Big black cat......

dodderangler · 20-08-2012 11:57pm

Always amazes me that it's a black cat always been spotted
Never any other colour
Large black cats like panthers are hard to be brought into this country in first place
Other animals like cougars are easier to bring in and escape but just think its weird that it's always black

As for food a rabbit is a lot easier to catch than a deer so that'd be there stable diet and you'd see the remains of deer around with obvious signs of a large cat about yet none reported

steddyeddy · 21-08-2012 12:43am

dodderangler wrote: »

Always amazes me that it's a black cat always been spotted
Never any other colour
Large black cats like panthers are hard to be brought into this country in first place
Other animals like cougars are easier to bring in and escape but just think its weird that it's always black

As for food a rabbit is a lot easier to catch than a deer so that'd be there stable diet and you'd see the remains of deer around with obvious signs of a large cat about yet none reported

Apart from the north of Ireland what counties are they reported in anyway?

garv123 · 21-08-2012 12:49am

steddyeddy wrote: »

Apart from the north of Ireland what counties are they reported in anyway?

Waterford, cork, clare, tip and kilkenny.

* one of the many reported sightings in Waterford was my fathers rothweiler..:rolleyes:

Two of us spotted a black thing running across afield in the middle of nowhere at a very fast pace a few months ago, we didnt know what it was at first but we had two rifles with us so we could use the scopes to make it out to be a black lab.

If someone had seen it without a view through the scope no doubt they would claim it as a black panther.

dodderangler · 21-08-2012 1:24am

steddyeddy wrote: »

dodderangler wrote: »

Always amazes me that it's a black cat always been spotted
Never any other colour
Large black cats like panthers are hard to be brought into this country in first place
Other animals like cougars are easier to bring in and escape but just think its weird that it's always black

As for food a rabbit is a lot easier to catch than a deer so that'd be there stable diet and you'd see the remains of deer around with obvious signs of a large cat about yet none reported

Apart from the north of Ireland what counties are they reported in anyway?

Nearly every counties in Ireland has reported it
And most popular has been Wicklow also nicknamed the 'beast of blessington'
Well I nickname it that lol
But seems to have been reported everywhere but no proper pictures one or two from too far on phones
Theres confirmed sightings of other animals tho like muntjac and wild boar and there has been some shot but not muntjac as I believe I've seen one or two and most hunters have sworn to seen them but not close enough for a shot
I wasn't close enough

Adam Khor · 21-08-2012 1:34am

Speaking of black cats and the ever legendary "black cougar", I found this photo which supossedly depicts a captive dark colored cougar kept in a zoo/sanctuary in Maine.
But... I'm not sure about it. It could be a small leopard, couldn´t it? What do you think?

steddyeddy · 21-08-2012 1:44am

Adam Khor wrote: »

Speaking of black cats and the ever legendary "black cougar", I found this photo which supossedly depicts a captive dark colored cougar kept in a zoo/sanctuary in Maine.
But... I'm not sure about it. It could be a small leopard, couldn´t it? What do you think?

Thats a tough one Adam. Its hard to say for certain especially given that leopards have a much larger variation in skull and teeth size than cougars do. It could be a small leopard but leopard teeth are usually set farther apart than cougar teeth. Its 50/50 really but I might out my money down on cougar!

dodderangler · 21-08-2012 2:03am

Adam Khor wrote: »

Speaking of black cats and the ever legendary "black cougar", I found this photo which supossedly depicts a captive dark colored cougar kept in a zoo/sanctuary in Maine.
But... I'm not sure about it. It could be a small leopard, couldn´t it? What do you think?

The colour of the head and ears kinda looks like a jaguarundi and size of its ears

Adam Khor · 21-08-2012 2:11am

dodderangler wrote: »

The colour of the head and ears kinda looks like a jaguarundi and size of its ears

Most definitely not a jaguarundi. The ears are too big, and the fangs are those of a large cat. A jaguarundi has small teeth, much like a house cat.

dodderangler · 21-08-2012 2:14am

I know I meant it reminds me of one
Have a look at its colour tho it's quite strange colour like the coat of a jaguarundi
It definately isn't black unless the light is just hittin it weird In the pic

Adam Khor · 21-08-2012 2:23am

dodderangler wrote: »

I know I meant it reminds me of one
Have a look at its colour tho it's quite strange colour like the coat of a jaguarundi
It definately isn't black unless the light is just hittin it weird In the pic

