Signs of an Exotic Cat Kill

Back in the early 1990s it became necessary to provide police officers as well as rangers with some guide on what to look for if a kill they came across looked unusual.  Most were familiar with what dog attacks looked like -the dogs also making a lot of noise as they got excited by chasing and attacking sheep was also a give away.  However, non native cats were a different matter.

A typed sheet was sent out and some guidelines given (it saved a few dogs from being killed). By the late 1990s if a cat was suspected killing a deer or sheep it was becoming common practice to carefully skin around the neck area to look for teeth bites and snapped necks or punctured throats where a cat bit in to suffocate its prey.

Slightly tidied up fact sheet from, I think, 1999.

A Quick Note To Visitors

Just so that everyone is aware: although items will be featured on the AOP blog, it was decided to totally dedicate a new one to the EAR and the continuing work on UK exotics.

I have resisted the temptation to have an EAR website or blog for a long time but it seems (taking everything into account) the time is right.

There will be strict rules, however. These will be to set the minds of any witnesses as ease.

1.  Absolutely no one contacting me will have their names or other information passed on to other persons unless at the witness' request.

2. No exact locations of sightings will be given.

3. Absolutely NO ANONYMOUS persons will have their reports looked at. Any such report will be junked.

Fairly simple rules.  I can be contact via email regarding the sighting of any exotic -it does not have to be just cats or wiolverine- at: blacktowercg@hotmail.com  please head any message "EAR"

Thank you

I'm Not Being Rude But....Puma Poo!

I am now sorting through the 12 inches/ 30 cms thick stack of index cards pertaining to the Exotic Animals Register (EAR) and came across a few photographs of interest.

Take a look at this: it's what we call "scat" from a puma.

Now here is more puma scat.

So why might puma "poop" be of interest?  Well, over the years people ask about things such as "British mystery cats" or the "British Big Cat".  There is only one member of the Big cat family in the UK and that is the leopard -melanistic and regular.  The Puma is a member of the Medium sized cat family.  Let's not go into lynx and jungle cats!

Anyway, one of those photographs of Puma scat above is from the United States....the top one.  The other is from Wales.

In all my time running the EAR I got "cat hairs" that did not look like they came from cats and DNA analysis showed that I was right: fox, cow and bull mainly.  Scat we had similar problems with and I used to ask people ("big cat hunters" as they liked to call themselves) to describe what they had and break the pieces up.  Fox scat most people have never seen but if you open up an "odd" piece of poop  and it has fruit and bits of vegetation in it the chances are it's from a fox.

DNA tests have been carried out on hairs and scat and proven to be leopard or puma -and lynx. The thing is that most of those "I want to get on the band wagon and in the media" 'experts' keep samples they have or throw them away because they do not realise DNA is not a ten minute test nor is it free! There are also very good plaster casts of large cat prints I've seen but they never get forwarded for analysis.

But, yes. We has poop.

Was it really a leopard that was spotted? No. That Was A Puma.

This item appeared in the Inverness Courier http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/Opinion/Bill-McAllister/Was-it-really-a-leopard-that-was-spotted-06052011.htm

I was asked by someone if I had ever heard of large cats -leopards- in the area.  No.  Inverness-shire is home to puma (cougar) and their young, like lion cubs, are spotted.  Back in the 1970s, as a naturalist, it was a report -later reports- that drew my attention to large non native cats and I worked as a consultant with the Northern Constabulary because no established naturalists would deal with "silly stories" -though the late Arthur Cadman, a remarkable naturalist not only looked into reports but studied the puma and recorded young.

Loch Ness was a few reports and there were some well known personalities who saw puma in Inverness-Shire (no, I will not name them as Arthur talked to them and I was sworn to confidentiality and cannot break such a promise but it will all be in his records.

Sadly, newspaper reports are always the same these days so fun0-making is par for the course.  Now why do you think witnesses want confidentiality?

Juvenile pumas have been known to retain their spotting for a while and then you have a 'leopard' reported!

So, yes, I do know about them and it's fair to say there were reports in the Highlands going back to the 1950s.

Oh, and having contact with the reputable people involved in the "Felicity" case I can respond by saying  that only an ass of a journalist who was NOT there three decades ago would question the event.

Was it really a leopard that was spotted?

MYSTERIOUS animals strike a chord in our psyche and the Highlands has a rich tradition in such sightings. The newspapers last week featured the ‘beast of Embo’, sighted by sisters after 18 sheep had been killed.

