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Is it me? Is it real?

Paul Dowgill said:
Before we all become paranoid about night fishing, to the best of my knowledge there has never been a photo taken, carcass found, spoor sighted or confirmed print of a large cat ie Panther, leopard or puma. There are people who hunt these as a hobby with no success, the Royal Marines have even tried and the Welsh Assembly had a big cat sightings unit. What there is are feral cats which tend to be bigger than the domestic moggie...they tend I think to be tawny but some may be black. The only wild cats as already noted have escaped from zoos, circuses and are quite easy to catch as we saw recently. Most big cat sightings reported are of black cats so they can only be panthers; these are rare anyway.... An interesting read is Mystery big cats... Given all this I quite like the idea of re-introducing the Lynx in parts of the UK :D
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Certainly no cases of anglers being attacked by big cats Paul.

Interesting comment about the tawny colour. The one my friends saw was tawny but was way beyond domestic cat size. Also, the skin I have seen is tawny and would indicate a leopard sized animal. As far as I know there are no large cats that are naturally tawny which only adds to the mystery. Whatever, there are people who have seen large cats that know the difference between a large domestic cat and a genuine big cat, photographic evidence or not.
 
Alex there is some really interesting psychology about observation and the fact that we actually perceive objects bigger than they really are as we isolate them from their backgrounds in our minds. Black animals in particular it seems are very difficult to gauge in size. The footage of the Beast of Bodmin back in the day shown on TV was a domestic black cat but it did look big as it leapt over a wall, which of course had no size reference and in fact was not very high at all.
 
Paul Dowgill said:
Alex there is some really interesting psychology about observation and the fact that we actually perceive objects bigger than they really are as we isolate them from their backgrounds in our minds. Black animals in particular it seems are very difficult to gauge in size. The footage of the Beast of Bodmin back in the day shown on TV was a domestic black cat but it did look big as it leapt over a wall, which of course had no size reference and in fact was not very high at all.
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Quite agree Paul, I was startled to find myself face to face with what looked like a very big cat on the Windrush a few years ago. It was dusk and as it wandered off I could see it was just a domestic cat. However, I have no reason to doubt what my friends saw, he is very much a countryman and his son was with him and they had an excellent view of the animal. Have a look at the link I posted, some interesting theories as to why concrete evidence is not forthcoming.
 
Alex Gowney said:
Certainly no cases of anglers being attacked by big cats Paul.

Interesting comment about the tawny colour. The one my friends saw was tawny but was way beyond domestic cat size. Also, the skin I have seen is tawny and would indicate a leopard sized animal. As far as I know there are no large cats that are naturally tawny which only adds to the mystery. Whatever, there are people who have seen large cats that know the difference between a large domestic cat and a genuine big cat, photographic evidence or not.
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There is a Tawny wild cat, was reading about a dead one found by the side of a road, Jungle Cat I believe it was described as.
 
Guys just in case you do see anything below are a panther, puma, lynx and tiger's feet, which are huge...as you can see with the panther and lynx it is very hard to establish really how big they are

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Neil, going back to my photo, it's as clear as mud ;) If it's a dog or a fox, why are there no claw marks at all?

Edit: Apparently it's only the grey fox which can retract, not the red fox.
 
Anthony Pearson said:
Neil, going back to my photo, it's as clear as mud ;) If it's a dog or a fox, why are there no claw marks at all?

Edit: Apparently it's only the grey fox which can retract, not the red fox.
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I don't know, perhaps the wet mud retracted around the claw prints? But like any good folk lore it's good to keep the interest bubbling, even the most sceptical of us do have some sympathy with those that believe in these big cats.

Personally I think the OP is only trying to usurp my original 'What Was That Thread'when I spotted what only can be described as a a Big Cat, but of the finned variety, he does have form you know:rolleyes:

All I can say is Mr Collins (is it) is having a right good chuckle, of that I am sure.:)
 
Alex Gowney said:
What sort of size was that Neil, do you know?
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It was a 'bit bigger than a domestic cat' from the pictures I have googled it is of similar size to an average moggy.

I have also found out thru' Google that a number of big cats have been caught or shot, the last was '96 I believe. But my problem is that if these cats are escapee's from a private collection they probably would be tame and have little fear of Man, this country does have strict rules in keeping such animals unlike others, so apart from Circus's or Zoo's (who have a stringent security policy) not sure, if they do exist, where on earth did the come from?
 
Bit cats have claws so they can 'get a grip' (retractable or otherwise). Unfortunately, those people who observe these 'huge threatening beasts...that melt away into the mists' are unable to do the same. That is....unfortunately they cannot 'get a grip':):):):)
 
Neil Smart said:
I don't know, perhaps the wet mud retracted around the claw prints? But like any good folk lore it's good to keep the interest bubbling, even the most sceptical of us do have some sympathy with those that believe in these big cats.

Personally I think the OP is only trying to usurp my original 'What Was That Thread'when I spotted what only can be described as a a Big Cat, but of the finned variety, he does have form you know:rolleyes:

All I can say is Mr Collins (is it) is having a right good chuckle, of that I am sure.:)
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My Post Mr Smart was a genuine wonder of what the **** was lurking nearby, and in no way anything to do with anything you have previously posted!!!!
:eek:
 
Jeff Collins said:
My Post Mr Smart was a genuine wonder of what the **** was lurking nearby, and in no way anything to do with anything you have previously posted!!!!
:eek:
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Well sorry any sequels to 'what the fcuk was that', or any other similar events, either fact or fiction, I would appreciate you run it past me in future :)
 
Terry Simner said:
Bit cats have claws so they can 'get a grip' (retractable or otherwise). Unfortunately, those people who observe these 'huge threatening beasts...that melt away into the mists' are unable to do the same. That is....unfortunately they cannot 'get a grip':):):):)
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I must admit though Terry that I do get a bit jumpy when fishing alone at night, I had a perfectly good peg ruined on the Lower Severn by a rat as big as a dog:rolleyes: insiting on sitting on my boot.:eek:

And a very well known angler of these parts insisted when 'baillifed at night that the poor bailiff sit with him awhile as he said a ghostly figure of a woman appeared earlier.:D
 
Neil Smart said:
I must admit though Terry that I do get a bit jumpy when fishing alone at night, I had a perfectly good peg ruined on the Lower Severn by a rat as big as a dog:rolleyes: insiting on sitting on my boot.:eek:

And a very well known angler of these parts insisted when 'baillifed at night that the poor bailiff sit with him awhile as he said a ghostly figure of a woman appeared earlier.:D
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**insisting ;)
 
Well I must admit I have not seen "Tiddles" on the Yorkshire Derwent for at least four years now. She used to follow the Deer herds up and down the Howardian Hills.
There is a story that goes around (and repeated on BBC4) of two old dears, in Malton quite near the river, calling out the police one winter saying there was a large cat in their snow clad garden. The police responded, eventually after multiple calls, expecting to find domestic cat but only to find rather large footprints in the snow. Said cat appeared to be a black panther of some description. Similar beasties seen up and down the river - always makes it interesting when you hear some twig crack in the woods behind you at 1am,
 
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