Big black cat......

E. Fudd

Was out for a stalk this morning and got talking to the farmer when I came back down off the hill
Now I would consider this lad to be of sound mind and not a bullsh1tter.
He tells me that there's a big black cat taking sheep from the farm behind the wood which borders his farm. 5 sheep taken in the past two weeks and a couple "bitten". Apparantly it has been seen by two local farmers who describe it as being "like a panther".
Now I'm a bit of a pessimist and find it hard to believe, but I said I'd put it out there and see has anybody else heard any reports of a big black pussy on the prowl in the Saggart area???

Glensman

They are out there, that's just a fact...
The RUC shot one in '87 I think.

A lot have roamed down from the 6-counties where due to an anomoly in legislation, big cats were not illegal to have as pets...

kildare.17hmr

I remember a few years ago a friend from rathcool telling me about a panther type animal in that area.

Would love a crack at it! I reckon it would be easy enough for an animal like that to live around saggart without any hassel and in relitive secracy

johngalway

With all of the guns here and in the UK...............................................

Show me the money photos :cool:

E. Fudd

johngalway wrote: »

With all of the guns here and in the UK...............................................

Show me the money photos :cool:

Exactly my thinking John. But then Kildare has got a point - plenty of wood in that part of the world!

garv123

There has been a black cat spottings all over munster about 2 years ago. In my area i remember always hearing it on the radio that it was spotted outside such village and then it was in cork and then clare.
At the time it was meant to be seen up around mellary monastery, where we used lamp around the weekend and never saw anything.

ill believe it when i see it myself

johngalway

E. Fudd wrote: »

Exactly my thinking John. But then Kildare has got a point - plenty of wood in that part of the world!

Also plenty of stalkers, fox lampers, rabbit shooters, rough shooters, wild fowlers perhaps, etc, not sure the doggie lads would give them a run though

Every year, or rather several times a year now these stories come out. Been coming out for years. There'd be bound to be one or three shot and in the shooting rags at this stage.

I am rather skeptical

johngalway

garv123 wrote: »

There has been a black cat spottings all over munster about 2 years ago. In my area i remember always hearing it on the radio that it was spotted outside such village and then it was in cork and then clare.
At the time it was meant to be seen up around mellary monastery, where we used lamp around the weekend and never saw anything.

ill believe it when i see it myself

It'll be one of them lads who lamp on 24x Everything looks big then.

sharkbite1983

Yup, Ive heard about this alright.
The Garda in Blessington have had a few reports of it.
Apparently its been nicknamed the Blessington Beast!!


When I was out on a long hike, I found remains of a sheep that had been torn apart. I dont mean by a fox or anything, I mean savagely ripped to pieces. When I mentioned it in the pub that night, everyone up here knew about the beast!

Its like drinking in the slaughtered lamb from "An American Werewolf in London"!!

Vegeta

johngalway wrote: »

I am rather skeptical

I have to say, so am I. Even photos of skat and tracks are non existent.

terminator2

i seen bigfoot last weekend lads , not messing:eek:

moby30

Two years ago we were shooting foxes in our usual spot in Wicklow. One day the farmer rang us and told us that there were a couple of sheep torn apart and that he'd never seen anything like it. He was so concerned that he called in the Garda as rumours were spreading all over the place about a big black cat killing every sheep in the area. I headed up with one of the local Garda armed with nothin but a night vision camera and a few lights to get an idea as to what was going on. About 4 a.m. we could hear the sheep gettin restless and then go into a frenzy. The Garda picked up something on the night vision and when we turned on the lights it turned out to be a black german shephard-I think they are actually called a Belgian shephard. if i had a gun he was easy pickings:rolleyes: .

Anyway that morning the local postman was asked if he knew anyone who owned a similar dog-which he did and upon a visit it was established that the owner comes home every night from work about 3 A.M. and lets the dog out for a run as there would be no one around at that hour:eek:.

Needless to say once he dog was not let out again all the killings stopped and the big black cat was never seen again:D

Im not trying to make fun just giving a personal account of my experience and in saying that know of a man who I would also class as being of sound mind who swears he seen one while out stalking-who knows?

Glensman

http://www.britishbigcats.org/evidence.php

A lynx was shot dead by R.U.C. marksman near the village of Fintona on the 18th of February 1996. The shooting followed days of reports of a 'young lion' in the area. The lynx, which was wearing a collar, was believed to have escaped from a private collection.
The body was suupposedly stuffed and placed in the R.U.C. museum.

and this from IrishShooter.
Always a nay-sayer john ;-)

JohnGalway
12-06-2009, 16:13
Until I see the carcass of little "fluffy" laid at someones feet I'll continue to :rolleyes: at them stories

marlin vs

I was contacted by a local farmer that was losing hen's and he had seen a big black cat heading away with one of them,he told me it must be an animal that probably escaped from a circus,anyway after several night's lamping I got him and the killing stopped,it was big allright but it wasn't a black Panther,I recon animals can make the imagination run riot with people that are having trouble.The Gun in the picture is 46 inches long.There's an explanation for everything.
http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/3429/catrf.jpg

landkeeper

maybe they got on the same ferry as the boar and muntjac

http://www.britishbigcats.org/index.php

Glensman

marlin vs wrote: »

I was contacted by a local farmer that was losing hen's and he had seen a big black cat heading away with one of them,he told me it must be an animal that probably escaped from a circus,anyway after several night's lamping I got him and the killing stopped,it was big allright but it wasn't a black Panther,I recon animals can make the imagination run riot with people that are having trouble.The Gun in the picture is 46 inches long.There's an explanation for everything.
http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/3429/catrf.jpg