It sent my mind whirring back to 1980 and the celebrated Cannich puma which generated the kind of tabloid frenzy nowadays generated by Jordan’s Hindenburg-like cleavage or Cheryl Cole’s latest lip gloss.

There had been mystery animal sightings in the North a long time previously. The Daily Express reported back in 1927 that in rural Inverness-shire sheep and goats had been attacked by an animal a shepherd described as "like a leopard but without spots". A strange description unless it was the first case of a leopard actually changing his spots. Like the guy telling his mate: "I’ve just spotted a leopard" and his pal replying:"Don’t be daft, they’re born with spots".

Anyway, The Express reported that traps were set and a creature was caught which was sent to London Zoo where it was identified as a lynx. Later it turned out London Zoo had no record of receiving any such animal. It was the biggest animal tall tale since there were three bears and one married a giraffe. The other two put him up to it.

In 1973 there was a "big cat" sighting in Strathnaver, Caithness, by a retired Glasgow police sergeant - and remember, those hardy guys in that era were not prone to dubious eyesight or wild flights of imagination unless giving evidence at a villain’s trial. The sergeant reckoned a puma with a rabbit in its mouth jumped in to the path of his car, almost colliding with it.

It was reported in 1977 that a man and his nephew at Farr, 10 miles from Inverness, "saw a lioness and two cubs" in a field and the next day a similar sighting was recorded at Culduthel. It definitely wasn’t a buffalo, which allows me to ask what did the buffalo say to his son when he was leaving?
"Bison".

In July 1981 a workman coming off shift at the McDermott oil platform construction yard at Ardersier saw an animal "larger than an Alsatian, identical to a puma" come out of undergrowth and cross the road. On Christmas Eve the same year, again at the McDermott yard entrance, someone reported his headlights had caught a tan creature "larger and heavier built than a Labrador dog". Yes, I know, some more sceptical readers might speculate whether these witnesses had, in fact, seen an Alsatian and a Labrador.

Then again, in July 1997 a man from Kirkintilloch who caused a three car pile-up on the A9 near Ralia, just south of Newtonmore, told police that he had seen a black and white creature "about the size of a Great Dane" jump out in front of his car, making him lose control. Some might suspect a shaggy dog story, but at Inverness Sheriff Court, Sheriff James Fraser found the charge of careless driving not proven.

Eleven years ago four golfers playing at Nairn Dunbar contacted police to say they had seen a large male lynx 30 yards from them as they stood on the seventh green. I know about birdies and eagles, but a lynx on the links?

All these pale into insignificance compared to the commotion at Cannich on 29th October, 1980. There had been cases of livestock harmed by a mystery cat in Glen Affric for a couple of years. Farmer Ted Noble, who died eight years later, erected a trap with a sprung door that was connected to a sheep’s head inside the cage and reported catching alive a fully grown female puma.

Cue a stampede up the glen of Her Majesty’s media as the event rapidly became UK-wide and international news. But there were different views. When the photograph of the puma’s face in a cage was published in two competing tabloids, one headline stated:"Grrr!", but the rival headline was "Miaow", claiming the animal was as tame as a tabby cat.

The Puma of the Glen was taken to a new home at Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig where the director Eddie Orbell stated that, in his view, the puma had never spent as long as 30 minutes in the wild. It refused to eat an unskinned rabbit and would only take prepared food. It was reported to be very overweight and tame.

This monstrously savage creature apparently enjoyed having its tummy tickled. And was named Felicity. Like mixing a hyena with gravy, it became a laughing stock.

Amidst widespread suspicion of a hoax, with one particular journalist the centre of suspicion, no proof of this was ever forthcoming. The huge publicity made Felicity a favourite with visitors to the park, where she remained until her death in January, 1985. Her body was stuffed and put on display at Inverness Museum.

What really happened in those eventful days in Cannich 31 years ago? And who do you believe? Some reckon Felicity arrived in the glen via Land Rover, others believe she was one of a family of pumas in the area. Karl Popper, the Austrian philosopher, said: "Ultimate truth is unattainable". And maybe that’s true about how Felicity came to be in that hillside cage.

But the phenomena of mystery big cats continues, as the episode in Embo shows. It is suggested that new laws on the keeping of dangerous wild animals in the 1970s led to some owners turning their beasts out in to the wild. This could conceivably account for some sightings.

In recent years beavers have been reintroduced to Argyll and a Sutherland landowner wants to bring back wolves after a 400-year absence. The argument for wolves is that deer and rabbits cause great damage and nature, red in tooth and claw, taking its course might be beneficial. Those who keep sheep will be less relaxed.

