mackem 26,954 Posted October 2, 2008 Report Share Posted October 2, 2008 Compo,wondered when you would pull up a chair Your explanation is 100 times more plausible than big ABC's Mac,just a thought,ring one of the felide experts working daily with the big-cats in a zoo,sure theres guys in London zoo who would give you info on large-felide feeding patterns and styles?Might give you something to work from? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hollands hope 1,024 Posted October 2, 2008 Report Share Posted October 2, 2008 (edited) Wild boar are here,though too come within a 100yds of the house run a sheep out from the flock kill it without a squeel and clean all the meat of with out breaking up the skeleton,never mind not eating the bones....nah. Theres three tamworth sows 40yds in one off my other fields and theyre needing laid so that would happen first...and NOT quietly either i am not saying a wild boar would tackle a healthy sheep, but they are to be known as scavengers who would not hesitate to overpower a juvenile or a sick animal althoug i have to agree with you that problebly the bones would be scatterd all over the place, nevertheless good luck in finding the culprit who,s causing havoc to your flock off sheep. with regards HH just to add i saw a documentry on television about wild hogs in argentina who were attacking a starved cow not dead already, well they didn,t take any prisoners)( pack of approximatly thirty animals) Edited October 2, 2008 by hollands hope Quote Link to post Share on other sites
COMPO 54 Posted October 2, 2008 Report Share Posted October 2, 2008 Compo,wondered when you would pull up a chair Your explanation is 100 times more plausible than big ABC's I have thought about it lots, i saw a cat that wasn't a moggy and after doing lots of research, i believe it was a feral/loose serval or large savannah cat, in fact the shape and ears would suggest that, but i couldn't see the colour as it was in sillouhette I think that the genuine sitings of which i am sure there are loads are diluted by the pillocks who believe that they have seen a puma/leopard/lion/sabre toothed tiger etc.... and has anyone seen a maine coon cat, a lass i work with has two, they are fecking huge bigger than my little teckel dogs, and they are usually a black and silver tabby colouring! copied from a cat website "The Maine Coon takes 3-4 years to finish growing, and people expect to see a giant cat sitting in a pen, when at fifteen months he's still only a baby. Fully grown females average 7-12lbs and males 10-18lbs. Granted, a few do reach the 20's" i also knew of a bloke who had a few jungle cats in pens in his garden all these smaller exotic cats are what i believe are britains "Big" cats, and lets be honest a serval is bigger than a whippet at 21inch! so a fleeting glance or at a distance and people can imagine it was bigger than it is! i all along stated that the cat i saw was about 17-19inches being about 3 inches taller than my spaniel to the shoulder, but not everyone is used to gauging prey at a distance,estimating size/shape and whether its a safe shot etc..... been on nights last night and am trying to stay awake , so my chairs well and truly pulled up Mackem! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
COMPO 54 Posted October 2, 2008 Report Share Posted October 2, 2008 Just typing this and the wife says , can i have a cat (i'm getting a teckel dog on saturday) she is joking she knows the dogs dont like cats! Bengal kitten £350 in the local paper!!!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dawn B 212 Posted October 2, 2008 Report Share Posted October 2, 2008 Really is a mystery whats eating your sheep and i hope you find out/stop it! I have seen what i am sure was a cat, it was a big cat but not a big cat, slightly bigger than my 15inch spaniel i believe what are seen are either hybrids (Kellas cats) or the exotic cats that are non-native and kept as pets Savannah cats etc...... i dont believe there are true big cats , puma's and leopards loose in teh UK.....i do thing that there are potentially the smaller exotic types of cat loose, kept as pets and allowed out/escaped/dumped? there are also a type of cat called Maine Coon, which is a pet cat that is twice teh size of a normal puss........ my current thinking is that it is Maine Coon's,Savannah cats and other exotic pet cats that make up the majority of these sitings aren't some of these exotic pets leopard cat hybrids? not a cat expert but honest and know what i saw, the more i think though it is probably a type of these exotic pets? the one i saw i only saw in sillouhette so couldn't tell the colour but the outline was definetley cat, and when my spaniel was stood in the same place thecat was taller than her! Maine Coons are leggy cats with long coats, I doubt you'd mistake one for a "big cat" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
COMPO 54 Posted October 2, 2008 Report Share Posted October 2, 2008 Really is a mystery whats eating your sheep and i hope you find out/stop it! I have seen what i am sure was a cat, it was a big cat but not a big cat, slightly bigger than my 15inch spaniel i believe what are seen are either hybrids (Kellas cats) or the exotic cats that are non-native and kept as pets Savannah cats etc...... i dont believe there are true big cats , puma's and leopards loose in teh UK.....i do thing that there are potentially the smaller exotic types of cat loose, kept as pets and allowed out/escaped/dumped? there are also a type of cat called Maine Coon, which is a pet cat that is twice teh size of a normal puss........ my current thinking is that it is Maine Coon's,Savannah cats and other exotic pet cats that make up the majority of these sitings aren't some of these exotic pets leopard cat hybrids? not a cat expert but honest and know what i saw, the more i think though it is probably a type of these exotic pets? the one i saw i only saw in sillouhette so couldn't tell the colour but the outline was definetley cat, and when my spaniel was stood in the same place thecat was taller than her! Maine Coons are leggy cats with long coats, I doubt you'd mistake one for a "big cat" here we go again on the definition of a big cat, i accept the zoological definition is a cat that roars, what i reckon people are seeing is big cats! not BIG CATS...........possibly maine coons, more likely the savannah and serval cats though, not native moggies and to the un-initiated big cats! cos they are bigger than the cat that lives next door!