Big Cat

foxhunter

Anybody from kilsheelin direction know anything about the big car spotted down there this week ?
I was just reading about it in the star newspaper.

Mellor

:eek::p

fathersymes

Nice Fox too!

Trojan911

foxhunter wrote: »

Anybody from kilsheelin direction know anything about the big car spotted down there this week ?
I was just reading about it in the star newspaper.

Heard about it alright during the week, was told apparently it is a panther? :eek:

Any pics from anyone?

foxhunter

Mellor wrote: »

:eek::p

Thats just so funny i nearly fell off my chair .Thats 1 up to you Mellor:)

bitemybanger

There was a similar story a couple of years back of a big black cat roaming the hills of Monaghan

maglite

My thinking in this i sthey are black fox's

Mellor

Probably, but I remember the monaghan story was about the same time of a story that a panther/lynx excaped from a zoo up the north

bitemybanger

Would you shoot it if you had the shot??
Personaly, i couldnt

quackquackBOOM

would it be illegal to shoot such an animal on our shores if it did escape from a zoo the same as it is illegal to shoot racing pegions,i know there is a huge difference in racing pigeons and panthers but you get my point
if it was shot hunters would get some bad name in the papers then i would imagine

maglite

YOU would just have the "Mygod think of the childern" attide adopted,

I could't see anyone getting bad press for shooting a visious killing machine.

There was a case in cork recently on a kangaroo escaped near enough to me, i was thinking i could claim it was a big rabbit??

bitemybanger

quackquackBOOM wrote: »

would it be illegal to shoot such an animal on our shores if it did escape from a zoo the same as it is illegal to shoot racing pegions,i know there is a huge difference in racing pigeons and panthers but you get my point
if it was shot hunters would get some bad name in the papers then i would imagine

Think you would be hailed more a hero for "Slaying the beast"
As far as i know and correct me if im wrong but the army were called in to help with a search for the cat becaue of so many sightings in Monaghan

meathstevie

I'd shoot it. Imagine the looks of people coming in to your house when they see the new carpet peeping from under the stairs

If you read some stuff from professional Africa hunters they're supposed to be very easy to put down with a load of heavy 12g shot. Can't remember the author but he mentioned killing a charging leopard that had it in for one of his customers with a AAA cartridge.

I suppose there wouldn't be too many legal implications in Irish law if you would shoot an escaped panther or something the likes of it. As far as I know international treaties that deal with exotic endagered species etc etc have more of a bearing on fur smuggling and the likes of it.

Trojan911

I would shoot it. No questions.

"Er officer, it was coming straight at me making a snarling noise with its teeth bared, I was was thinking of the children".

Rovi

meathstevie wrote: »

If you read some stuff from professional Africa hunters they're supposed to be very easy to put down with a load of heavy 12g shot. Can't remember the author but he mentioned killing a charging leopard that had it in for one of his customers with a AAA cartridge.

Peter Hathaway Capstick, by any chance?
It a good while since I read the books, but I seem to remember his 'wounded leopard' kit was a heavy leather jacket/collar and a pump shotgun loaded with buckshot.

Jim Corbett is another author well worth reading on the subject of hunting big cats, leopard and tiger in his case.

The consensus of opinion appears to be that cats have thin skins and light bones but are very tough and resiliant, so while pretty much any decent sized centrefire cartridge will do the job, shot placement is critical.

Esel

foxhunter wrote: »

Anybody from kilsheelin direction know anything about the big car spotted down there this week ?
I was just reading about it in the star newspaper.

Jaguar, maybe?

I'll get me coat.

meathstevie

Can't remember the author's name, sorry.

bunny shooter

"Guard I thought it was a feral cat and it was killing my pheasant poults"

bullets

Just wondering someone mentioned it may have been a black fox and not
a cat. I was kinda thinking along the same lines.

As an animal lover and sucker I feed 12 cats
some semi-feral some pets that adopted themselves I've also had in
the past visitors to my house in the form of Town Foxes.
(Cheeky feckers will actually eat from your hand)

What struck me as unusual is that a Fox that used to call to my door
acted more like a cat than a dog.