But they say that on a cold night up Cannich way, particularly when strong drink is taken, you can hear on the soft breeze the haunting cry of a puma. Pining after its cousin, who has flitted to Embo.

Black (Melanistic) Puma?

Of course, the 'experts' ("X" =The Unknown and "spurt" is a drip under pressure) say "impossible!" when it comes to a black puma. Becausethey have not read about one and they offer up all reasons WHY a puma like look black but is not -wet fur is usually a good one.

I have, in over three decades, spoken to people who have seen "the black panther" on the loose in the UK.  They were close enough to give very clear descriptions.  But while talking to them my mind was asking "What the hell are they talking about?"

You see, a puma looks different to a leopard -black or otherwise.  So when observers add details that we naturalists call "pointers" (they help identify an animal) and you question them on these and you ask "Are you sure it was not just very dark grey -in the light the fur--" and a rather indignant response is: "Excuse me. It was ten feet from me in broad daylight and I have perfectly good eye-sight" then you have to conclude that they saw a black puma.

I can hear the idiots screaming "NO SUCH THING!!" right now.

People talked to me about the "that puma" others have seen and give perfect descriptions of a melanistic leopard (or "panther"). That is acceptable.

Whether farmer, police officers, members of the Armed Forces, doctors, nurses, naturalists and zoologists -whoever, so long as they report black leopards no problem. But a black puma? No, no, no, no!

I received a phone call one day from a man who was driving through a Welsh border area and took a wrong turning.  As he slowed to try and turn on the dual carriageway he stopped the car.  Several yards ahead of him, in the clearest conditions possible was a large black cat.  The cat stood and looked at the driver before moving over the central road barrier and away.  The man immediately got out of the car and walked slowly to where the cat had stood (next to the central road barrier) and used a tape measure to get length, height, etc.  The man made a few enquiries and the localpolice gave him my contact details.

I spoke to the man who told me the size and estimated weight of the "melanistic puma" which was odd because most observers never say "melanistic" just black.  I checked with a biologist who was interested in UK cat sightings.  He laughed and said the man had obviously seen a panther and assumed that it was a puma.  I was told to explain to him why it could not be a puma.

So, I called back the observer and explained what the biologist had said. I won't give his exact words but he pointed out that had it been a panther he would never have gotten out of the car to take the measurements.  I pointed out that it was difficult to get anyone to believe that there were black pumas was there even the possibility of mistake?  There wasn't.  The man described the facil markings of the puma and point-for-point all the pointers.

I was told that a letter was on its way to me with all the details.  I was then told the observers full name -I only had his surname at first.  He was a Professor, a senior lecturer in zoology and biology and had workede at very well known universities and had done work in the United States and Canada -the latter involved work with pumas. He had also been a UK government advisor and when I heard his full name (I'm still waiting to hear whether I can give it in a book I'm working on) I think the blood drained from my face because he was very reputable.  I was asked to get the biologist to phone him if he doubted the Professor's word.  I certainly did not.  The biologist?  Apparently insisted it "must be a leopard" but refused to contact the professor to correct him.

I really have no idea why certain people will scream til dooms-day that you cannot have a melanistic puma.  There is no scientific reason why there should not be and melanism occurs in pumas in certain regions -where they were trapped and transported to the UK/Europe for zoological gardens as well as travelling menageries.

Even old hunters noted shooting black pumas in South America and give very good descriptions -this was "sport" shooting and before handy carry-anywhere cameras but some had detailed sketches made.  If a hunter(s) who hunted and knew pumas from the United States says they shot a black puma then I believe it.  There is absolutely no reason why they would lie about it because it was no big thing, just "another cat" and so what if it was black?  They were interested in telling how they lay in wait or came across the cat and killed it, weighed it and measured it and that's it.  Somewhere in a private collection there may well be a mounted head or stuffed puma gathering dust.

Thousands hunted and shot cats and there is no problem until some know-it-all jackanape's today says "NO! It could not be black!!"

After all, there are very dark brown pumas around and some in zoos.  Citing and continuing to pass along dogma is NOT science.  It is stupidity.  Let's not get into a long list of what top zoologists said were "absolutely impossible" but then turned out not to be.

_________________________________________________

And the photo above is not photo-shopped.  It is of a genuine very dark brown leopard though it is being used and cited as a very dark brown puma and this one is in a recognised US zoological garden.

Are Those Pumas Still Out There??

