Britain's big cat hunters won't quit

[Eldorado]

"Eight years ago, while he was driving down a winding country road in east Dorset, Mike Coggan experienced something he cannot explain. On his way home, just after midnight, he saw a black labrador run out into the road in front of him. Then he looked again. “I got a really good view of it in my headlights, for several seconds; though it felt much longer. I was petrified. I couldn’t scream. There wasn’t – isn’t – a doubt in my mind.

"“It was running just in front of my car. I could see this long, muscular black body, and this huge tail that curled up. There was no mistaking it for anything else. When I got back, I googled ‘black leopard’ and the hair on my arms stood up.” For eight years, he’s been expecting the story to break. “I thought, ‘someone’s got to get something soon.’”"

Full article at Wired UK mag: Link

[acute]

There must be a lot of animals released into the wild by people who bought a cute little playful thing that later tried to eat them.

I'm sure I saw a Bigfoot down the hill in Grove Park. 

[openozy]

7 hours ago, Eldorado said:

I googled ‘black leopard’ and the hair on my arms stood up

If you know your animals there is no mistaking a leopard for a big feral.The head is bigger in comparison to the body and the tail as you say.I have shot a couple of big black ferals here and they are now developing a heavy square jaw,I think they are almost a sub species now and are taking the position of top predator, killing decent size wallabies and lambs.I had a bull terrier that killed over a hundred feral cats until it ran into one of these monsters and got flogged.

[simplybill]

On 7/29/2020 at 4:46 PM, Eldorado said:

From the article:

“I was petrified. I couldn’t scream.“

This confuses me. If he was in his car, why would he feel threatened? The one and only time I’ve ever seen a mountain lion, I thought it was totally awesome.

 

Edited August 1, 2020 by simplybill

[Matt221]

I was out one night with the dogs bunny hunting when both dogs stopped scented the air and went full pelt into a bit of maize that was left uncut for the bird life around the farm,before i could get my lamp up out came the biggest black cat i ever saw as a foot note the dogs didn't give chase a few weeks before this on a different farm i was ratting around some old pallets and saw another huge tabby cat 

[Coyote Speaks]

I don't doubt that there were pet big cats released into the wild in the UK back in the 60s and 70s - there seems to be ample proof of that. It's a bit questionable that they'd be able to sustain a breeding population, however. A lot of the sights in the more northerly regions are likely misidentified Scottish Wildcats and Kellas Cats particularly when you take into account just how unlikely animals like black panthers are even in places where their populations are extant and well-maintained. 

On a side note, the Scottish Wildcat is a bit of a hell beast. They are 100% a dangerous wild animal in spite of looking a fair bit like a domesticated cat at first glance. Studies are being done on them relatively near where I live, and it's a real trip reading about how they act in captivity. 

[openozy]

On 8/13/2020 at 5:38 AM, Coyote Speaks said:

I don't doubt that there were pet big cats released into the wild in the UK back in the 60s and 70s - there seems to be ample proof of that. It's a bit questionable that they'd be able to sustain a breeding population, however. A lot of the sights in the more northerly regions are likely misidentified Scottish Wildcats and Kellas Cats particularly when you take into account just how unlikely animals like black panthers are even in places where their populations are extant and well-maintained. 

On a side note, the Scottish Wildcat is a bit of a hell beast. They are 100% a dangerous wild animal in spite of looking a fair bit like a domesticated cat at first glance. Studies are being done on them relatively near where I live, and it's a real trip reading about how they act in captivity. 

It's a shame that there probably aren't any pure Scottish Wildcats left due to interbreeding with domestic cats.The only thing they could do is try and breed the purest ones found and keep them isolated,but then they will end up moggies anyway eventually due to them being captive imo.

[Chronus]

On 8/1/2020 at 2:25 PM, simplybill said:

This confuses me. If he was in his car, why would he feel threatened? The one and only time I’ve ever seen a mountain lion, I thought it was totally awesome.

 

Yea like, if a bear was on like the drivers side, I'd be nervous, but its just a supposed big cat crossing the road. I don't think it'd be scary.

[the13bats]

When i got my vw trike it was a 160 mile trip home, the trike was a mess, kept stalling, here in florida the route we took, of course at night had a lot of bear crossing signs so that was a bit unnerving but in a moving car zero fl wildlife would bother me.

Some folks enjoy a bit more flare and drama.