New book on Big cats

http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8117870

Hmmmm...might need to carry an AK47 now

Robert

A book full of speculation, rumour and legend. It tells you nothing other than there are fully grown people out there who believe in Santa Clause, the tooth fairy, the easter bunny and any other legend/myth that comes along. I can't prove that such an animal doesn't exist in this country any more than they can prove there is. Until a carcase is found and DNA done on it I am one of the disbelievers. Mind you, the book will make the authors a lot of money and that alone is a very good incentive for writing such a book.

A very wise man once said, quote: those who don't believe in god will believe in anything. I wonder if this is the case here? interesting thought???

Cheers, Jim

More like the other way around Granite

CJ wrote:More like the other way around Granite

Amen to that!!
It is much more likely that the big cat lives than it is for god to exist, afterall we have all seen a big cat at some time or another but no man has ever been proven to have seen god not even Moses, he was just somebody (sort of smart arse of his day) who used the notion of a god in order to control the uneducated people of his time. Sort of like polticians of today. Jeez Moses was so good that he even corrected a couple of Gods mistakes. You would not think that anything that could make all of what we see, hear,feel and smell and make it all from nothing after having first made him or itself from nothing would ever need correcting on anything, least of all by a mortal man who had quite a few faults of his own.

Unbelievable! I once even saw a spinifex fairy, but unfortunately I didn't have my jar with me.

Anyway, for those that can only see a blank page when clicking the above link, try this one
http://www.australianbigcats.com.au/

I don't know if God exists but I do know that no big cats exist in Australia outside of our zoo's. Anyone who thinks they do exist in the Australian bush has more chance of proving the earth is flat.

Cheers, Jim

Come on gents.Has any one actually paid attention to what Jim has stated? He neither denies nor disagrees with the existence of Big cats here in Australia. Until there is conclusive proof,(meaning beyond a doubt)does not the story remain a fairy tale legend? How can one ever be sure of that good or bad target sound in the ground,until one actually digs it out,holds in their hand and visually inspects it,before concluding what it is.

Cheers kon61.

DO NOT CLICK on the link by Nebuchadnezzar. I did now I cannot get rid of the tab with the stupid black cat book on it. Even when I go off line, when I go back on line the flamin' thing is still there. Another case of someone doing wrong while hiding behind a key board???

black panther https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BelReWvzF6o

Geez Stoppsy, I liked the video on the Australian Black Panther.That just about sums it all up for me.

Cheers kon61.

The link seems ok to me, i clicked on every tab with no ill effects?
No pop-ups or anything out of the ordinary??

No worries, finally got rid of the tab. Don't know what caused it but it was a bit of a worry for a while.

granite2 wrote:DO NOT CLICK on the link by Nebuchadnezzar. I did now I cannot get rid of the tab with the stupid black cat book on it. Even when I go off line, when I go back on line the flamin' thing is still there. Another case of someone doing wrong while hiding behind a key board???

No doubt, another plot by those sneeky, conniving, no good Chinese.

kon61 wrote:

Geez Stoppsy, I liked the video on the Australian Black Panther.That just about sums it all up for me.

Cheers kon61.

it's about the best one that says how they got to australia and all that... me and a few mates where in the middel off no were on top off a big hill with a dam on top off it, we all hopped out to look around and we walked up and around the dam, i was looking to see what was around and there was nothing but thick bushland one side and open paddocks on the other. we started to walk back around the other side off the dam to the car and then this all mighty raw just went straight through us. we looked at each other seeing if any off us were just been stupid.... none off us could move for a few seconds as we had just nearly s##t our pants, it was the only time none off us had a gun or anything on us, we just bolted to the car and got the hell out off there.... still to this day we have no clue to what it was... i have never heard anything like that before and what ever it was it was close by.
cheers
stoppsy

There is in fact nothing unusual about big cats in the wild in Australia. Some domestic cats can grow very large out in the scrub. I have not seen a black panther but a mate of mine shot a large brownish orange cat in central QLD many years ago. This little pussy was a tad over 6 foot from the nose to tip of tail. Cat was skinned and the pelt sold. I do not have to believe in these cats because I KNOW they exist. belief is required only when there is some doubt. That is why some BELIEVE in GOD , they choose to accept God as a truth based on faith and not on fact or proof.
Believing and Knowing are two different things.

a mate of mine shot a large brownish orange cat in central QLD many years ago. This little pussy was a tad over 6 foot from the nose to tip of tail.

