The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Wildlife => Topic started by: pgkevet on August 03, 2015, 12:25:37 pm
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Apparently 2 recent sightings..but I don't believe them.. either kids making models and stuffing them up a tree in the dark or alcohol.
HOWEVER on my way back from the village just now I saw an unidentified animal crossing in front of me. It wasn't the size of a panther but was at least twice the size of the largest domestic cat breed I've ever me (there are some big ones like the maine coon). All I saw was shoulders back as it flowed up the bank to the side into foliage.. certainly moved like a cat and had cat-like haunches and a long even diameter rounded end tail that it held in a low curve. Colour was a dark tan. Fox? I don't think so for a moment. The largest maine coon ever? possibly..
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Local stories that there are big cats on Barry Buddon.
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Round here there are 'Kellas cats', very large and black. I would have dismissed it as rumours, except Mr F with eldest grandson watched one saunter across the road just a few miles away. And no, Mr F doesn't drink, nor did grandson (then) and it definitely wasn't stuffed. Never seen it again.
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There was one seen near Insch close to where I use to live. It attacked a woman when she was tending her horse - I think it had been in a stable and she took it by surprise. Fortunately although she was hospitalised she wasn't badly hurt. I don't think they have ever caught it, and I never heard of another incident. Large and black i believe.
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There are indeed large cats, even panthers, which were kept as pets and were let go into the wild in the UK. There are some in England I believe which hunt deer, it is not uncommon to see wild panthers in the UK. I have a friend who said that there was a family back in the 60s-70s which had pet panthers, yes in Mid Wales, and they let them go into the wild (when laws became stricter) and about 10 or so years ago someone saw a few. It is not uncommon.
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It wasn't large enough to be an adult panther nor was it black .. a very dark brindle would be the best description.
My OH is now worried that she hasn't got enough felix sachets in stock!
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I wouldn't bother to feed it at all, its wild and maybe attracting it to be nearer the house wouldn't be a good idea?
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Yeah, it might get stuck in your cat flap. Or choke on your cat I suppose!
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No catflap here..just feral barn cat and kittens. But a big cat might just keep the rabbits and pheasants off my veggie patch and I'm sure my OH would have it hand tame soon enough...
..perhaps i could rent out my farmland to american dentists (sic)
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It wasn't large enough to be an adult panther nor was it black .. a very dark brindle would be the best description.
Probably a puma then. A black panther is just a melanistic variation. I saw one at the end of one of our fields about five years ago, sunny morning in May about 250 metres away and clearly silhouetted against the cropped bright green grass. Longer than a mature sheep and moving in that low, hunting crouch that all cats have. My neighbour across the valley saw it at much closer quarters, on the other side of a hedge on his land, later that summer but neither of us has seen it since.
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Is it legal to shoot them in case its hunting your livestock, or do you have to wait for a dead sheep before then?