 they are just going to run away, but don't approach them or corner them.

"Certainly, if they are injured or cornered don't go near them and call the police.

"We have various contingency plans if one does appear."

He said a woman, who works in the control room at Dorset Police, had also reported hearing a "growling noise" from inside bushes on Canford Heath in Poole, as she walked with her mother on 20 August at 2000 BST.

Pc Snellin added: "A loud roar like a big cat came from the bushes.


On the prowl

"They decided to run for it and as they ran off they heard another roar. She was a bit shook up."

Her report followed an earlier one from 24-year-old Mr Hamersley who had been celebrating a friend's 21st birthday when he claimed to have spotted a puma or lynx prowling near his hotel.

The car spares salesman said had been walking back to his hotel with his friends after having a couple of drinks, when he saw the 2ft (0.6m) tall cat standing in the middle of the road at 0430 BST.

"It was as big as a dog, but it wasn't a dog," explained Mr Hamersley, who is from Devizes.

Black panther sighting

"It stopped in the middle of the road and looked at us for about two or three minutes.

"We were just trying to work out what it was and it just stood there frozen, looking at us, before it turned around and ran off.

"I thought it might be a puma. I watch a lot of wildlife programmes so I know my big cats.

"I don't think they would attack humans unless you provoked them but they are meat eaters so I didn't hang around.

"I didn't want to get gashed by its big claws.

"I'm now convinced there's either a puma or a lynx on the loose in Bournemouth."

During another incident, a scaffolding company worker reported defending himself with a large piece of wood after sighting a black panther at an industrial estate near Bournemouth International Airport on 14 August.

Source

If the scaffolding worker felt the need to defend himself, how close did the panther get?

:shock:

 

[Anonymous]

Dorset warning

Whilst properly acknowledging that in the vast majority of cases big cats do not attack, it might have been more sensible to give the advice of not running away, making yourself look as big as possible and making a lot of noise, particularly as the article in the Dorset newspaper, and the BBC report went on to mention a civilian police staff member who had run away after hearing a roar.

It might also, to keep the issue in context, have been worth mentioning that the only two people who appear to have injuries consistent with a big cat attack in this country both said the attacks happened after deliberately approaching the animal.

Whilst not wishing to interfere with police "contingency plans" in any way it would not be a totally wild guess to suggest that they may involve firearms. I would point out that following the "Wrangaton lion sightings here in Devon, circa 1999, where the police fire-arms unit turned up, many people in that area stopped reporting sightings on the basis of not wanting the animls harmed. I still receive sightings from that area where they are reported to me on condition that I do not pass them on to the authorities. Some of the local farmers in particular were keen that any such animal should remain in the area because of the damage that it may do to the rabbit and deer populations.

Chris. M. Moiser

 

[ramonmercado]

Zoologist studies 'big cat' print

Zoologist studies 'big cat' print

A big cat expert is studying a paw print cast taken in Fife in an attempt to identify "the Beast of Balbirnie".
It follows what have been considered credible sightings by members of the public in Balbirnie Woods, Markinch.

A large pawprint measuring 10cm x 9cm and thought to be from a cat-like creature was found during a search.

The print has been now been given to a zoologist. Police believe the most likely species to be living in the Fife area is a lynx or puma.

Fife Constabulary officers and staff from the SSPCA and other agencies took part in the recent search of the woods.


We have a duty to protect the public from what could, potentially, be a dangerous animal
Pc Mark Maylin
Wildlife officer

The introduction of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act in 1976 made it illegal for people to keep big cats and it is thought some were released into the wild.

Fife wildlife officer Pc Mark Maylin said: "We have a duty to protect the public from what could, potentially, be a dangerous animal.

Survival instincts

"The next step is to try to find and capture the animal and have it relocated in an environment that is safer, both for it and the public."

Based on the number of reports over recent years there could be as many as half a dozen big cats in Fife alone.


"There are a great many sceptics out there, but how many of them have ever seen an eagle, an otter, pine martin, dolphin, whale or even a badger in the wild?

"The lynx was originally native to Scotland and would have no trouble adapting to survive in the wild."

The advice on seeing a big cat in the open is to stay calm and still, do not chase it and do not run away from it.

The only real danger would be from an encounter with an animal which had cubs, was injured or in a confined space.

The advice then is to back away slowly and try to make yourself look as large as possible.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/s ... 315168.stm

Published: 2005/10/06 10:39:47 GMT

© BBC MMV

 

[sunsplash1]

Dead ABC: likely puma

Shooter says he bagged 'urban legend' puma
A Melbourne man believes he has proof that a long-standing myth about the existence of big cats in the Victorian countryside is true.

Kurt Engel of Noble Park shot dead what is believed to be a black puma near Sale in East Gippsland in June.

Experts are conducting tests to confirm the identity of the big cat.