Yep, and I bet the same bloke regularly catches 300 pound barrumundi, that every nugget he digs weighs over 100 ounces and he just happens to possess a certain appendage he claims is nearly two foot long.

I don't know about that cat's tail, but the story certainly is one huge tale.

Reno Chris wrote:

a mate of mine shot a large brownish orange cat in central QLD many years ago. This little pussy was a tad over 6 foot from the nose to tip of tail.

Yep, and I bet the same bloke regularly catches 300 pound barrumundi, that every nugget he digs weighs over 100 ounces and he just happens to possess a certain appendage he claims is nearly two foot long.

I don't know about that cat's tail, but the story certainly is one huge tale.

what????? Chris you Yankadonians don't have 2 foot penises??????? damn! must be just us aussies

Reno Chris,
Nup mate none of what you wrote;
Just that one big cat in a lifetime of shooting. I guess he should have shot it with a camera instead of a gun.
Somebody out there may still have the pelt.

the raw that happen near that dam wasn't a mmmmmeeeeeow from a little cat, it stood the hairs up on the back off our necks and felt like it was right behind us.... i know some cats do grow big but i think there just could be something out there...
cheers
stoppsy

I had a bull koala give out a roar outside my tent one night. It sounded like a combinationof a Bengal tiger and a hippo. Darned near wet the sleeping bag but woke up to what it was after a few seconds.

Cheers, Jim

Well you can knock it all you like but I have seen a panther not far from home and several other folks/neighbours have seen them as well. I didn't even know they existed until I mentioned it to a work colleague at the time and he said "oh yeah, they are all over the country" So I looked up panthers in Australia and there are plenty of reports. Also New Zealand has had a lot of sightings.
I guess it is like anything, if you don't see it for yourself, then it is traditional to knock it.
They are generally not harmful to humans unless they are backed into a corner, normally preferring small prey like rabbits, hares, goats etc.
I have one paddock here that the horses refuse to go to the bottom of. I have seen them being figity and staring into the bush at the bottom of the paddock on more than one occasion. They are always pleased to get out of that paddock. There is more to the story but I don't think skeptics deserve any further details.
We also have very dangerous koalas and echidnas roaming around too.

Panther (Now you know here the name comes from.) (and NO, it wasn't pink)

Yeah the old bull koala roar is realy something else. First time I heard one of those and didn't know what it was I thought there was a lion in the ferns just in front of me getting ready to tear me to shreds. The ferns shaking backwards and forwards didn't help much either. Even when I spotted the koala I didn't think the noise came from him; I thought there was something a lot bigger chasing him. Hard to figure how such a bloody loud noise could come from a piddlin koala.

Heres another interesting bit of info. Some may already know this.
Don't be fooled into thinking an old wombat is always a slow mover; Man I saw one of those at a very fast clip and launched himself almost 3 foot of the ground to have a go at a roo. I think the roo was as suprised as I was because he fell over sideways, scrambled to his feet and bolted in the oposite direction.

i have been near a bull koala when it rawed, put about 20 to 30 bull koalas together and they raw all at the same time... that would off been about close to what it was like.... ther's no way it was one off them... panther you should try and get some footage that would be awesome...
cheers
stoppsy

Just that one big cat in a lifetime of shooting. I guess he should have shot it with a camera instead of a gun.

Adrian: Did you actually see the cat for yourself or are you just passing on what you've been told? I'll wager you've not seen the thing with your own eyes. Look, I am just a dumb Yank who has never been to OZ, but even I know that a stuffed large cat from Australia would be worth big money to a museum or circus. Think of the publicity and attention! You'd attact TV, Scientists, gawkers - it would be worth real money. Given that no one knows where the mysterious pelt is, so that a valuable and significant item was sold or tossed with no particular attention tells you something - you have to swallow that whole story with a very large amount of skepticism. People dont intentionally throw away money.

So I looked up panthers in Australia and there are plenty of reports.

