Merged Alien Big Cats in the UK?

[Rolfe]

fixed for you

Hah, the forum lower-case bug strikes again!

Confess, you originally typed "FIFY", didn't you?

Rolfe.

 

[Rolfe]

However at least some of the suppose alien big cat cases such as the Beast of Exmoor have involved claims of dead sheep. Actualy that one is a little odd due to the extent the authorities did get involved.

There was at least one official investigation into the "Beast of Bodmin" claims, but they concluded there was no credible evidence of anything of that sort living wild in the area.

The West Country is big enough and wild enough (and contains common grazing, which doesn't exist in Scotland) for such claims to have superficial plausibility - enough that you can't just dismiss them out of hand as you can with the Forest of Dean nonsense. However, even a single puma-sized animal needs to eat a lot, and the amount that would be consumed by a breeding colony would inevitably be noticed.

Another thing to bear in mind is wildlife photography. Consider Springwatch and Autumnwatch. These cameramen go into the wildest areas stalking the rare animals like wildcat, ptarmigan and mountain hares. They track them by the signs they leave on the landscape, and they find them. There's no way they'd walk past signs of puma! I heard Simon King on TV recently being asked about this, and he just smiled gently and said "no way".

One of the examples brought up by Marduk in the original thread was an incident on the Suffolk/Norfolk border in 1991. Unfortunately the only information on that is from a whack-job web site, but their own information is enough. A farmer lost 15 sheep in a two-week period. (Condition of bodies was not recorded.) A lynx was shot, and the losses stopped. Clearly, wherever it came from, that animal only appeared in that landscape 2 weeks before it was shot, and it was the only one. Its presence was immediately recognised because of what it was eating. This is exactly what you'd expect if such an animal got loose, and extremely good evidence that there are no others out there.

Rolfe.

 

[Rolfe]

There's a cracker of a photo of Felicity, by the way.

there were big cats loose in the UK,

This picture was taken in the middle of Edinburgh, in Chambers Street. This is Felicity after her death (from old age) in the wildlife park, and subsequent appointment with the taxidermist. The taxidermy was carried out in Edinburgh, and the photo posed before she was returned to the museum in Inverness where I believe she is still on exhibition.

Rolfe.

 

[geni]

There's a cracker of a photo of Felicity, by the way.




This picture was taken in the middle of Edinburgh, in Chambers Street. This is Felicity after her death (from old age) in the wildlife park, and subsequent appointment with the taxidermist. The taxidermy was carried out in Edinburgh, and the photo posed before she was returned to the museum in Inverness where I believe she is still on exhibition.

Rolfe.

Yup:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Puma_1.JPG

 

[Tomtomkent]

I have only had a chance to skim the responses so far, so sorry if I am doing an injustice to any of the evidence posted here so far, but they all seem to be pointing towards the individual escapee cats, rather than breeding populations.

 

[geni]

Another thing to consider this that when 6000 mink were released back in 1998 2/3rds of them were either recaptured or killed within just 3 days:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/148420.stm

While they were unfortunately able to establish breeding populations there numbers do appear to be in decline and thats despite being far better adapted to surviving in the modern UK than big cats.

The derby wallabies also appear to have died out.

 

[Tomtomkent]

Another thing to consider this that when 6000 mink were released back in 1998 2/3rds of them were either recaptured or killed within just 3 days:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/148420.stm

While they were unfortunately able to establish breeding populations there numbers do appear to be in decline and thats despite being far better adapted to surviving in the modern UK than big cats.

The derby wallabies also appear to have died out.

The Thanet Parakeets are doing just fine though.

 

[zooterkin]

The derby wallabies also appear to have died out.

There have been sightings around the Berks/Oxon border, near Henley. Not sure if it was just a few individual escapees, or a breeding population.

 

[Rolfe]

I have only had a chance to skim the responses so far, so sorry if I am doing an injustice to any of the evidence posted here so far, but they all seem to be pointing towards the individual escapee cats, rather than breeding populations.

Yup, that's it. Given your location, does the name "Aspinall" ring a bell? He is responsible for Kent being by far the commonest location of these "big cat" events up to about 2000.

Rolfe.

 

[Cuddles]

Threads merged. I kept the more recent title since it seemed more appropriate to the general nature of the thread.

Posted By: Cuddles

 

[Tomtomkent]

Yup, that's it. Given your location, does the name "Aspinall" ring a bell? He is responsible for Kent being by far the commonest location of these "big cat" events up to about 2000.

Rolfe.

Yes, there ahve been a number of sightings around Canterbury and Lymne. Strangely the most persistent sightings seem to be out by Blue Bell Hill, a considerable distance from either. Though Howletts and Port Lympne have tended to prove how quickly a huge ******* great big cat roaming the countryside is spotted and contained.

Funny story: I have known a few guys who enjoyed game hunting, pheasant shooting, and so forth. Apparently a number of the local clubs are on good terms with the Aspinall family, "just in case". Though it is worth wondering if these are unfounded boasts.

Edited by jhunter1163: 

Edited for Rule 10.

 

[Rolfe]

Though Howletts and Port Lympne have tended to prove how quickly a huge ******* great big cat roaming the countryside is spotted and contained.

Edited by jhunter1163: 

Edited for Rule 10.

I think anything big enough to take livestock won't be on the loose for long. Felicity was the exception, because she was in an extremely remote area. She was known to be there, but she wasn't trapped for a couple of years. Other cases suggest days to a couple of weeks.