None of my cats were afraid of the fox in fact they ganged up surrounded
and bullied and played with the fox. The Fox when moving and running
about my garden moved more cat like than dog like.

~B

bunny shooter

bullets wrote: »

Just wondering someone mentioned it may have been a black fox and not
a cat. I was kinda thinking along the same lines.

As an animal lover and sucker I feed 12 cats
some semi-feral some pets that adopted themselves I've also had in
the past visitors to my house in the form of Town Foxes.
(Cheeky feckers will actually eat from your hand)

What struck me as unusual is that a Fox that used to call to my door
acted more like a cat than a dog.

None of my cats were afraid of the fox in fact they ganged up surrounded
and bullied and played with the fox. The Fox when moving and running
about my garden moved more cat like than dog like.

~B

220 swift sorts all these problems

bunny shooter

bullets wrote: »

Just wondering someone mentioned it may have been a black fox and not
a cat. I was kinda thinking along the same lines.

As an animal lover and sucker I feed 12 cats
some semi-feral some pets that adopted themselves I've also had in
the past visitors to my house in the form of Town Foxes.
(Cheeky feckers will actually eat from your hand)

What struck me as unusual is that a Fox that used to call to my door
acted more like a cat than a dog.

None of my cats were afraid of the fox in fact they ganged up surrounded
and bullied and played with the fox. The Fox when moving and running
about my garden moved more cat like than dog like.

~B

220 swift sorts all these problems

tiny-nioclas

myself and two shooting buddies were lamping foxes up around there, around ten months ago, more over towards the mellary side last year and saw two big black cats in a field as clear as day, we watched them with my lamp through rifle scope and binoculars, they must be tame as they stayed around, they were around 80yrds away, couldnt believe it, they were definately black panthers. i rand the department of wildlife to tell them i dunno what happened after that, havent seen them since and ive been there many times since. should i have taken the shot and risk my licence? i had a .223, id say id need bigger to down one..

bunny shooter

Wouldn't want to upset one :eek:

It might not be impressed if you only wounded it and you may become kite-kat

jaycee

If you read some stuff from professional Africa hunters they're supposed to be very easy to put down with a load of heavy 12g shot.

Easy is a relative term.. :rolleyes:

I think that was a charging leopard at about 3 yards with heavy buckshot, :eek:. Most rifles wont have that raw power .

He also referred to the smaller of the big cats , leopards, puma ,panthers as the closest thing in God's creation to instant people shredders.
Their preffered method of exposing most of your insides to the outside is to loop the front paws over the shoulders , and windmill their rear legs.
It's pretty effective it seems ..
alternatively , they grab your head in their mouth , and pierce the skull on the first bite..No amount of asprin will help you after that ..:)

They are ambush hunters , do 100meters in about 4 seconds and tend to attack from behind from about 10 yards .

Pretty snappy reflexes needed , i wouldn't fancy my odds with that and a .223, or anything really ....

Mellor

tiny-nioclas wrote: »

myself and two shooting buddies were lamping foxes up around there, around ten months ago, more over towards the mellary side last year and saw two big black cats in a field as clear as day, we watched them with my lamp through rifle scope and binoculars, they must be tame as they stayed around, they were around 80yrds away, couldnt believe it, they were definately black panthers. i rand the department of wildlife to tell them i dunno what happened after that, havent seen them since and ive been there many times since. should i have taken the shot and risk my licence? i had a .223, id say id need bigger to down one..

Just out of curiosity, would there be any legal implications on shooting one? Are they mentioned anywhere in a list of protected animals?

foxhunter

esel wrote: »

Jaguar, maybe?

I'll get me coat.

Ok thats Mellor and you that have one up on me now.
I was havin a bad day when i started this thread.:o

maglite

bullets wrote: »

Just wondering someone mentioned it may have been a black fox and not
a cat. I was kinda thinking along the same lines.

As an animal lover and sucker I feed 12 cats
some semi-feral some pets that adopted themselves I've also had in
the past visitors to my house in the form of Town Foxes.
(Cheeky feckers will actually eat from your hand)

What struck me as unusual is that a Fox that used to call to my door
acted more like a cat than a dog.