Yep, and around the world there are plenty of reports of sightings of space men, flying saucers, bigfoot (an ape-like humaniod long reported in North America), Chupacabra (the goat sucker), ghosts and lots of other strange things. Even some folks who claim they have recently seen God.
That does not necessarily make any of those reports true. Most of the folks who report such things have seen or heard things they cant explain, much like the tales of big aussie cats. Again, that does not make their tales factual.

Reno Chris,
"QuoteYep, and around the world there are plenty of reports of sightings of space men, flying saucers, bigfoot (an ape-like humaniod long reported in North America), Chupacabra (the goat sucker), ghosts and lots of other strange things. Even some folks who claim they have recently seen God.
That does not necessarily make any of those reports true. Most of the folks who report such things have seen or heard things they cant explain, much like the tales of big aussie cats. Again, that does not make their tales factual. "Unquote"


Adrian SS
No Didn't see the pelt myself but have absolutely no reason to doubt the info. I don't know if my mate told anybody else and 40 years ago a cat skin was worth sweet stuff all.in Australia.
I donot understand what the fuss about seeing a big cat could be. Cats exist in all sizes and all have the same basic form, you can go to a zoo and see a VERY big cat or you can walk out you front door and stand a good chance of seeing a cat (a small one for sure). But you can go all your life and the next life and never see God, a Chupacubra (whatever the hell that is) a big foot or Yeti, a Bunyip or Abominable Snowman.

But spend your life in the Australian bush and you have a good chance of spotting a large cat.
The largest BLACK CAT I have seen in the wild was here in the Tibinbilla Nature Reserve not far out of Canberra. 8 or 9 yrs ago I was driving the tourist drive around the park and what looked like a large black cat slinked (belly low to the ground) accross the road about 50 or so meters in front of the car and disappeared into the scrub very quickly. It was not panther size but approx twice the size of a largish domestic cat. I stopped the car and wound the window down to have a bit of a listen but didnot see or hear anything. This is the first time I have mentioned this incident to anybody, don't think I even mentioned it to the park rangers.

Adrian SS

Gday


I can easily understand why there are so many sceptics when it comes to big cats in Australia, for a start most people want to see evidence, a skin a carcass or whatever, but even then some would argue about where it would have come from, and claim that it was some kind of scam and someone was trying to trick them.

There is more to this than meets the eye, and there is a lot of evidence that has been covered up and the reason for this is simple, what sort of damage could it do to our tourism if it were common knowledge that we have big cats roaming our forrests and rural areas, places that are widely used for recreation and tourism like the Blue Mountains would be devistated if it were made public about something like this, so of course the powers that be have a vested interest in keeping it under wraps.

I myself would probably be a bit sceptical about this as well, but I have had several incidences occur over the years that have made me believe that there are cats in our bush, I am not really afraid of the fact and it does not stop me from going out there, but I would have to say that I am wary and alert.

Back in the 70's I saw what I still believe to this day was a cougar, I was hitch hiking home and had not long been dropped off as the driver had to turn off, I walked some two hundred metres further down the road and stopped to lean on a roadside white post and have a smoke while I waited for the next car to come, it was late in the day but still quite light, on looking up the road in the direction that I had walked from I could see what I at first thought was a dog looking out of the bush on the other side of the road about 100 mtrs away, not being too concerned about seeing a dog I looked away and was looking at the ground when I started to feel all the hair on my neck stand up, when I looked back toward where I saw the animal there it was a full sized cougar standing right in the middle of the road, it was looking straight at me and I was looking straight back at it, it took several seconds for me to register that it was a big cat and the realisation hit me with a thud, at first I was so stunned that I was motionless with fright, the the reality of it hit me when I realised that it might want to eat me, I started to try and get the white pole out of the ground as I knew that I had to have some sort of weapon to fend it off, I didnt know a lot about big cats but I did know that they do eat people, it just strolled across the road keeping its eyes on me the whole time, seeing me suddenly moving and shaking the pole it lurched suddenly into the bush at my side of the road, I made sure that I kept my eyes on the bush behind me while I still tried to get the pole out, all of a sudden I heard a car coming towards me and as it approached I waved it down, they guy stopped and as I jumped into the car I blurted out that I had just seen a cougar, the poor bloke must have thought I was mad but he would have no doubt seen that I was visibly shaken, he probably still tells the story to other people to this day, I must have been a sight.