That is some size of a cat!!
You should have caged him and let him rip at the river-rats we have at home- that'd be some fight!

good logs...

there could be some truth in it, there was a lad in dublin had 2 big cats a panter and some thing elsh dont know what it was, the garda took them of him they were illegal of course. but may be some mad **** let one go:eek::eek::eek::eek:

djflawless

i remember when i was only a young chap. .not that much older now but sure hey
anyways rumour and 10-15 people to clarify told me of a man who went for a stroll to try sneak a quick double barrel job on a fox.
He met into a large cat coming from a small plantation.theres supposed to be a photo but i dont really know the widow of the fella that shot it so i cant see the photo.
The cat is supposed to be 5 foot in length and as big as a springer.
The local vet was supposed to clarify the animal was just a feral cat that had been feeding generously at the time.
Maybe feral cats are the answer to 'big cats' in ireland??

4200fps

garv123 wrote: »

There has been a black cat spottings all over munster about 2 years ago. In my area i remember always hearing it on the radio that it was spotted outside such village and then it was in cork and then clare.
At the time it was meant to be seen up around mellary monastery, where we used lamp around the weekend and never saw anything.

ill believe it when i see it myself

Thats correct i seen that, it was in the papers.think it was more than 2 years ago maybe 4 years ago

Longranger

PM me if anyone wants to go velociraptor stalking in westport;)

Birdnuts

E. Fudd wrote: »

Was out for a stalk this morning and got talking to the farmer when I came back down off the hill
Now I would consider this lad to be of sound mind and not a bullsh1tter.
He tells me that there's a big black cat taking sheep from the farm behind the wood which borders his farm. 5 sheep taken in the past two weeks and a couple "bitten". Apparantly it has been seen by two local farmers who describe it as being "like a panther".
Now I'm a bit of a pessimist and find it hard to believe, but I said I'd put it out there and see has anybody else heard any reports of a big black pussy on the prowl in the Saggart area???

The cleaner in the office does home - help for an old boy at the back of Saggart. Thing is, he has an annoying habit of buying dogs like Rotweillers and Alsations that then go missing since he's not up to looking after them properly. No joke but this happens up to 3 times a year - could this be the problem here I wonder

PS: Another possiblity is that these sheep are being lifted - these types of theft are increasingly common, especcially near urban areas and given Saggarts location there is certainly a market for these knocked off, cheap cuts of meat in these hard times.

kildare.17hmr

Longranger wrote: »

PM me if anyone wants to go velociraptor stalking in westport;)

You have a PM! Finally get to put this 223 to good use:D

323

Would tend to be skeptical. I belive reports in the UK are more believable. .

Hypothetically though, if there was a Panther/Leopard in the wild, would normal field shooters ever see it, even lamping?
They are probably the most elusive animal on the planet, with one subspecies, described as "the worlds newest cat" just being identified earlier this year.

A friend in the US had a Cougar/Puma/Mountain Lion with cubs living in the crawl space under his house for God knows how long before he became aware of it, In a region where they were not supposed to exist.

EastTyrone

maybe it was this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94iGhJneIsQ


http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=VP0NkL-QfvE

snipeface

I'd be kinda skeptical meself about them big cats.

But sure then again isn't Wicklow only crawling with Muntjac!

marlin vs

Ohhh holy god, a fella told me he saw another one last night and I belive him,tis the drug's I swear.:D

dodderangler

my mates dad delivers the bread and said when he came down from the house on bohernabreena hill something was on the road in front of him said it was dark black with yellow eyes and a big tail like a panther and he's never been one to tell lies and i believe him and a lad i met out one afternoon hunting rabbits told me theres a big black cat roamin around somewhere needless to say i was nervous doubt the beretta would do much damage to a panther ha be cool if it was true tho huh:eek::eek::eek:

4200fps

dodderangler wrote: »

my mates dad delivers the bread and said when he came down from the house on bohernabreena hill something was on the road in front of him said it was dark black with yellow eyes and a big tail like a panther and he's never been one to tell lies and i believe him and a lad i met out one afternoon hunting rabbits told me theres a big black cat roamin around somewhere needless to say i was nervous doubt the beretta would do much damage to a panther ha be cool if it was true tho huh:eek::eek::eek:

Wouldnt shoot him, trap him someway go over to oz and bring back an aborjorigine he'd get him lol:D emagine dat thing running for u. ud hav to give him lead poisoning

thomasc4329

johngalway wrote: »

With all of the guns here and in the UK...............................................

Show me the money photos :cool:

Have to agree with john i,m sure one would have been shot by now!!!

Tackleberrywho

spikealmighty

My home place is Kilanerin, North Wexford , pretty much bordering wicklow and a lot of woods, so we often see the likes of deer.

3/4 years ago during the summer around 9ish I was coming back from a walk through the fields when as i was approaching the gate when I heard something, I looked up to see a large black cat, it froze and looked at me for a couple of seconds before it jumped back the otherside of the ditch and ran off. It was definately a large panther type cat not a wildcat/feral. it was big with large thick paws, tail and short glossy fur.
Fecking freaked me out!

This summer while my parents were out for a walk in the woods in Kilanerin my mam saw it cross a path a bit a head of them, freaked her out too!!

Anyone else any expereience of large black cat north wex/ wicklow?