None of my cats were afraid of the fox in fact they ganged up surrounded
and bullied and played with the fox. The Fox when moving and running
about my garden moved more cat like than dog like.

~B

A fos is more of a cat then dog
will climb trees, has retractable claws

tiny-nioclas

im not sure,i probably would have them antis after me anyway! im sure they would make a nice rug ha ha!

Trojan911

Just heard on the 10am radio news on Corks 96FM that a large black cat has been spotted in the Fermoy area of Cork last night, believed to be a Panther.

moose112

In the 1980's a lion escaped from a circus on the Heath. A neighbour of ours shot it and there was no legal case brought against him. Then again probably helps that he is Special Branch.

meathstevie

He probably thought that if he behaved like a cat he was going to get the grub and you weren't going to cop on to him.:)

chem

Mellor wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, would there be any legal implications on shooting one? Are they mentioned anywhere in a list of protected animals?

Hi Mellor, Not sure about here, but do know that in the UK if it is not native it is not protected. The story of the breeding eagle Owls over there is one case. No one is sure where they came from but they have bred several years in a row now. One of the men from government who was asked about them did state that anyone was allowed to shoot them as they were not seen in law as native to the land.

Get on to your local TD :D

Trojan911

moose112 wrote: »

In the 1980's a lion escaped from a circus on the Heath. A neighbour of ours shot it and there was no legal case brought against him. Then again probably helps that he is Special Branch.

I reckon anyone could have done that & not been prosecuted. A confirmed lion!!! You've only got to look at what one of those could do to a person... :eek:

jaycee

Trojan911 wrote: »

You've only got to look at what one of those could do to a person... :eek:

Yeah , they could really mess up your hairdo ...:D

Think about standing there getting his attention with a .22, .223,.308 , shotgun ... awww heck , just think about standing there ......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFd8WEGUfjk

Now theres a way to ruin your whole day ... :eek:

meathstevie

How many clips did he have to empty out of the Uzi to down a lion ? The muscle structure of those lads reduces a 9mm round to a pinprick or he used something else ( FAL, pump shotgun ). Compared to those boys the likes of a panther comes a lot closer to my 10 year old neutered tom on the couch.

moose112

Not sure what he used to kill it, but he does hunt dear so guessing he probably used that rifle.
Shotgun man myself know nothing about rifles so wouldnt have a clue what he would even be carrying.

cavan shooter

foxhunter wrote: »

Anybody from kilsheelin direction know anything about the big car spotted down there this week ?
I was just reading about it in the star newspaper.

The chap was asking about a car, where did this cat come from:D:D

however on the subject of cats see below
http://www.blather.net/blather/1997/07/the_sas_aliens_and_big_cats.html

Mellor

Muscle mass is pretty high, Deer round won't be enough to the mid-section.

But a high shot with a .300+ round should be enough, would it?

meathstevie

All the big game rounds style .400 nitro, .375 H&H and all come in a lion round
variation that's geared slightly more towards quicker ( quick wouldn't be the right term ) expansion than your standard round suitable for buffalo and elephant etc that's designed purely for extremely deep penetration. Having said that the lion rounds would probably still make a nasty mince of a deer sized animal.

Not claiming to be very knowledgeable on a lions' anatomy I'd say a decently placed shot with a .300 Win Mag, 7mm Rem Mag, 8x57, 7.62x59 ( .308 ) etc would quite likely do the job.

cavan shooter

tiny-nioclas wrote: »

i had a .223, id say id need bigger to down one..

All you had to do is run faster than your buddy:D:D

sirlampsalot

i live in monaghan and it was my mates land were the cat was spotted,they had irish army snipers round his land lookin for it,and even a spotter plane with a thermal imagin camera,when it was first spotted a well known buissness man caught it on film from back of his house,the guards got a local deer hunter and he says he had it in his sights but they wouldn,t let him take the shot cause it wasn,t safe been so close to a built up area.