More like chocolate brown, yeah... but then again, many black leopards ARE more brown than black:

javanrhino.leopard.568.jpg

dodderangler · 21-08-2012 2:29am

That second pic looks like its gonna talk
With a big deep voice aswell lol

él statutorio · 21-08-2012 1:14pm

Spunk84 wrote: »

Will thank god for wiki I said roughly interms of length and breth . As for someone who lived their for 10 yrs I think I would know more than someone who is a FIFO lol . It's not possible for a cat to be living in Eire without a sustainable food supply ,you will probably say "deer,will feed them" but look how many people and farmers are out on the land and only a few so called reports have come up about a "black cats"

Length and width of the state of CA 770 miles x 250 miles.
Length and width of the island of Ireland 301 miles x 170 miles.

If you think that's roughly the same then that's your own business.

A large cat does need a sustainable food supply, absolutely no arguments on that whatsoever!

One of the most sustainable food supplies on this island is rabbits. We have loads of the feckers, nobody is going to notice them missing either. Rabbits are more than enough to keep a large cat going.

And for those that doubt my rabbit hypothesis.

The Iberian Lynx feeds primarily on rabbits. Linky.
A large cat equivalent to the Lynx should have no trouble surviving in Ireland.

I think it depends on your definition of "large". An Iberian Lynx is plenty big in my eyes (about 28lbs according to wiki) its Eurasian cousin can hit close to 50lbs!.

As I've already said, I don't think that there is any large cat currently living in the countryside of Ireland. I do however think that something like the aforementioned Lynx would have no issues surviving here relatively unnoticed.

As regards anything bigger like a panther or a leopard, unless it's an escapee it's highly unlikely it'd survive for long without being spotted.

steddyeddy · 21-08-2012 1:25pm

The thing is like any big cat, a leopard is very adaptable to its surroundings. I know that the psni in northern Ireland take these reports very seriously.

Adam Khor · 21-08-2012 10:51pm

él statutorio wrote: »

As regards anything bigger like a panther or a leopard, unless it's an escapee it's highly unlikely it'd survive for long without being spotted.

Fortunately, panthers and leopards (which are really the same thing) are ALWAYS spotted :pac:

No, seriously, leopards are incredibly adaptable animals. They survive in the cold East Siberian forests and in places where large prey is asbent they do well on rodents and such prey- I remember reading about a leopard that fed mostly on squirrels. They may become smaller over time to cope with this meager menu, but they still find the way to survive. Only lions and tigers are truly dependant on large prey.

dodderangler · 21-08-2012 11:02pm

Lions yes
Tigers no
Difference here is being a pride means larger prey the better
Tigers will take anything from crocs and deer to lizards and small monkeys and even turtles

Adam Khor · 21-08-2012 11:07pm

Yet when large prey such as deer, wild boar etc is depleted (by humans more often than not), tigers usually become scarcer, and may even be outcompeted by leopards, much better adapted to hunt smaller prey. In many South East Asian regions the big problem for tigers is not even direct hunting anymore but rather the depletion of large prey species.

No matter that tigers don´t live in prides, they still prefer large prey, sometimes as large as those targeted by lions.

05-09-2012 11:39am

I really would never have believed in this, as a professional scientist, rational sceptic, until I saw what I now know to be a black puma perhaps 100 metres away from me on my Dad's farm in Laois.

I was out walking my dog in a quiet beet field when I saw the cat. I instantly recognised that this was a large cat, despite there not being much to scale it too. The wide head, rounded ears, long curved thick tail, wide set shoulders etc. Also the way it ran and leapt into the hedgerow as it saw me, and the height with which it was able to leap into the ditch. My dog would usually run after a cat, but was obviously terrified.

Having just finished my final uni exams, I was first worried about my mental health, as a single sighting would to me suggest more that I've lost the plot rather than there existing phantom cats. It came as a great relief to me a few month later when my Dad rang me to tell me he'd seen it, and perhaps a couple of months later, during the harvest, when the crops were first cut, my uncle ran home and was almost dizzy with fear after seeing a very large black cat. My uncle had not known about this before, as myself and my Dad had kept it quiet, as we did not want the authorities to hunt it down, or indeed for people to think we were both cracked.