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest hpool_hunter Posted October 2, 2008 Report Share Posted October 2, 2008 like parnanormals - if i see it , ill beleive it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pops 19 Posted October 3, 2008 Report Share Posted October 3, 2008 it doesn't take much cat to look huge. i was napping one morning out "deer hunting" when i woke to the sound of trotting through the leaves behind me. i waited as it was heading past me. as it hit my peripheral vision i saw what looked to be the biggest bobcat in the southeastern USA. he looked big as a foxhound but probably only weighed about 30#. as i sat up to take the shot he heard me and hit high gear. he bounced over a fallen tree before i could even get the gun to my shoulder. a bobcat this size can and often does take deer 50-70kg. so an aggressive small cat of similar size could easily prey on sheep of similar size. macberran all i'm saying is that the evidence in the picture doesn't fit an individual kill for a large predator either canine or feline. a pack of canines will leave a carcass like that but not over night & not in one neat little peice. it really looks like the sheep was killed and the carcass stripped elsewhere and that little bit dumped back on the property. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rabbithunter2008 0 Posted October 3, 2008 Report Share Posted October 3, 2008 Theres reports in our free rag every other week about big cat sightings in the area & has been for years , as well as ufo's & yettis , its all go here in staffordshire What about that croc? Never heard any more about it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
macberran 2 Posted October 3, 2008 Report Share Posted October 3, 2008 Pops I ken what your saying,I have thought it all out ...several times now. I don't figure it either,though those that actually know wher I live and know of the hits realise thats impossible. Entry only from the south single track for 4 miles past 4 other farms ,winding heavy hedgegrowth feck..you would get an award too find us never over the stream,get past the dogs catch it remove it etc etc etc. Also I mooch at night and have never heard or seen anything at any off the irregular times that I do. My farming neighbours are the same, we respect each others stock and property. Like I have said there have been other hits. Thanks for the input its interesting too hear from your side off the water. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bobndog 0 Posted August 12, 2009 Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 well ill probably take some stick about putting this up but iv heard stories and some people i know have told me theyve seen a big cat, i was 50/50 on wether to believe it, but when we were out doing cubs with the terriers we were walking along a barley field not long sown and seen big prints they were just bigger than my clenched fist and the prints were about a foot to a foot and a half gap this kind of swayed me to bellieve the stories id heard, well last night i was out lamping was a good night i shot 3 foxes, but we were lamping away and came out a field opened the gate and out onto a country road i seen eyes infront of me i wacked full beam on and there it was ran up the side of the road for about a second then shot across the other side and into a wood, jet black cat comparisin to a dog i would say roundabout a labrador size, so as iv seen it with my own eyes i know they are about, i was with another 2 people aswell so this isnt a fairytale, so whos seen 1 then? who doesnt believe about them? , I believe that WALES are feckin big fish!!!!!!!!!!!!! :laugh: I believe that the Welsh would feck anything......... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
the Verminator 0 Posted August 12, 2009 Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 i have seen a panter type thing that someone near me snared, its now in their front room all set up! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bobndog 0 Posted August 12, 2009 Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 i have seen a panter type thing that someone near me snared, its now in their front room all set up! Any chance of a photo? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
COMPO 54 Posted August 13, 2009 Report Share Posted August 13, 2009 i personally dont no what to believe, with all the lampers, fox hunts, deerstalkers, fishingmen, ferreters, twitchers, e.t.c surely someone would of got a picture, or a least shot one, , , who would shoot one if the came across one, obviously if they had a gun that was worthy of such a animal, ??? confused.com, atb If i had any gun i would give it a shot.............teh sun newspaper are still prepared to pay £50,000 for conclusive proof........blood and hair would be enough for a dna test , if the gun didn't stop it I have seen something as mentioned earlier in this thread and have recieved lots of derision from non-believers.........I personally think now that the big cats that get seen in the UK are escaped/feral exotic pets............someone on here had a go at me over the definition of a BIG CAT as apparently to be a big cat it needs to be able to roar...........but the cat i saw was Bigger than a domestic cat . look up savannah cats and leopard cats...........and there are hybrids and other small(ish) wild cats kept as exotic pets that are bigger than the domestic moggy, thats what i think we see......... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fin and fur 2 Posted August 13, 2009 Report Share Posted August 13, 2009 I think it is quite plausable that big cats have established themselves in the UK countryside. Increasing legistlation concerning the keeping of dangerous animals has probably resulted in a few irresponsible owners of captive big cats setting them free rather than face up to either increasing costs/restrictions or having to see their animals put down. Couple this with climatic changes and it is possible to see how a wild animal from a warmer climate could now survive quite easily in the UK. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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