Thread: Big Cats, myth or real ?

I beleive this is a wild city cougar.

Subtle bloke in the back ground.....
Would it surprise me if there turned out to be a few big cats slinking around in the bush?
Not in the slightest.
Do I believe every "my mates dads neighbours uncle" story?
Not in the slightest.
Cheers
Muppet

Originally Posted by Saitch

Photographic proof!!!!

A cougar with a brazilian, never spotted one of those in the bush, then I used to hunt on the ground, I never looked up into the tree top.

I reckon they are probably out there.
Big cats have survived in the British countryside for years and there's hardly any of it!
Most people living in London don't even notice the foxes in the street late at night....if they can manage then I'm sure a big cat wood manage in the thousands of miles of open space here in Australia not to mention all the Roos to eat

Originally Posted by isuzurover

A bit of information about that photo.

snopes.com: Garfield of Dreams

The Maine Coon is the largest domestic breed of cat and is available in Australia. It can grow to 11kg. They can reach a height of 41cm and a length of 120cm. However the Maine Coon is a long haired cat. If a few of these got loose, and bred with the feral population we could see some huge pussies .

Jono

On a trip through Murrindindi, nth of Melbourne about 2001 I saw a big cat with my own eyes. We turned a corner in Marginal Rd and a huge black cat was crossing the road in front of us. Long body, even longer black tail. To this day I'm convinced it was not a feral cat. I was aware of the "big cat" rumours, now I think they are true. I told a long term Narbethong resident about my sighting and he said he had also seen the big black cat.
Tonymid.

Unless those so called released pumas panthers were both male and female, it would be imposible for them to breed others. I don't think a puma would mate with a feral cat. If the original releases did not have off spring, then they would be pretty old by now. I don't know how long there natural life span is, but it wouldn't be in the 70 years. Teeth would be worn done and eating prey pretty difficult.
The cats would also have to be in close proximity to each other to breed. I don't think the sexes of them would tolerate community living.
Why haven't bush walkers or campers been attacked.

I think you would have more chance of finding a Tasmanian Tiger in the wild south west of Tasmania, presumed extinct, but the forefarthers wouldn't have covered the whole region,.