I find the phenomenon of phantom cats really strange. I cannot offer an explanation of why there has never been proper photographic evidence or concrete proof of their existence, and I really wouldn't judge or blame anyone for disbelieving someone like me on the internet. I'm even wary of telling people about it TBH. But for what it's worth (and perhaps that's not a lot), I'm certain I saw a black cat at least as large as a large fox in the laois countryside around 2009, I'm 90% sure it was a black puma, and myself and my Dad simply know this creature to have existed, but have no way of proving it.

The three sightings were within a few months of each other in 2009, and the cat has not been seen since.

I don't care who believes me, and I'm not interested in discussing theories about optical illusions or hallucinations, as I'm pretty certain this was neither.

kylith · 05-09-2012 12:07pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I really would never have believed in this, as a professional scientist, rational sceptic, until I saw what I now know to be a black puma perhaps 100 metres away from me on my Dad's farm in Laois.

I was out walking my dog in a quiet beet field when I saw the cat. I instantly recognised that this was a large cat, despite there not being much to scale it too. The wide head, rounded ears, long curved thick tail, wide set shoulders etc. Also the way it ran and leapt into the hedgerow as it saw me, and the height with which it was able to leap into the ditch. My dog would usually run after a cat, but was obviously terrified.

Having just finished my final uni exams, I was first worried about my mental health, as a single sighting would to me suggest more that I've lost the plot rather than there existing phantom cats. It came as a great relief to me a few month later when my Dad rang me to tell me he'd seen it, and perhaps a couple of months later, during the harvest, when the crops were first cut, my uncle ran home and was almost dizzy with fear after seeing a very large black cat. My uncle had not known about this before, as myself and my Dad had kept it quiet, as we did not want the authorities to hunt it down, or indeed for people to think we were both cracked.

I find the phenomenon of phantom cats really strange. I cannot offer an explanation of why there has never been proper photographic evidence or concrete proof of their existence, and I really wouldn't judge or blame anyone for disbelieving someone like me on the internet. I'm even wary of telling people about it TBH. But for what it's worth (and perhaps that's not a lot), I'm certain I saw a black cat at least as large as a large fox in the laois countryside around 2009, I'm 90% sure it was a black puma, and myself and my Dad simply know this creature to have existed, but have no way of proving it.

The three sightings were within a few months of each other in 2009, and the cat has not been seen since.

I don't care who believes me, and I'm not interested in discussing theories about optical illusions or hallucinations, as I'm pretty certain this was neither.

I would say you are mistaken re: the part in bold; a large red fox is about 35 inches in length, a puma would be 2 meters in length. Foxes can also jump surprisingly high; about 2 meters. I would suggest that it's not a wild cat, it's a large fox with a darker colouration than normal.

Since your land seems to be in its territory, have you considered setting up a camera trap to see if you can id it?

05-09-2012 1:24pm

It was definitely a large cat. Not large enough to be a leopard or anything, but at least as large as a fox. perhaps I'm being hasty in saying that I'm 90% sure it was a cougar, as I'm not expert on big cats. But was definitely a big cat. It was not only it's size, but the shapes of it's features, like the tail,head and paws, and the way it moved, with heavy feel and high shoulders. It was not a case of seeing it really far away and speculating; there are always domestic, and even semi-feral cats wandering around our fields. This was completely different, and I saw it very clearly from head to foot.I had no idea what kind of cat it was at the time, and I guess I still don't, but looking at pictures I just thought it could have been puma. It looked a lot like that cougar above either. I had never even heard about the phantom cat phenomenon when this happened, so there were no conclusions to jump to.

The cameras would be a great idea and if I hear of it being spotted again, I will, but I live in London, and this was back in 2009, and it hasn't been seen since that I know of. I suspect that someone must be releasing these animals, and perhaps they're just not surviving very long in the wild.

Adam Khor · 06-09-2012 3:30am

Deleted User wrote: »

I really would never have believed in this, as a professional scientist, rational sceptic, until I saw what I now know to be a black puma perhaps 100 metres away from me on my Dad's farm in Laois.

I was out walking my dog in a quiet beet field when I saw the cat. I instantly recognised that this was a large cat, despite there not being much to scale it too. The wide head, rounded ears, long curved thick tail, wide set shoulders etc. Also the way it ran and leapt into the hedgerow as it saw me, and the height with which it was able to leap into the ditch. My dog would usually run after a cat, but was obviously terrified.

