[pikilily]

Ref odd sightings of animals.

Someone mentioned Yetis....my uncle was Eric Shipton (the explorer and mountaineer ) He took that famous photo of the Yeti footprint beside the icepick, amoungst many not even published.  I remember, as a child, him talking about his sightings of the Yetis how the shurpars reacted, how he felt, etc.  Uncle Eric was not given to sillyness, or hysteria...in his line of business that would be fatal!!  I totally beleive in these things.

Furthermore, when we lived in the States we saw bigfoot footprints in the forests of Washinton State and went back and took casts of them, it was quite spinchilling!

My view is that we shouldnt disbeleive things just because we havent proved the absolute certainty of their existance...perhaps i am a figment of your collective imagination. Most of you couldnt prove my existance at this precise moment!! 

[doganjo]

Ok. where are all the kittens then?  I'm led to believe that cats are prolific breeders and even with a wide territory and these cats travelling miles to mate, then back to their own area to kit, you'd think you'd see an increase in numbers fairly rapidly.  But it seems only one is ever seen at any one time an always mature animals of dog size.  I'm not saying they don't exist, I'm just surprised there aren't a lot more sightings if they are real.

[sabrina]

I believe they exist but would not be keen to search for them 

[OhLaLa]

I saw 'something'; big cat. Never given the subject any thought before that day. It paused, and (fortunately) ran off in the opposite direction.

[pikilily]

We really do have a proliferation of feral and semiferal cats around here - an increasing problem . However we very, very, seldom ever see the kittens or even very young cats. They seem to be very well hiden by their mums. I would imagine that would be the same no matter what size of wild or feral cat. 

Also, if someone spotted one of the Big Cat's kittens they would probably dismiss it as a normal size cat!.... wouldnt they  ?? so those 'sightings' are unlikely to come to the fore, or be reported in the papers!

Emma T

[OhLaLa]

We really do have a proliferation of feral and semiferal cats around here............ However we very, very, seldom ever see the kittens or even very young cats. They seem to be very well hiden by their mums. I would imagine that would be the same no matter what size of wild or feral cat. 

I agree.

 

[anderso]

there are a number of reports here in the west country, they (the local govenment) are looking at the remains of two deer that people beleive have had a good chewing from a big cat, they are trying to get some DNA

[doganjo]

We really do have a proliferation of feral and semiferal cats around here - an increasing problem . However we very, very, seldom ever see the kittens or even very young cats. They seem to be very well hiden by their mums. I would imagine that would be the same no matter what size of wild or feral cat. 

Also, if someone spotted one of the Big Cat's kittens they would probably dismiss it as a normal size cat!.... wouldnt they  ?? so those 'sightings' are unlikely to come to the fore, or be reported in the papers!

Emma T

Sorry, I wasn't clear - what I meant was when these kittens grow up, why are there still only a few random sightings of the adults when they get to that stage.  Say there were 20 sightings over the whole country in one year, and these 20 or so adults breed, in about a year there should in theory be around 4 times that number seen around the country.

[princesspiggy]

my friend swore blind she saw a big cat up bennachie. wev only seen foxes here three times in 7 years but i know they live here so im a believer, no-one found a body yet?

[pikilily]

Gotcha Annie, yeh see your point I fink 

ie. they should be multiplying yet the sightings are not increasing correspondingly..yeh?  Mmmm, dont have an answer cos I dont know how often this size of cat would produce a litter.  Do pumas/cougars/leopards etc breed every year ?? and if so how many cubs would they have - that would give clues for population levels and any expected increase! 

Emma T 

[doganjo]

This gives information on mountain lions, other big cats much the same as far as I can gather - live for about 12 years, produce about 2 to 3 at a time, start breeding at around 2. Kittens start hunting with mum at around a year, so they should be visible - even if only one kit survives from a litter.

Has no-one done a survey on these sightings and a calculation of how many big cats there would be and where?  Doesn't sound too difficult a task to me.

[Sandy]

A man staying here said he saw one on the way to work and fell off his bike and was so scared he Dare not tell anyone...I have actually forgot where that was, then people are often on about them in Devilla Forest and some sightings and also there was a planned big cat hunt, not sure if it took place but certainly nothing was found...I often wonder where all the animals hide when we walk in Devilla, some times we do see a couple of Deer but otherwise nothing, so, with all the undergrowth etc, they could hide away.

When we lived in Woodhouse Eaves, there was supposedly sightings of big cats there, one day, my husband was in the garden and I was in the kitchen, my rich, single, middle aged neighbour (it was a posh area) leaned out of her bedroom window (showing off her ample boobies!!) and shouted to my hubby that there was a big cat in the allotment behind the gardens, I was just on my way out with a cup of tea and she popped in instantly..so not sure if that one was just an attention grabber..that and the booobies!!!

Anyway, I think there may well be some that are breeding but not sure where, they quite easily could have escaped from their owner and if a pair of male and female met up, then possibly several...I also wonder if anyone notices dead animals half eaten etc!!!  Um!!!

[Big Light]

See

http://scotcats.online.fr/abc/index.html

a charitable organisation logging big cat sightings in Scotland primarily, I am aware of plenty previous big cat sightings in the Kilmany / Rathillet area in north east Fife from grounded people not known for "flights of fancy", haven't seen one myself but from history many cats were apparently released when the government introduced the dangerous animals act in 1976 which banned people from keeping big cats etc without a licence. There have been a number of instances over the years of cats being shot / recovered etc. George Redpath one of the committee members of the trust was a police officer and dealt with these sighting in the course of his duty and now in his retirement, without wishing to put my house on it I would say they have been out there and there's no reason why they are not there now especially with the vast tracks of expansive forrest in this country

[deepinthewoods]

@pikililly HOW COOL!!!!!!!!

[doganjo]

Don't think they can be pumas - most people say they are dark/black even
http://www.animalcorner.co.uk/wildlife/puma.html