Interesting.   We are not supposed to, but we have pumas in the UK. Going back to at least the 18th century. Breeding.
When I started advising the police in 1977 I expected to hear the odd story but by 2009 -no arguments.
But here is the thing. I spoke to someone in a little English village.
"Big expert" explained not to panic if one was seen locally.
I then get told "Oh kids were told if one moves through the area keep away from the woods and high grass and crops" and what to do if face to face with a puma.
"You people have certainly done your research" I said.
"Oh, not us. Its what my mother told us because her mother told her and the brothers what to do".
Me. "I'm sorry?"

It turns out her mother -IN THE 1950s- was told the care to take "if the cat comes through" So I ask if her mother was a naturalist or-?

"No. No. Housewife and did garden work (means she planted and grew the fruit and veg for the family as well as the other stuff) but when the cats used to pass through and kill the odd deer or rabbits she was told by her father what to do. The whole village was the same."

Now, hang on. Her mother was a younger in the 1930s but someone back there was familiar enough with pumas to know their traits?

"Its nothing new, dear" she told me.

And the same story from other villages in England and Wales. When I eventually joined up with the University of Wales Carmarthen the professor there (whose pony had been attacked by a puma and various foals killed not to mention sheep -which is when villagers told her and her husband about "the cats") and her assistant found the same thing.

We could trace things back to the 17th and 18th centuries and yet, in all of that time -over 4 centuries- not one person has been attacked or killed by a wild living puma. Plenty of encounters up close but njo panic and run. There are millions of rabbits and millions of deer in the UK, water fowl -a whole pantry. There are even estates where game keepers (game keepers!!!!) protect the cats because they keep down "vermin".

None of this eventually surprised me, and when a Senior Lecturer in Zoology with an international reputation who has dealt with puma work in Canada told me he saw a black puma within 70 feet of him in good lighting and "with every diagnostic feature of a puma"....I never blinked.

Despite all the morons out there it is good to know that "Little England" (in the countryside at least) is not in panic. It treats wildlife as wildlife and "if you don't bother them they won't bother you!"
Fair enough. From December 2015: please note that after I posted the DEFRA letter there was an attempt at some VERY heavy official "leaning" on me.  I offered to post other more revealing documents -silence since then. 

Big Cats In The UK?

I've mentioned UK large cat sightings so time for a little bit of truth -which DEFRA really does not like. This is 10 years old now and was sent to me by a reporter, Jennie Dennett who wanted to find out more about the large cat sightings going on in Cumbria.  I explained the situation so she went for a Freedom of Information request.

This was the response:

Jennie Dennett The Westmoreland Gazette 25 Market Street, Ulverston, Cumbria LA12 7LR

Our ref EWD 487 Delay      Date   20th May 2005

Dear Ms Dennett,

Thank you for your request for information about sightings of big non-native cats in the UK. Your request has been considered under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004 and following careful consideration, I can now inform you that we have decided that some of the information you have requested will be disclosed and some withheld.

It may firstly be useful if I explained some of the background to the issue of big cats. There is no formal process for the recording of big non-native cat sightings. Defra’s Rural Development Service (RDS) National Wildlife Management Team does investigate claims of big cat sightings, but only in cases where there is a potential risk to livestock. Any instance where there is a potential risk to the public is a matter for the Home Office and the Police.

Any sightings reported by a member of the public to the RDS since mid-2001 have been recorded, however it is important to note that the Team covers England only. Prior to this, a member of the Team kept a personal record of sightings gleaned from newspaper cuttings, etc. This information is no longer available, but some of it was published and may be available from public libraries. I’m afraid that we do not hold copies of these two reports.:

Baker, S.J. (1990). Escaped exotic mammals in Britain. Mammal Review, 20, 75-96.

Baker, S.J. (1990). Escaped exotic mammals in Britain. Mammalaction (Newsletter of the Mammal Society Youth Group), 48, 3-4

In 1995 the (then MAFF) wildlife team conducted an investigation into reports of large exotic cats in the Bodmin area of Cornwall. A report of this investigation was published as follows:

Baker, S J and C J Wilson (1995) The evidence for the presence of large exotic cats in the Bodmin area and their possible impact on livestock. MAFF, London 16pp. No. PB2308 (available online at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/vertebrates/reports/Exotic-Cats.pdf) For ease I attach a copy of this report.

