Big cats in the wild.

andy · Post by **andy** » 22 Jul 2006, 18:41

Ian, from what I understand, Lynx are brown in colour, (please correct me if I am wrong). The cat which I saw is definately grey, and she's been back again since. One of these days, I'll have the ruddy camera ready.

DispatchDragon · Post by **DispatchDragon** » 22 Jul 2006, 18:44

Ian

Thats sad about the exotics - we have the same problem here in the
the States - Steve et al - A lynx is quite possible - when i worked for Dan
Air at Luton we lived in a farm house in Totternhoe (which was then
still considered rural (Its about 6 7 miles south of Dunstable) - Bob Costin the owner of the farm and our landlord had trapped two Lynx - tufty ears and all on his property (and you thought cats were smart) this would have been agian 1972-73ish and funnily enough your comment Steve about having
excess skin under their bellies matches these guys - Farmer Costin told us
(not sure of he was kidding) that was so that if they were caught by a dog
or the like they could "turn" in their skin and bring claws and teeth to bear.
Ok what does all this have to do with classic british aircraft? well at the time as a Dan Air ops bod I was working BAC1-11s and HS748s

Tada

:dance:

Leif

andy · Post by **andy** » 22 Jul 2006, 18:57

Leif, I read somewhere that the extra skin helped keep them cool.

That's what I tell the wife when she acuses me of having a bit of a beer belly. :dance:

'72-73 ish..................I was just joining the RAF.

speedbird591 · Post by **speedbird591** » 22 Jul 2006, 20:45

Steve - have a look at this ID page from the British Big Cat Society. http://www.britishbigcats.org/identification.php It shows that lynxes can be anything from grey to dark brown, spotted or striped. There are big colour variations depending on origin. Also they have big ears as you have described. The description of the wildcat says that it is like a big tabby so I don't think it's big enough to be what you have described. Also, doing a google image search for 'european lynx' will show you a few pictures for comparison.

If you find any paw marks remember only dogs show claws, cats retract when they walk. So if they are big with no claws they are definitely a big cat. If you find any scat it will have fur in it as their staple diet is rabbit.

Note: Not only are lynx named after a classic British helicopter, they have been know to turn down a flight in a Boeing in favour of a BAC 111, thereby keeping themselves safely on topic. Very clever, lynxes.

Ian

p.s. Leif - Nairobi National Park: http://www.kws.org/nairobi.html

andy · Post by **andy** » 22 Jul 2006, 21:05

Ian, There won't be any paw marks at the moment, as the ground is too dry and hard. We are not in an area frequented by rabbit or hare, although the sheep are still with their young, and will not go back to the hills untill the back end of autumn.

The lambs may be the reason.

I award 3 out of 10 for trying to keep "on topic". Must try harder.

speedbird591 · Post by **speedbird591** » 22 Jul 2006, 21:31

andy wrote:I award 3 out of 10 for trying to keep "on topic". Must try harder.

:sad:

VEGAS · Post by **VEGAS** » 23 Jul 2006, 00:08

You don't live too far from me Steve. Therefore I shall keep an eye out myself every morning to inspect our back garden for unusual large cat type creatures as I'm a little worried that we may have an unknown beast on the moors!

Our dog will let me know anyway as she will be trying to jump through the kitchen window to get at it if she ever saw a cat at the back.

Gawd bless er!

Post by **Garry Russell** » 23 Jul 2006, 00:22

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/n ... nt_cat.htm

:shock:

Garry

andy · Post by **andy** » 23 Jul 2006, 10:38

Garry, that's it..........................!!!

VEGAS · Post by **VEGAS** » 23 Jul 2006, 16:45

Garry Russell wrote:http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/n ... nt_cat.htm

:shock:

Garry

Quality pussy...! :shock: :redface: