Big Cat

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

Grizzly 45

So this happened two years ago.[2006] in Monaghan. I ASSume in the Kilsheelan[?] area? I remember RTE showing some film of a black cat out in a field.Is this the same film footage you are on about??There was alot of debate about wether that was genine or not.
And there has been no kills,sightings,or prints seen since in the area??

Question;What is that cat living on now,or where is it?Two years and no food.....Or sighting within a 10mile radius of the kills.

The autoposy results wouldnt be too hard to get.a request under the Freedom of Info to the dept of Ag or whomever will get that[or should].Getting any competant zooologist or big game hunter will tell what exactly kind of cat you have.

Army and whatnot..A placebo to the locals and to prevent any "gun toting lynch mob"of locals going out and accidently shooting each other or an innocent party.Sorry to sound so cynical,but that is the way the powers that be think about us and such incidents.
Sending troops in to do a job like this is impressive but not graunteed to get anything.Troops are designed to tackle human enemies,not wild animals.Animals I hate to say it are smarter somtimes than the average squaddie when it comes to cammo ,sight,smell,shine and sound.

Tiny,
you were out lamping,so it's dark,you saw now two of them. 80/90 yards. Appx[ 89 meters]Well within rifle range.Assuming you had somthing in a medium 22 calibre 22hornet upwards.You could have had a nice rug now:)

Or at least a blood trail that a good dog could have followed.Did you go back and try and get photos the next AM of any prints?? Or did anyone??

Tackleberry,
Bobcats are the US equivlent of our european Lynx.An overgrown housecat.
Think you mean a Mountain lion or Cougar.AKA here as a Puma [not a puuuma as everyone pronounces it here:)]
That would be serious enough as there have been attacks on humans in the US for generations.However it is usually caused by folks getting between them and their cubs,or other invading their turf.And hunting in pairs is very unusual for them.
Since we dont know what we are dealing with here,we cant say wether it is one or two or X number.BUT it would be very unusual or bizzare that after two years somone gets eaten by a panther in Monaghan.Then at least we would have an idea what it is and then all bets would be off.:eek:

sirlampsalot

its not a puma its some sort of leopard,you cant get a black puma,an RSPCA officer was on local radio after the first sightings,he said he knew were it came from,it was took into ireland to fight a pitbull beleive it or not,it was been kept on a farm in keady on the monaghan armagh border,the owner got wind that the RSPCA were gonna raid his farm so he let it loose,and it made its way into monaghan.

Grizzly 45

A puma is what our American friends call a mountain lion or cougar.
You can get a black panther all right.

And Tiny-N here described it as being black and panther like in his post.Given the RSPCA officers story some credence[Although it would be a VERY short lived match.BP 1 pitbull 0] .That story is possible.
Keady isnt too far from Monaghan and the story is in a tight triangle of Newbliss,Monaghan and Clones.Last sighted supposedly outside Cavan town.No reports then or since

BUT is still doesnt answer where the cat is now.It has to eat,it has to leave tracks,even if it isnt in the area anymore.No one else has reported it or unusual cattle kills.They would have certainly made the media attention.That everyone has see it,but no one has a foto of the tracks or anything else gets me about this story.

tiny-nioclas

i didnt go back there the day after but i have been there plenty times since,havent seen a thing, i know of one deer stalker in south tipp who saw one aswell last year,i couldnt believe it when i saw them it was so unusual, from the look of these animals i saw they look fair dangerous! i only had a 223 with me, i would love a waterford wild cat rug though haha!

Trojan911

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

No one else has reported it or unusual cattle kills.They would have certainly made the media attention.That everyone has see it,but no one has a foto of the tracks or anything else gets me about this story.

I find this odd as well & carry a camera for all eventualities but it is only the small type "stick in the breast pocket" digital camera. I would love to snap this fella, then there wouldn't be the doubt. I am picking up my new Canon 400D next week & can't wait....

sirlampsalot

Trojan911 wrote: »

I find this odd as well & carry a camera for all eventualities but it is only the small type "stick in the breast pocket" digital camera. I would love to snap this fella, then there wouldn't be the doubt. I am picking up my new Canon 400D next week & can't wait....

you may just hope its not a close up snap you get of it:eek:...

mallards

This might be the last thing you'll see!!!!!:D

Mallards

bullets

A lot of the time if you see cats at night either through nightvision or Camera lens
or by Lamp light they tend to look way bigger and more panther like than they
actually are or sometimes when you are trying to get a good pic of a biggish cat
it does not translate well to a photo.

is it possible may have been a Kellas Cat?? Bigger than a domestic house cat
but smaller than a Panther.

a feral black cat passed through my back garden about 3 years ago a couple of times.
I was out feeding my semi-pet cats at night when something spooked them,
Looked through Night Vision and the thing looked HUGE. It moved different
to a normal cat, hits muscle structure looked different, its head shape different.
This morning I was woken up a 6am by a noise opened my front door and
there he was tearing the ****e out another stray Tom Cat and it scampered away.
Had not seen any sign of evidence of it being in the neighbour hood for over a year
as I thought it was dead as one eye was clawed and the other had a bad infection on it
last year. But I was amazed to see it just appear out of no-place after so long.

This place keeps track of both Scottish and Irish sightings:
http://www.scottishbigcats.co.uk/irishnews.htm
http://www.scottishbigcats.co.uk/irish06pics.htm

Heres some pics of Kellas Cats
http://www.scottishbigcats.co.uk/kellascatspicevidence.htm

~B

Mellor

Trojan911 wrote: »

I find this odd as well & carry a camera for all eventualities but it is only the small type "stick in the breast pocket" digital camera. I would love to snap this fella, then there wouldn't be the doubt. I am picking up my new Canon 400D next week & can't wait....

Make sure you get a reduced price, the 450d is out now, so most places are dropping the 400d price, but not all. This some chancers about

spideog7

Used to be a big black cat around me, he was around for ages (~3yrs) He used to follow the rabbits around. The rabbit population seemed to migrate from area to area and I'd always see him around where the rabbits were. To say he was as big as a fox (a small fox granted) was no exageration. Last time I saw him he got a 36gr 6 for his troubles, as he tore away into the bushes I realised, perhaps a BB would have been more appropriate :rolleyes: .... no further sightings !!