Grizzly 45

Question.What do all these "cats" eat???It sure isnt Whiskas!!Consider we are talking a pretty big kitty here,that is well used to getting it's meat in kilos,not grams.So they must be raiding sheep or calves or somthing else to keep alive,even dogs in hard times.Especially in winter.Yet do we have any reports of unusual stock kills in these areas or at any time of year??Big cats have a pretty distintive way of killing their prey and disposing of it as well,or eating it by climbing up trees as do leopards.They are also pretty terrotorial[sic],so they will hang around a good food supply.Also with our wet climate and muddy fields,has no one being able to photo or cast any unusual paw prints??

All in all methinks it is a slow day newspaper headline grabber. The facts of big cat behaviour just dont compute with these being Big game wild cats.Possibly they could be a Lynx size or European wild cat. They are bigger than domestic cats,but could be mistaken for such,eat cat like things,birds,hares,rabbitts,etc,which wouldnt attract much attention,and are more solitary.
Well for taking Big cats down a double barrel SXS with 00/000 buck is the std weaponary for going into cover for wounded cats.As used by most white hunters.Rifle for shooting from a stand,any big African game rifle with solids is recommended.They are thin skinned,and anything mushrooming will destroy the trophy.Shot placement try for behingd the shoulder blade.

tiny-nioclas

it was no pussy cat me and my friends saw i can guaranteeyou that!they were ay too big to dismiss as an abnormally big housecat too, id say if there was more interest in it from the public there would have been an investigation into the sightings, have any of our rangers on board heard of investigation being done into this

sirlampsalot

there was 2 calfs found half eaten in the monaghan area around same time as the sightings,a vet from dep of agriculture was sent to examine them.he said the damage to the calfs was consistant with a big cat attack,

Grizzly 45

When was that Sirlamp???? The sightings and the time difference between finding the calf carcasses?Days,weeks,months?How far apart in distance?how did the dept of Ag vet arrive at that conclusion??IE what area was there the most damage done to the carcass.Had he ever seen a big cat kill?Was the carcass removed to a reigional lab,or did anyone with professional zoological training concur with his findings?Were there any printsaround the carcass?

Tiny
describe it to us then what it looked like?There was intrest and of course we would be concerned if such a predator is on the loose.
I am not being negative here.I just want to know the factual events as much as possible,as that can have more of an importance than the speculation on what it might or might not be.

meathstevie

And no more kills reported afterwards ? Either the rest of the carcass must have been seasoned a wee bit for the next night or someone's got a very exotic rug now.

spideog7

So tell me, if I come across one of these is it safe to take a shot with my .22magnum, or will I just make it angry?? :rolleyes:

sirlampsalot

it was about 2 years ago,the calfs were found in an area were the cat had been previously sighted,and that was about 10 miles from my mates farm were the film footage was taken,it all was in space of about 2 weeks,the dead animals were removed for tests,these tests must have shown that it was a big cat,because why else would the guards have got army snipers and a spotter plane to scour the land,

meathstevie

Taking the shot will be safe enough, puddycat's reaction maybe not so safe

tiny-nioclas

basically if you have ever seen a black panther on tv before this was just as big, i could see it clearly,it was only around 80-90 yards away, we saw two of them alongside eachother in a field while out lamping foxes, we watched them for a while and we had to go, real shame i didnt have the camera with me cos i usually do, the best i can explain is just exactly as you would imagine a black panther, arched shoulders, jet black coat, any more questions feel free to ask.

Tackleberry.

tiny-nioclas wrote: »

myself and two shooting buddies were lamping foxes up around there, around ten months ago, more over towards the mellary side last year and saw two big black cats in a field as clear as day, we watched them with my lamp through rifle scope and binoculars, they must be tame as they stayed around, they were around 80yrds away, couldnt believe it, they were definately black panthers. i rand the department of wildlife to tell them i dunno what happened after that, havent seen them since and ive been there many times since. should i have taken the shot and risk my licence? i had a .223, id say id need bigger to down one..

everyone fancy’s a shot at these cats and even with two together would be a challenge but no one has taught about the cats hunting the hunter i read a article in a American magazine this year about a guy out bird shooting with his German pointer when with luck he spotted two bobcats stalking him and his dog he promptly put slowly exited out of the spot he was in the same way he entered counting his blessings, I reckon these cats are as capable, hunter beware