What to do if you come across this in the bush!

This blog post is of interest.

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2007/03/04/australias-new-feral-mega-cats/

As is this article in Australian Geographic. Check out the pic of the big feral cat!

http://www.australiangeographic.com...uge-feral-cats-wreaking-havoc-in-arnhem-land/

When I used to trap and shoot bunnies fulltime i often got wild cats in my traps and some of them were ginormous and bloody aggressive. Mind you so would i with a trap hanging off my leg :lol: Sorry if that offends some, traps are no longer in use on bunnies which is a good thing imo because they were cruel.

SCROUNGER said:

When I used to trap and shoot bunnies fulltime i often got wild cats in my traps and some of them were ginormous and bloody aggressive. Mind you so would i with a trap hanging off my leg :lol: Sorry if that offends some, traps are no longer in use on bunnies which is a good thing imo because they were cruel.

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Couldn't agree more with you on the cats Scrounger. Use to live Sth West NSW as a kid on 20k acres and some of the cats we came across were monsters as far as cats go. Some of the males were like staffy's big, solid and full of muscle we even saw them swim across the creeks. Agree on the traps too, keep pest/feral animal control humane nothing deserves to be tortured.

I got the scare of my life in 1977 when something roared that sounded the same as the panther roars that are recorded on the internet. Saw nothing but certanly changed the mood in the panel van! From the volume it would have been almost sitting in the car. Ken.

There are many legends of Big Cats, Thylacines, Yowies/Bunyips out there. Yes a lot of hoaxes too but that doesn't mean that the legends didn't spring from some kind of facts in the first place. Critters who don't want to be found can be very elusive, like foxes in Tasmania.... and Thylacines for that matter, supposed to be sightings of them all the time here in Tassie (some good descriptions from foreign tourists who don't even know what one is) and also some sightings in South Eastern Victoria where some were apparently released many years ago (before they became extinct) by a man who was trying to save them. That pic above is NOT a Thylacine by the way as they have stiff tails that stand out straight from their body). Perhaps now with so many people running dash cams we may get some real evidence of the existence of some of these "critter"... or not. Anyway if I saw something like that I would A: try to photograph it from a safe place.... then run like hell in the fear that it was guarding something someone didn't want me to find.

SCROUNGER said:

I've never seen an animal that has been spotlighted or photographed facing front on at night whose eyes don't light up red or silver or yellow. In that pic there is no eye flash at all. Not buying that pic personally.

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Yes you are right... and there is nothing to give you a comparison of size in that picture either. This could be a normal sized cat (with a very longish tail) on a dirt path and someone's just blown it up and made it grainy to hide any real detail.

A little bit of advise if confronted with a wild animal.
Don't turn and run. It will instinctively run you down.
Just back up very quietly and do not take a threatening pose.
Try not to fall over either.
.
If that don't work, The rather expensive detector you are holding has just become
a club.
If you are in the possession of a shovel, All well and good.

Brumble-Gum said:

Any big cat behavioral experts on this forum?

Slow movements?
Slow blinking/no eye contact?
Slow steady movements?

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Sounds to me like it's very very old, probably a one of, with no mate ever found ,.... just been roaming all its life, ever searching for something it will never find ! 8.(
But ,..... it's still a cat, soooooo .... .... .. (ha)

silver said:

Brumble-Gum said:

Any big cat behavioral experts on this forum?

Slow movements?
Slow blinking/no eye contact?
Slow steady movements?

Click to expand...

Sounds to me like it's very very old, probably a one of, with no mate ever found ,.... just been roaming all its life, ever searching for something it will never find ! 8.(
But ,..... it's still a cat, soooooo .... .... .. (ha)

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Sounds like you're talking about me silver :lol: :lol: :lol:

There are panthers in Florida.
http://www.defenders.org/florida-panther/basic-facts

SCROUNGER said:

I've never seen an animal that has been spotlighted or photographed facing front on at night whose eyes don't light up red or silver or yellow. In that pic there is no eye flash at all. Not buying that pic personally.

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I agree, it's fake

SCROUNGER said:

silver said:

Brumble-Gum said:

Any big cat behavioral experts on this forum?

Slow movements?
Slow blinking/no eye contact?
Slow steady movements?

Click to expand...

Sounds to me like it's very very old, probably a one of, with no mate ever found ,.... just been roaming all its life, ever searching for something it will never find ! 8.(
But ,..... it's still a cat, soooooo .... .... .. (ha)

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Sounds like you're talking about me silver :lol: :lol: :lol:

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That's funny SCROUNGER ,.... cause I was thinking what Brumble-Gum was saying sounded like me (ha). :lol:

love ya work silver :lol:

Yours too SCROUNGER ! :lol: :lol:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/hippo-shot-in-outback-20091116-ii5s.html

Prob other strange things out there

That little bloke was part of a well documented release by a NT collector, no panthers were released though.

I heard from a mate of a well known expert that there are plenty of panthers in Oz but they are a favorite food of Yowies and Drop Bears, that is why you never see a dead one.

Feral cats are in their millions in Australia and in some areas they are evolving quickly with the average size getting bigger, makes me wonder what they will be like in another couple of hundred years.

Magilla said:

That little bloke was part of a well documented release by a NT collector, no panthers were released though.

I heard from a mate of a well known expert that there are plenty of panthers in Oz but they are a favorite food of Yowies and Drop Bears, that is why you never see a dead one.

Feral cats are in their millions in Australia and in some areas they are evolving quickly with the average size getting bigger, makes me wonder what they will be like in another couple of hundred years.

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They'll turn into feral panthers

Longest tail iv ever seen on a cat. Dingbat who made it got the dimensions wrong big time. Oh well back to the drawing board! What next, a Giraffe with a 6 inch neck :lol:

Get my knife out.

Brumble-Gum said:

I come across this on Facebook, I don't know if it's a hoax or not.
You hear stories regarding panthers roaming the bush. What would you do if you saw this while detecting??

https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...ages/1569/1465848438_fb_img_1465848278610.jpg

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No tracks either. No point using the feral cat scan app then.

http://www.feralscan.org.au/

Jon