Having just finished my final uni exams, I was first worried about my mental health, as a single sighting would to me suggest more that I've lost the plot rather than there existing phantom cats. It came as a great relief to me a few month later when my Dad rang me to tell me he'd seen it, and perhaps a couple of months later, during the harvest, when the crops were first cut, my uncle ran home and was almost dizzy with fear after seeing a very large black cat. My uncle had not known about this before, as myself and my Dad had kept it quiet, as we did not want the authorities to hunt it down, or indeed for people to think we were both cracked.

I find the phenomenon of phantom cats really strange. I cannot offer an explanation of why there has never been proper photographic evidence or concrete proof of their existence, and I really wouldn't judge or blame anyone for disbelieving someone like me on the internet. I'm even wary of telling people about it TBH. But for what it's worth (and perhaps that's not a lot), I'm certain I saw a black cat at least as large as a large fox in the laois countryside around 2009, I'm 90% sure it was a black puma, and myself and my Dad simply know this creature to have existed, but have no way of proving it.

The three sightings were within a few months of each other in 2009, and the cat has not been seen since.

I don't care who believes me, and I'm not interested in discussing theories about optical illusions or hallucinations, as I'm pretty certain this was neither.

Do you think it may have been a melanistic serval? Servals are sometimes kept as pets- really not recommended, tho- or kept in captivity to create hybrids with house cats.
Melanistic servals are not that uncommon, and they would be within the size range of foxes-domestic dogs (the largest being about the size of a German shepherd, although not as heavy).

SR_Serval%20cat4.jpg

(Point against this idea, you say it had a long tail and the serval has a relatively short tail... )

Then there's also the jungle cat, which can be melanistic as well and is about fox-sized too.

The Jungle cat can also be mixed with the house cat and the resulting hybrid is called a Chausie (from the scientific name of the jungle cat, Felis chaus), and is often twice the size of your ordinary house cat. It comes in dark colors:

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS14_5oBckM8JrpETxQ6z8TEN0koe_zRdLTwR1bhotRtx73oITK

Here you can see the size of a chausie cat:

I can totally see a black jungle cat or, more likely, a dark colored chausie being mistaken for a small cougar, especially if its a fleeting sight or during nightime/twilight.

Just thinking of possibilities...

garv123 · 06-09-2012 3:47pm

Large black cats the size of a fox? Thats not exactly a large wild cat. My cat is almost the size of a fox.. just as well its ginger and white and not black.

steddyeddy · 06-09-2012 4:55pm

Adam what about escaped Savannah cats? Their price tag makes them rare but its still a possibility!

Adam Khor · 06-09-2012 9:55pm

garv123 wrote: »

Large black cats the size of a fox? Thats not exactly a large wild cat. My cat is almost the size of a fox.. just as well its ginger and white and not black.

That's why I'm thinking about these smaller cats rather than cougars, which are substantially larger than foxes (believe me, I've lived in cougar country).

steddyeddy wrote: »

Adam what about escaped Savannah cats? Their price tag makes them rare but its still a possibility!

I thought about them too but I wasn´t sure if they came in dark color?

steddyeddy · 06-09-2012 9:58pm

Adam Khor wrote: »

That's why I'm thinking about these smaller cats rather than cougars, which are substantially larger than foxes (believe me, I've lived in cougar country).

I thought about them too but I wasn´t sure if they came in dark color?

No neither am I to tell the truth!

Adam Khor · 07-09-2012 1:12am

Ha! They do!

And look at how big they get:

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQtuOc44YPmnM0J80k2VB2sujUX-vDsr-7xzpqewBpouawkuOrK5SHWUpmP

Look at this monster:

Again, I can easily see a black one being mistaken for a "big cat". It is certainly much bigger than your average house cat.

gerry p oneill · 04-07-2014 8:15am

Black panther seen last week at Slive Gullion park Forkhill.

dodderangler · 04-07-2014 10:13am

gerry p oneill wrote: »

Black panther seen last week at Slive Gullion park Forkhill.

Leprechaun and muntjac also seen by myself last night but maybe I was bit tired and hallucinated it

locum-motion · 04-07-2014 2:44pm

dodderangler wrote: »

Leprechaun and muntjac also seen by myself last night but maybe I was bit tired and hallucinated it

The muntjac is feasible.

Not quite so sure about the leprechaun or the panther.

I suppose most posters here are already aware that there is no such species as a 'black panther' as such. They are in fact a melanistic variation of either the jaguar (in S. America) or the leopard (in Africa/Asia)

Big black cat......

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