I am afraid that we will not release details of individual sightings as we believe that this data falls under exception 12(4)(d) of the Environmental Information Regulations in that the information is in the course of completion. We intend to publish the data we have collected in relation to the dates, numbers and summary locations of exotic sightings within the next 3 months. In making this decision we have carefully considered the public interest test and have balanced the need for disclosure against the need to withhold the data. We believe that it is reasonable for us to withhold the data whilst we collate and prepare it for publication.

However, I can inform you that since RDS began recording sightings reported by the public (circa April 2001 to 31 March 2005) there have been 28 unconfirmed big cat sightings recorded for England. None of these sightings were from Cumbria.

Defra holds no physical evidence that big non-native cats are living in the wild in Cumbria or elsewhere in the UK. Release of big cats into the wild is prohibited under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and possession of these species is regulated under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976. If there is believed to be a public safety issue, for example from an escaped big cat, then this is a matter for the Police. RDS do have a record of instances of known escapes of big cats from 1977. I have attached a copy of this table for information.

I do not know whether the Central Science Laboratory or the Veterinary Laboratories Agency hold any data regarding big cats. In order for me to contact them and fully explore whether they hold such data, I regret that we must extend the time limit for responding by 20 days. I hope to let you have a response on this particular part of your enquiry by 16 June, and will keep you informed of any further delay. In the meantime I hope that you will find the attached information useful.

If you are unhappy with the way the authority has handled your request, you may ask for an internal review. Please contact  Lewis Baker, Head of Defra’s Access to Information Unit at, Area1E West block 3-8 Whitehall Place London SW1A 2HH who will arrange an internal review of your case.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

If you have any queries about this letter please contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Simon R Harding

Species Policy Adviser

Fax 0117 372 8182

Email simon.r.harding@defra.gsi.gov.uk

I like the start of the letter: "... some of the information you have requested will be disclosed and some withheld."   Well, start as you mean to go on.

Firstly, the "Beast of Bodmin" investigation was flawed from the very start.  Those involved would only listen to those it decided it wanted to talk to:  those whose cases could be easily dismissed or a little official scorn poured over the claims.

I spoke to five people who requested to submit evidence in the form of audio recordings which involved a quite clear call that someone at the BBC Natural History Unit (when I worked with them) said straight away "Oh,that's a leopard roar where was it from -" at this point he held up his hand and said "That sounds like sheep in the background...and a fox bark?"  Then I told him where it was recorded!   There were other calls and two had the recordists talking as they lent out of windows to record what was going on: "That's up by the paddock...."/ "****** it's going up toward the sheep sheds!" and some other choice words as a huge roar was recorded.  The audio clips "might have been peacocks or foxes"  I'd hate to meet a Bodmin 'fox' or 'peacock' at night!

"Inadmissable" the 'investigation' panel said.  A professional cat tracker from Africa who had lived on  Bodmin wanted to give evidence as he had seen the tracks and made casts but was dismissed out of hand.  I was told later about a comment "From Africa, tracked leopards and has casts? Could have faked them" (by which they meant he could have had them with him since Africa).

"We intend to publish the data we have collected in relation to the dates, numbers and summary locations of exotic sightings within the next 3 months. In making this decision we have carefully considered the public interest test and have balanced the need for disclosure against the need to withhold the data. We believe that it is reasonable for us to withhold the data whilst we collate and prepare it for publication."  Okay, where is the report?  In fact the policy was that there may be large cats but just don't tell anyone.

So long as livestock are not in danger and a cat presents no clear danger to members of the public...nothing "to do with us".

Let's shed some light here.

During 1996 I visited the DEFRA offices in Bristol to meet the man who would deal with such reports.  He explained that he had no knowledge of cats "but I can call on experts" -someone just said to him one day "Here.  You can answer any calls on big cats" and that was it.  My visit was the subject of some confusion -but not on my part.  I had my ID and some Home Office and other papers in a clear folder and the person at reception shot off and in a couple minutes "the man" was there to greet me -this story and the man's name is known amongst serious naturalists.

I was ushered into an office and I took some plaster casts out of my bag and I was asked "What made those?  Was it a dog?"  I said no and highlighted the "pointers" on the tracks "Puma" I said.  I was then told to "look at these" and a large drawer was pulled open that contained plaster casts. I pointed to one set "Lynx" I said and he said "So I've been told" and I noted leopard and puma tracks plus, I think, jungle cat.  

I then said that we needed to work a lot closer to sort out some kind of plan. "Absolutely, I'mlost with this -which department at the Home Office are you in?"  I looked at him and asked why he thought I was with the Home Office?  Apparently, the person at reception had said so.  "No. No, that's incorrect" I said showing my ID and saying "You'll find me listed as a police advisor-"

"No. No.  You shouldn't be here.  You have to leave now!" said "Mr Panic" and so he escorted me back out.