I recognised this cat as being a Puma/Cougar/Mountain Lion, as I had seen many of these on American western movies and documentaries, it was there and it was very real, later on I also realised that it was probably lying in the bush on the other side of the road just watching me as I walked past it, and to this day I count myself lucky that it didnt attack me as I would have had no chance and would not have known what hit me.

It wasnt until later years that I heard that there had been many sitings in the area and up towards the hills, there had been animals killed and taken by what they believed were cougars, later I found out that they believed that there was in fact a small family of about 4 to 5 of them in the area, there was also a report from a local in one of the hills towns saying that he had run into some shooters, in the vicinity of an old quarry quite near to the town site, dressed in camo gear and carrying high powered rifles that sent him on his way, telling him that they were from the goverment or something, couldnt get anymore information on that story.

The hotel in this town "Jarrahdale WA" used to give out stickers back in the 70's with a cougar on them with a caption of something like "cougartown" or something similar on them, I remember seeing these some years ago but did not put it all together, but where I saw the cougar was towards the coast and about 30 klms from there near Rockingham as the crow flies, so it is not unrealistic to think that I saw one of the very same animals that was being hunted near the town.

A couple of years ago after another incident envolving some friends I did some research on these cats and found that there have been many many sightings and things, including one being shot at, and farm animals killed etc, so from what I can gather they are still about, but thats another story.

Just for the record I couldnt care less if I am believed or not, but I saw what I saw and nothing will ever persuade me to think otherwise.

cheers

stayyerAU

granite2 wrote:I had a bull koala give out a roar outside my tent one night. It sounded like a combinationof a Bengal tiger and a hippo. Darned near wet the sleeping bag but woke up to what it was after a few seconds.

Cheers, Jim

Same fun experience about 40 years ago Jim on Phillip Island in Victoria whilst in a caravan park. Scariest thing I've ever heard from about 6 feet above me in the middle of the night.

Nice cuddly little creatures my ar*e!!!

Robert

Many years ago when i was a young whipper snapper, i smoked something with some friends round the camp fire ....and i saw God.....as you do. Feeling a little put out by this i decided to go for a swim. When i got to the lake, i saw the Abominable Snowmen water skiing behind the Loch ness Monster. Not sure this was the right thing to do, go swimming in this state of mind, so i returned to the camp fire, but when i got there, Bigfoot was sitting in my chair. I asked, would he be so kind as to find another chair, and you know what he said?? he said that it was his chair and i was mistaken!! fancy that?...... i could have swarm it was mine.

Could it be that many of theses sightings are from the same manufacturer, as the something i smoked?

My self iv never been that lucky to have come across wild pussy in the scrub, and its not from the lack of a positive attitude while im out there.

Big cats are like M&Ms, they do exist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pRdzQ4B52s

My grandpa told me he had seen a big tanned cat in a paddock on a Gin Gin farm in WA. He was a real straight shooter, a bit of a quite bloke but was always listened to when he spoke because it always meant something.

I used to go hunting with him and my father and he told me on 1 trip, when he was a young fella he was walking along a fence line and out the corner of his eye he saw a dozen or so kangaroos all of a sudden jump up from their crouched position and dash across the paddock in a panic, he went to pull his rifle but was more interested in what had startled the roos, he reckons he hadn't even seen the roos in the paddock until they started moving. He said about 20 - 30 metres behind the roo pack was huge tanned cat chasing them. The roos all jumped the fence they bolted to and the cat stopped at the fence line and then bolted up the fence line away from him. He said he had never seen anything like it. He didn't know where it came from but he said some of his mates told him of carriage roll over of some circus down south and they lost a few big cats.

I truly believe my Grandpa saw this cat he told me of, he's wasn't 1 to tell a story.

gibbs wrote:.... He didn't know where it came from but he said some of his mates told him of carriage roll over of some circus down south and they lost a few big cats.....

Grandpa may be right. A few years back we were up that way hunting and my mate shot a bearded lady and a bloke on the property next to the one we were on bagged two clowns in one evening spotlighting.
I never saw the carcasses...but my mate swears he saw one of the blokes clown skin rugs, though it's quite possible it was only Ronald McDonald taking a nap


Seriously though...if we have Pigmy Hippos and American Alligators wandering about out scrub, a large imported American Mountian Lion is no big stretch of the imagination