Black Panthers in UK???

[Neal 1,929]

I've got a few books about British big cats and in one of them it points out that in a lot of old tales about black dogs one odd fact mentioned is that a lot of them had short muzzles. So, basically, the author's hinting at the fact that maybe they've been around longer than we think and aren't just a recent phenomenon caused by some wild animals act.

[dogs-n-natives 1,182]

Had a couple of 100% sightings myself, of a big black cat in Northumberland, edge of kielder forrest where i was gamekeeper. One in daytime while on a partridge shoot, it jumped a wall 50-70 yards behind me, and I was shocked to say the least... another while lamping, we saw a big one half way up a big tree... as soon as the lamp hit it it jumped from the tree and vanished along the river bank before i could get a clean shot. gutted.

Also the neighbouring farmer saw one on two occasions, he wasnt keen to tell of it as he thought folk would think he was mental lol. And on the same estate, on a pheasant drive on a road side, a lady stopped in her car and approached the pickers up saying a big black cat had ran out accross the road in front of her vehicle. I ran hundreds of snares on the estate and some baited middens, also lamping and calling foxes most nights, but never bagged one of the feckers.... any useful tips?

Well if they are like most other wildcats (I don't see why they wouldn't be), you seem to be doing everything right. All I would suggest is to keep running those snares along the game trails (as I got a bobcat like that once), and calling at night should probably work as well. You could probably look into other types of traps as well such as regular steel foothold or padded steel foothold traps if they are legal, and baiting them with some sort of bobcat or mountain lion lure, or if nothing else just some sort of meat. Just make sure you check to see if you would be able to use these. Another idea might be to find somebody with scent hounds, and after a sighting or coming across fresh sign, try and track it. These are just some ideas, hope you can use some of them. Was this cat about as big as a bobcat (in the 25-70 lb. range), or was it more like a jaguar or mountain lion aka cougar/panther (in the 100-250 lb. range)?

Hi Ratkiller

 

Sorry for the late reply, i lost track of this thread.

 

I would be very keen to try some scent lures. Possibly with a motion night vision camera at first. Do you know where I could buy some scent lure from including delivery to UK?

 

Built like a leopard, but not sure on weight.