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Also, I have 3 kids.
That's a breeding population right there.
QED
I am not looking for a debate on whether or not they are here in the UK as I believe as do my family members believe.
So what would make you reconsider? Or is it just an article of faith now.
There will be some big cats loose from time to time but they rarely stay unnoticed for any length of time.
If there is a serious report there are plenty of professionals more than capable of finding traces of a cat if it exists.
Problem though none of those specialists ever seem to say yes to it. Instead we have "big cat experts" with no real proven record in going to countries with big cats and being able to photograph them etc there.
why are the UK deer population so wary and skittish?
I'm going to go with several billion years of evolution.
there are plenty of professionals more than capable of finding traces of a cat if it exists.
I think these experts are probably more mythical than the cats themselves.
I've told the story that Ben Mee (Dartmoor Zoo) describes in his book on other threads. To summarise, he and other keepers clearly saw a puma near the zoo. They were able to id the sex and rough age. The older keepers told Mee that when the female cats in the zoo were on heat they would find big cat spoor outside the enclosures, from the cats attracted down off the moor.
The owner of Paignton Zoo admitted releasing adult cats on Dartmoor in the 70s. She didn't say why.
I’ve spoken to a bloke based in fod who never professed to be a big cat expert but that stated if wanted he would drive up to the village and lay night vision pir sensor cameras.
I’ve even been to a big cat talk at a pub closeby to my spotting a few months after ironically enough as there had been a few in the area as me tioned previously but felt that the guy was a joke as he was a self proclaimed expert who’s never himself had the experience of seeing one.
So I walked out without showing my footage and still shots.
I only posted up pics for first time online due to another member asking, if I was full of sheet then why would I bother.
I am an avid mtber for years now with no want nor need to fool anyone into believing what I had seen.
Just posting up all info and a few pics so make of it what you will.
🙂
I think these experts are probably more mythical than the cats themselves.
There are plenty of actual experts. For example the BBC has a few people with proven records in going and finding big cats reliably.
Or the tracking instructor I met who has found plenty of evidence for big cats in countries which actually have some.
There will be cats in the wild from time to time. Might even have lasted a few years but the claim generally being made is there is a breeding population that is only spotted by self proclaimed experts with no provable background in the subject.
Tbh, I’m not entirely sure about the breeding side so wouldn’t want to speculate.
Might even have lasted a few years but the claim generally being made is there is a breeding population that is only spotted by self proclaimed experts with no provable background in the subject.
I don't necessarily think that there is a breeding population of the biggest cats, but possibly it's true of the smaller cats like lynx. (I know of two separate, reliable sightings of lynx in Rheola forest.)