Smaller felids might well survive on rabbits and suchlike, but again they are going to leave traces of their presence in the environment. There are so many wildlife enthusiasts (amateur and professional) roaming round the British countryside that wild felids are going to be noticed just the same way mink and coypu are noticed.

Note that the people reporting these sightings are almost all inexpert passers-by. The real wildlife experts who study what is living in the countryside don't report such things. Just ask Simon King. And there is no reason at all for anyone to cover up the presence of such animals, if they were really there. Quite the contrary - they'd be an absolute star turn on Springwatch.

Rolfe.

 

[William Parcher]

Big Cat sighting in North Cornwall

The photograph of a possible Alien Big Cat was taken by Paul Dennys, who explains: "I took this photo in North Cornwall. I'm a natural history photography student with Falmouth University...

I think you can tell from the photo that it's not a normal-sized cat."

 

[William Parcher]

"Big Cats" in England

Once, somebody in Somerset reported a big cat as tall as a small car.

 

[Checkmite]

As an aside, out of curiosity - why are large cats considered by some to be a paranormal phenomenon? I know many fans of out-of-place animals and "cryptozoologists" and whatnot don't consider them to really be paranormal; but I've read plenty from these sectors that suggests at least a goodly number of them ascribe some kind of supernatural element to these animals - either in being supernatural entities themselves in some way, or being harbingers of paranormal activity, or having been transported by otherwordly means, or what have you.

I cannot honestly understand why such assumptions are made. Earth has large cats, lots of them; it may be unusual, but it certainly isn't strange or mysterious that some of these cats would wander away from their usual habitats...even far away.

 

[The Don]

"Big Cats" in England

The one on the right looks like a handsome chocolate point Siamese of my acquaintance. He's a big boy and in the winter gets very dark indeed

 

[Rolfe]

As an aside, out of curiosity - why are large cats considered by some to be a paranormal phenomenon? I know many fans of out-of-place animals and "cryptozoologists" and whatnot don't consider them to really be paranormal; but I've read plenty from these sectors that suggests at least a goodly number of them ascribe some kind of supernatural element to these animals - either in being supernatural entities themselves in some way, or being harbingers of paranormal activity, or having been transported by otherwordly means, or what have you.

I cannot honestly understand why such assumptions are made. Earth has large cats, lots of them; it may be unusual, but it certainly isn't strange or mysterious that some of these cats would wander away from their usual habitats...even far away.

I don't know about generally, but the sightings we're talking about aren't considered to be paranormal. This is more just "general scepticism" of some pretty silly sensationalist claims.

Rolfe.

 

[geni]

As an aside, out of curiosity - why are large cats considered by some to be a paranormal phenomenon? I know many fans of out-of-place animals and "cryptozoologists" and whatnot don't consider them to really be paranormal; but I've read plenty from these sectors that suggests at least a goodly number of them ascribe some kind of supernatural element to these animals - either in being supernatural entities themselves in some way, or being harbingers of paranormal activity, or having been transported by otherwordly means, or what have you.

It merges with the:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_dog_(ghost)

thing.

I cannot honestly understand why such assumptions are made. Earth has large cats, lots of them; it may be unusual, but it certainly isn't strange or mysterious that some of these cats would wander away from their usual habitats...even far away.

The english channel is something of a barrier.

 

[geni]

As an aside, out of curiosity - why are large cats considered by some to be a paranormal phenomenon? I know many fans of out-of-place animals and "cryptozoologists" and whatnot don't consider them to really be paranormal; but I've read plenty from these sectors that suggests at least a goodly number of them ascribe some kind of supernatural element to these animals - either in being supernatural entities themselves in some way, or being harbingers of paranormal activity, or having been transported by otherwordly means, or what have you.

It merges with the:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_dog_(ghost)

thing.

I cannot honestly understand why such assumptions are made. Earth has large cats, lots of them; it may be unusual, but it certainly isn't strange or mysterious that some of these cats would wander away from their usual habitats...even far away.

The english channel is something of a barrier.

 

[Cuddles]

As an aside, out of curiosity - why are large cats considered by some to be a paranormal phenomenon? I know many fans of out-of-place animals and "cryptozoologists" and whatnot don't consider them to really be paranormal; but I've read plenty from these sectors that suggests at least a goodly number of them ascribe some kind of supernatural element to these animals - either in being supernatural entities themselves in some way, or being harbingers of paranormal activity, or having been transported by otherwordly means, or what have you.

Well, people rarely seem to believe in one kind of woo. If you're willing to accept the presence of big cats with no evidence, presumably you're also willing to accept various other things, including the paranormal, without evidence. Then there's the lack of evidence itself. As already noted, real big cats actually leave plenty of evidence of their existence. But most of the ones claimed to exist in the UK don't leave any. What else leaves no trace of its presence? Ghosts. Therefore, the big cats must also be ghosts! In other words, it's an easy explanation for why the believers can't actually back up their claims. You see similar things with bigfoot, with various people claiming magical powers or advanced alien technology to explain why there is no actual evidence for bigfoot.

There may also be a historical element. Cats have been associated with the mystical for almost as long as we've had cats. The ancient Egyptians had sacred cats, black cats are unlucky or lucky depending on who you ask, witches are supposed to keep cats, and so on. It's very common for woo to draw on ideas from other previous woo, so once people start believing in something about cats, it seems fairly likely other existing beliefs about cats will also get involved.