Phantom cats in Scotland

[Soapy Sam]

I'm not aware of any concerted programme of protection, though the bush telegraph tells me many people out there do occasionally see wildcats and are interested in their wellbeing.
I saw a mink in Central Scotland a few years back- in an area used extensively by ground nesting birds. A park ranger later told me her dog nailed it.
Saw a red squirrel at the weekend, near Loch Tummel and Pine Martens are definitely making a comeback. Nature is robust, given half a chance.

 

[fromdownunder]

In Victoria (where I live) there are regular reports of feral Leopards seen in the bush. One of the better reasons for their existance is that "they were released by US soldiers on leave during WW11, and bred".

OoooKkkkk...so soldiers were allowed to bring their pet Leopard out on the ship!

Other explanations include, escaped fron Zoos, private zoos and circuses (curci?).

I have this truly wonderful explanation. It is called feral cats (Australia has probably the worst feral cat problem in the world - few or no natural enemies, except maybe feral dogs), and gee, they can get to be pretty big, At night and from a distance, a big black cat could be mistaken for a large cat type, especially by a person who has read the legend, and believes it.

The best evidence, is one person, who claimed to have shot a leopard and produced - the tail! He said he buried the rest! I repeat OoooKkkkk

Look - When somebody produces Nessie (still my favourite), Big Foot, a Yeti, a Yowie (Australia's BF), a genuine alien from Beta Centauri, or a dead Leopard which they can conclusively demonstrate was shot in the bush in Victoria I will accept the evidence.

Until such time, I do not have to accept this type of nonsense, and they should simply go away and find the evidence.

Norm

 

[geni]

A 15-year-old mystery of whether a lynx was shot dead in the Norfolk countryside has been solved following a Freedom of Information request.

The Norfolk Police report supports claims by Danny Bamping, founder of the British Big Cats Society (BBCS), that a photo of the shot lynx is genuine.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/4830320.stm

 

[Professor Yaffle]

I think most sightings in the UK are mistaken identity, but I don't rule out the idea that there may be a handful of big cats about. The most cited explanation here is that it is down to a change in laws which made it illegal to keep exotic animals as "pets". The owners then supposedly released some of them into the wild rather than risk them being put down.

 

[Soapy Sam]

Anyone remember Hercules the Bear?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/13/newsid_2516000/2516041.stm

 

[Big Les]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/4830320.stm

Nice find; ties in with what Prof. Yaffle just said and the existing (small) body of evidence of actual escaped cats. But there's a world of difference between a handful of escapees over a 30 year period, and there being 40-50 of the buggers out there, breeding. It just doesn't follow that because some cats have got into the countryside and survived for a period of time, that all (or indeed any) of the reported sightings were actually of escaped animals.

Thing is Yaffle, the legislation you refer to was ages ago. How many people kept exotic pets then, and how many have somehow managed to get other animals past customs in the meantime? As to the idea of there being any successful breeding population, you have to consider that of any total escapee population, which are sufficiently similar genetically to allow interbreeding, and how the hell would they find each other across hundreds of miles of countryside in order to do so?

The bear thing is also great!

 

[geni]

Nice find; ties in with what Prof. Yaffle just said and the existing (small) body of evidence of actual escaped cats.

There are records of cats escapeing.

But there's a world of difference between a handful of escapees over a 30 year period, and there being 40-50 of the buggers out there, breeding. It just doesn't follow that because some cats have got into the countryside and survived for a period of time, that all (or indeed any) of the reported sightings were actually of escaped animals.

Wallabies may have had a breeding population around derby at one point but even though they are probably much better equiped to live in britian they didn't last.

 

[Big Les]

There are records of cats escapeing.

Er, I know. It's worth reminding people a) only the most irresponsible will fail to report an escape and b) that the majority reported have been accounted for. See this DEFRA list.

Wallabies may have had a breeding population around derby at one point but even though they are probably much better equiped to live in britian they didn't last.

Interesting point. Clearly most species of cat can physically survive for a while as individuals in our climate, as did the wallabies, but successful breeding (even if they have some sort of phantom cat dating service to get them together in the first place!) is another matter.

 

[Professor Yaffle]

There is a population of wallabies on an island in Loch Lomond. Occasional one escapes, but as noted they don't last very long off the island as they have nothing to breed with.