Big cats UK

[Greyman 28,840]

8 hours ago, Chaff said:

Trail cams to Wycombe is it greyman if you don't have that area covered already 

The lad that runs the Facebook group,Paulo, is part of our little new work and has it covered, mate, 

[keepdiggin 9,561]

@Greyman

 

Quick question regarding the Scottish wild cat mate what’s the biggest prey they have been recorded taking?

[Greyman 28,840]

15 minutes ago, keepdiggin said:

@Greyman

 

Quick question regarding the Scottish wild cat mate what’s the biggest prey they have been recorded taking?

At a guess a small lamb would be at the biggest end of its range, I have a book at home somewhere called a highland year by lee mcnally I think he was a gamekeeper and hunted them with his terriers, worth a read if your interested mate funny enough we had a dna result back a while ago from a roadkill in Scotland and it was what they call a Kellas cat which is a black highbred of wild cat and domestic, but the body was bigger than both parents and could probably of taken a small deer 

Edited December 1, 2023 by Greyman

[paulus 26]

13 minutes ago, keepdiggin said:

@Greyman

 

Quick question regarding the Scottish wild cat mate what’s the biggest prey they have been recorded taking?

Scottish wildcats are obligate carnivores surviving almost exclusively on meat. They play an important ecological role in controlling the numbers of small to medium sized prey animals such as rabbits, rats, hares and other small animals.

Whilst they will opportunistically prey on birds, insects, lizards and even sometimes fish, these species make up a fraction of their diet.

They follow typical feline hunting approaches: slowly creeping close to their prey for a pounce-chase-catch-kill. They will also utilise knowledge of their territory to carry out ambush attacks.

Their killing method is quick and clean with a bite to the throat or spinal cord at the neck.

The Scottish wildcat is often blamed for killing agricultural and game species such as game birds and lambs.

However, records of Scottish wildcat kills (prior to legal protection was afforded) suggest hybrids were the primary culprit.

As per most cats, in desperate times they can and will eat carrion and it is possible that sightings of them feeding on dead deer or sheep may have led to legends of them hunting such large species.

[keepdiggin 9,561]

3 minutes ago, Greyman said:

At a guess a small lamb would be at the biggest end of its range, I have a book at home somewhere called a highland year by lee mcnally I think he was a gamekeeper and hunted them with his terriers, worth a read if your interested mate 

Thanks mate speaking to one of my ceiling fixers today he said his grandfather seen one take a roe

[keepdiggin 9,561]

Just now, paulus said:

Scottish wildcats are obligate carnivores surviving almost exclusively on meat. They play an important ecological role in controlling the numbers of small to medium sized prey animals such as rabbits, rats, hares and other small animals.

Whilst they will opportunistically prey on birds, insects, lizards and even sometimes fish, these species make up a fraction of their diet.

They follow typical feline hunting approaches: slowly creeping close to their prey for a pounce-chase-catch-kill. They will also utilise knowledge of their territory to carry out ambush attacks.

Their killing method is quick and clean with a bite to the throat or spinal cord at the neck.

The Scottish wildcat is often blamed for killing agricultural and game species such as game birds and lambs.

However, records of Scottish wildcat kills (prior to legal protection was afforded) suggest hybrids were the primary culprit.

As per most cats, in desperate times they can and will eat carrion and it is possible that sightings of them feeding on dead deer or sheep may have led to legends of them hunting such large species.

Cheers Paul 

[paulus 26]

More info here

Meet the Rarest Cat in the World — Wildcat Haven

WWW.WILDCATHAVEN.COM

---

The scottish wildcat

 

[shaaark 10,896]

4 hours ago, keepdiggin said:

Thanks mate speaking to one of my ceiling fixers today he said his grandfather seen one take a roe

Honestly can't envisage an 18lb cat taking a roe deer, unless it was a very young deer.

SimilarIy I don't wish to piss on anyone's chips, greyman etc,  but the Kellas cat would only be roughly 15lb ish, and not what I would consider a small deer killer.

[keepdiggin 9,561]

1 minute ago, shaaark said:

Honestly can't envisage an 18lb cat taking a roe deer, unless it was a very young deer.

SimilarIy I don't wish to piss on anyone's chips, greyman etc,  but the Kellas cat would only be roughly 15lb ish, and not what I would consider a small deer killer.

You’re probably right shaaaaark regarding the roe deer 

[Greyman 28,840]

10 hours ago, shaaark said:

Honestly can't envisage an 18lb cat taking a roe deer, unless it was a very young deer.

SimilarIy I don't wish to piss on anyone's chips, greyman etc,  but the Kellas cat would only be roughly 15lb ish, and not what I would consider a small deer killer.

Mate it’s all open to debate, but the body in the pic is a Kellas and had a body length of 90 cm we have had two in recent years of simular size I,m not a boffin by any stretch of the imagination but cording to those that are it’s a genetic thing that seems to throw up these strange giants and possibly explains many big cat sightings that don’t quite fit the description of a proper big un, here is a live one pictured in Devon not a leopard but much much bigger than a domestic or wild cat, out of interest what do you ll think of the one in the snow ?? Ps off out with the dogs for a bit so not being rude will be back in a bit 

Edited December 2, 2023 by Greyman

[forest of dean redneck 11,694]

The one in the snow isn’t overly tall but looks tall for a cat and looks a  muscled lump .

I got bit obsessed with Scottish wildcats in my youth and I’m sure I read somewhere about newborn deer calves being taken but wether true or not can’t say .

[shaaark 10,896]

2 hours ago, Greyman said:

Mate it’s all open to debate, but the body in the pic is a Kellas and had a body length of 90 cm we have had two in recent years of simular size I,m not a boffin by any stretch of the imagination but cording to those that are it’s a genetic thing that seems to throw up these strange giants and possibly explains many big cat sightings that don’t quite fit the description of a proper big un, here is a live one pictured in Devon not a leopard but much much bigger than a domestic or wild cat, out of interest what do you ll think of the one in the snow ?? Ps off out with the dogs for a bit so not being rude will be back in a bit 

No offence taken, G .

Bit difficult to ascertain the size of both of em really.  But, as fdr says, both look pretty muscular, but is that a collar on the bottom one?

[Daniel cain 45,982]

Said they dug up a skeleton in that last link....and its was 4/5ft from nose to tail...that would make it 3 x bigger than a domestic cat....be some good sport back in the day

[Greyman 28,840]

45 minutes ago, shaaark said:

No offence taken, G .

Bit difficult to ascertain the size of both of em really.  But, as fdr says, both look pretty muscular, but is that a collar on the bottom one?

It is a collar mate on a black leopard, I use it to show how hard it is to tell the difference  there are pics on the podcast of the Devon one with roe deer overlaid to show the size of it the bloke caught that pic on a brand new trail cam first time he used it lol 

[paulus 26]

6 hours ago, Greyman said:

It is a collar mate on a black leopard, I use it to show how hard it is to tell the difference  there are pics on the podcast of the Devon one with roe deer overlaid to show the size of it the bloke caught that pic on a brand new trail cam first time he used it lol 

Needs to take it back and get one that can take a picture in focus Lol