Mr Engel says farmers have seen big cats before but until now there has been no proof of their existence.

"Up until now it was just a myth, it's like, it might be like Big Foot," he said.

"People [have] seen them but never really can prove it but now it's come through, it did happen.

"I shot one and they do exist," Mr Engel said.

Rumours of big cats being spotted roaming in Gippsland and the Grampians have been rife since the 1970s.

One theory suggests that United States troops introduced the animals during World War II, eventually dumping their ex-mascots in the bush.

Some have dismissed the big cat stories as urban legend but an academic from Deakin University revealed last year that the stories were plausible.

Dr John Henry conducted research into the issue in the 1970s and told the ABC last year that he had "concluded that it was beyond reasonable doubt that there was a population of big cats in the Grampians at that time".

"If we were able to dismiss any account by another explanation that didn't require the invention of some exotic animal, we went for that every time," Dr Henry told ABC South-West Victoria.

"At the end of that there were four eyewitness accounts that we really couldn't knock over."

Dr Henry said that the population may have survived and even spread since the 1970s.

"If there are pumas in the Grampians - and we believe there's a strong case for that - then they would have bred up, they would have then moved out into adjacent suitable habitat," he said.

Last Update: Sunday, October 9, 2005. 8:37am (AEST)http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1477836.htm

Crikey!

 

[BuckeyeJones]

Dead Big Cat?
Should take about 5mins to identify.
Peace
=^..^=217

 

[DougalLongfoot]

I shot the big cat
EXCLUSIVE by KELVIN HEALEY
09oct05

A VICTORIAN hunter believes he may finally have solved the state's big cat mystery.

Kurt Engel shot dead what is believed to be a leopard or a puma in Gippsland.
Mr Engel photographed the dead cat and cut off its tail after shooting it while hunting deer in rugged terrain near Sale in June.

A sample of the cat's DNA, taken from the tail, has been sent to an international laboratory for analysis.

The results, expected in about three weeks, will determine the feline's exact species.

there is a photo on the news website. whatever it is it is bloody big!

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,16857414%5E661,00.html

 

[DougalLongfoot]

According to an interview on ABC Radio National this morning
Listen here: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/brkfast/stories/s1478295.htm

The tail was the only part kept and was 65cm long. The photo is a bit deceptive because the hunter is actually standing a fair way behind the carcass.

Can feral cats grow so big they have a tail that long?

 

[Fats_Tuesday]

I shot the big cat
EXCLUSIVE by KELVIN HEALEY
09oct05

A VICTORIAN hunter believes he may finally have solved the state's big cat mystery.

Kurt Engel shot dead what is believed to be a leopard or a puma in Gippsland.
Mr Engel photographed the dead cat and cut off its tail after shooting it while hunting deer in rugged terrain near Sale in June.

A sample of the cat's DNA, taken from the tail, has been sent to an international laboratory for analysis.

The results, expected in about three weeks, will determine the feline's exact species.

there is a photo on the news website. whatever it is it is bloody big!

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,16857414%5E661,00.html

Whole thing smacks of a hoax to me; either that or a very inept handling of the situation by the hunter.

There's no true sense of scale on the photo - why would you not place the cat behind yourself and the bike to give a true sense of scale if it was truly large? There's no way at all on that photo of telling how big the cat is.

Also the usual story of chopping off the tail and destroying the rest of the body - why on earth would you do that if you thought you'd made a genuinely important kill?

 

[PeniG]

When this story was first posted here, I thought: "Wow! Dead black puma. That's a major breakthrough. People are forever seeing melanistic pumas and yet they've never been demonstrated to exist. How is this going to fall apart?"

See, I always expect cryptozoological stories to fall apart, because - they so often do. However, in the Year of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, hope does not die.

So now I read the guy's statement and look at his picture, and I ask myself:

What kind of deer hunter goes hunting on a motorcycle? You need a truck to haul the meat back, dude! What kind of wimpy deer do you get in Australia, that you can fit the carcass on the back of a bike? Wow, they have very different deer seasons in Australia, come to think of it. It won't be legal to hunt deer here for another month. But they're not native to Australia and I'm sure they're even more destructive in Australia than in America (where environmentalists promote hunting deer, aka "hooved napalm," as an ecologically necessary measure.)

What kind of hunter bags a big cat, takes a picture, cuts off the tail, and doesn't haul the carcass back to show off to his buddies? Carcasses are ever so much more convincing than pictures. Oh, right, he didn't have anything to haul his meat back on...

Distinctive puma head, blown off. Distinctive puma tail, cut off. Photo with forced perspective. He didn't bring a truck but he brought enough rope to haul a big cat up into a tree - oh, and he hauled it into a tree by himself, then took it down and buried the corpse?

Okay, that didn't take long. Black pumas are still fairy beasts. I wonder where he got the tail?