Big cats roaming UK countryside - General Discussion Discussion

[–] ColumboKate (5780) 3 years ago

These have been rumoured for years.

I do wonder how they survive our winters though. All the descriptions sound more like hot climate cats rather than cold climate.

If there is a population (rather than a couple of escapees) i hope humans don't interfere too much with their habitat. They're British now, let them eat pheasant, dear and boar and leave them alone 😺

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[–] ILJtheFirst (2139) 3 years ago

They've been pulling a Houdini act for some time. The public didn't even know they were around until very recently. I'm thrilled there's a pocket of big cats that is thriving

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[–] huwdj (4571) 3 years ago

It's not recent - these stories have been around for decades. But no one has found a dead one and no one has taken a decent photo or found any other kind of proof.

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[–] ILJtheFirst (2139) 3 years ago

Loch Ness pumas?

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[–] RedThunder (43) 3 years ago

Most likely misidentified werewolves. There's a few in Yorkshire and the Highlands of Scotland.

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[–] ShogunofYonkers (78509) 3 years ago

Keep off the moors, stay on the roads, best of luck

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[–] nyctc7 (44103) 3 years ago

Nice Kitty https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cougar+purr

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[–] movieace11 (1368) 3 years ago

Interestingly, the same thing happens in Hungary:
https://youtu.be/F4JZSjVzYqg

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[–] ShogunofYonkers (78509) 3 years ago

Interesting article, I never heard of Pumas in the UK, but they are tough critters and from what I know of your islands they would fare pretty well there

The New York State Department Of Environmental Conservation denies that we have Mountain Lions here but I call nonsense on that, New York is about 34 million acres and the Forest Rangers only patrol about 4.5 million of them…We have big ass cats running in these hills, I know it

Our Whitetail Deer and Cottontail Rabbit population make this an ideal location for Pumas

They are out there, maybe out in the wood lot behind my house even now, but they are stealthy and who would know!?

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[–] ILJtheFirst (2139) 3 years ago

You could go looking for them walking alone at night. Unfortunately, when you find one, it will already have you by the neck.

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[–] ShogunofYonkers (78509) 3 years ago

No thanks!😵

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[–] Padeen (6459) 3 years ago

I bet they are in the New England area as well, specifically New Hampshire and Maine. It only a matter of time before someone catches one on their trail cam.

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[–] ShogunofYonkers (78509) 3 years ago

Certainly, the Eastern Cougar is not dead, just very stealthy and they are loners, creeping about the woodlands, ever quiet and ready to kill

Only a fool would believe men wiped them out here on the North-Eastern shore of America

Big Cats are out there man, they are built like slinky’s and they WILL mess a guy up really bad

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[–] NotoriousRio (12927) 3 years ago

It's one of those pesky Cat People that David Bowie warned us about!

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[–] ShogunofYonkers (78509) 3 years ago

He was awesome

Bowie was a fine fellow, him dying while thousands of shitheads are still walking around makes me question God…

‘Hey God, take a few Kardashians, we have several to spare, leave us Bowie, sheesh!’

God never listens lol…God is the greatest troll ever

*We may have derailed this post man, we are in for it now !

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[–] NotoriousRio (12927) 3 years ago

Check this out! David Bowie's Toy album, which was recorded in 2001 but was never released, will be released in a three-CD box set on 7 January 2022!

New Bowie music, that's a great start to the new year!
https://youtu.be/LCOSLrHOkvk

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[–] ShogunofYonkers (78509) 3 years ago

Anything Bowie is appreciated!

Thanks

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[–] Who (5146) 3 years ago

The one still photo looks like a bear

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[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

The one photo looks like a leopard or jaguar to me.

The article never specifies what species these "big cats" are, and speculates that they had escaped or been released from private zoos or homes. Most big cats are solitary predators that like forests and cover, many are nocturnal, there wouldn't be many sightings by the nature of the beasts.

And don't laugh, but introduced animals like this can be a huge problem, like the starlings of north America or the feral hippos of Columbia. Drug lord Pablo Escobar had a private zoo, and when he was taken down the animals were released, and the hippos moved into the jungles of Columbia and they're now thriving and breeding. There's over 100 wild hippos living in the rivers of Columbia now and the population is growing, and some people want to cull them and others want to bring in eco-tourists to gawk at them. Stay tuned.

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[–] Who (5146) 3 years ago

The still photo looks likea bear. The video looks like a panther/black leopard. It is still legal to own big cats in some US States. Sometimes they escape. Not sure it is legal in the UK though.

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[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

I see spots in the still photo, and more tail that you'd find on a bear. Of course the film is crap with no detail, but if you look closely at the rear, you can see something that looks like a long tail being held low. So I'm guessing a big, heavy, long-tailed cat like a leopard, puma, or jaguar, for what a guess is worth.

And BTW there aren't any bears in the UK, either. All the large predators were wiped out hundreds or thousands of years ago, which is why they have a problem with deer overpopulation.

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[–] ILJtheFirst (2139) 3 years ago

The Hippos in Colombia is the same thing that happened to the Florida Everglades.

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[–] ShogunofYonkers (78509) 3 years ago

I’m aware of the Columbian Escobar Hippos
Weird!

Why is it always crazy Hippos or violent Mountain Lions that escape from zoos..? I want 10,000 bunnies to make a break for it dammit!

I want bunnies everywhere!

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[–] ILJtheFirst (2139) 3 years ago

Not a great idea at all. Cats will have a blast killing them and leaving the headless carcasses all over.

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[–] ShogunofYonkers (78509) 3 years ago

I’ve had a couple of bunnies over the years that would have wrecked a stupid house cat, they were just mean, big thumpers and their claws were thick…My biggest boyo Java would have ripped your silly cat to pieces but he is gone now…Black as night and a very hefty fellow, he and I hardly got along, but I liked him just so even if he was a mean son of a bitch

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[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

Uh, they tried the bunny thing in Australia. It didn't go well.

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[–] ShogunofYonkers (78509) 3 years ago

Yeah, I heard
about this

Quite an agricultural disaster!

A possible solution to the Australian bunny problem would be to release thousands of Coyotes…That is certain to work👍

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[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

Well they already had dingoes, which are close to the same thing, and which the doggies certainly ate plenty of rabbits, they just couldn't eat enough to slow the little bastards from over populating.

A virus that only killed rabbits was introduced to the population in the 1950s and numbers fell for decades, but now the rabbits are immune. Stay tuned...

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[–] ILJtheFirst (2139) 3 years ago

Humans should do like the rabbits, not with silly masks.

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[–] ShogunofYonkers (78509) 3 years ago

That was a joke Otter, I was being intentionally absurd

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[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

Sorry, the Australian rabbit mess was a decent example of real life being weirder than absurd jokes.

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[–] damocci (1516) 3 years ago

In the 1960s it was legal for civilians in London to own big cats. It wasn't unusual to see a woman walking the streets with a leopard on a leash or a man driving around with a lion in the passenger seat. That all changed when a law banned people from owning wild animals. Perhaps these big cats roaming are the descendants of those "domestic" wild cats?

Here's a famous video of a reunion between two such big cat owners and the lion they relocated to Africa:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co3N4-6B2pM

And here's the full documentary about how they acquired the lion as a cub, raised it, and ultimately "emigrated" it to the wild in Africa:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBhEzJGHQG0

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[–] ILJtheFirst (2139) 3 years ago

I heard that a lot of people have big cats in Culiacan (Mexico) right now. They drive around with them in the car.

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[–] ShogunofYonkers (78509) 3 years ago

Some people are really stupid!

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