So, yes, MAFF/DEFRA had pretty good evidence but they were NOT investigating what was locked up at DEFRA in Bristol -inadmissable.

I also have a signed affidavit from a gentleman living in the North of England on a farm.  Educated, knows what he's talking about and liaised with localpolice about a panther that walked through the courtyard regularly. A trap was set up and the idea was to trap the cat and get it to a wildlife park or zoo where it could be housed and tests run.  The cat was trapped and DEFRA was contacted and very quickly an unmarked small white van turned up, driven by a vet. The witness is very precise about what happened and once the cat was tranquilised the vet told him that it was indeed a leopard but they'd take care of it.  

The witness was asked to help the vet carry the cat from the cage and put it in the back of the van which he did but he was puzzled.  "But the cage is too big and how are you going to get it into another?" was the question.   He told me that he broke into a cold sweat when the vet responded "It's dead not tranquilised".

Very unhappy he telephoned DEFRA who said they had no idea what he was talking about so he contacted the police.  They had absolutely no doubt the story was true but were told "its policy".  End of story.

The witness was "gutted".  However, about a week later the police contacted me "There's another one of those cats in the field by his property -how many are there?"  I spoke to the witness who told me he was walking and wondered whose black dog was moving through the field nearby...then the cat emerged and ran off.  He was genuinely shocked.  I asked what he intended to do?  "Nothing. They haven't caused a problem and I'm not having another one killed here".

I gave a copy of the affidavit to three different people and each deposited the copy in their bank.  Mine is locked away safely in a bank.

I have a number of examples of this type of thing -all documented (and when DEFRA found me to be a nuisance and kept finding a fault in every renewal of my Partners Against Wildlife Crime submission (14 times it was corrected and each time "oh, this will need doing again" -despite two very senior police officers being my guarantors). When DEFRA told me "We can always go to court and have material seized" the data was distributed!  

The statement that: "Defra holds no physical evidence that big non-native cats are living in the wild in Cumbria or elsewhere in the UK" is, or was, a lie.  I guess a lot gets destroyed but in the UK, as I found in other work, "not everything has a paper trailor internet presence"

Small and largish cats are out there and despite all the lies you find on the internet, no wild living wild cat species has attacked a human being -and these cats have been out there since at least the 18th century.

Wolverines, Wildcats, Ferals and Hybrids and Sea Serpents: 2018 is going to be a busy year

It is rather odd how you can suddenly be asked something and your realise that what you are being asked is, in point of fact, a request to look into something.

Here is an example.  Last week I was about to have my dinner and the phone rang.  It was a  call from a very noteworthy fellow who asked about any recent non native cat sightings so I explained that I still received reports but then I realised that his tone was all wrong so I asked: "When was the last time you phoned me? Must be a while ago now?"  It was a while back. Fifteen (15) years back in fact so I asked him outright why he was calling as he did not seem that intent on pumas, panthers or lynx?

"Well, I was just wondering how you were coming along with your wolverine work" was his reply and so I asked what had piqued his new interest in the mustelid in question? It seems that he had heard, due to his position in Scotland, of sightings of wolverine that were outside the area I had previously mapped them. So we chatted and I realised that the population had expanded somewhat since I wrote my preliminary paper UK National Wolverine Population: Preliminary Notes some 17 years had elapsed. 25th November, 2000 is the date on the paper. Seventeen years.

That made me look at another paper I had written and submitted: Felids: Wildcats, Ferals and Hybrids and that was dated 23rd September...2000!

The Fox and Hybrid Study had begun in 1997 and that is constantly being added to and thanks to information from the National Fox Welfare Society a much better picture is available which will probably mean an up-dating of the Red Paper (I): Canids as there will also be much more to add on the subject of wolves -in Europe the situation is changing each year with new canid species moving in.  In the United States there is also a lot going on and a lot more has been learnt from my contacts with Forest & Wildlife Service offices.

This will all need to be added to my newer projects that also include The Red Paper (II): Felids 

National Fox Welfare Society

Thousands of foxes that would have died of illness or injury have been helped by the NFWS over the years and they do not charge a penny and all animals are treated from NFWS funds.

Please, if you can donate toward their continuing work think about doing so.

THANK YOU

NB: this blog is not associated with the NFWS nor its work but I am all too aware of the great work done by the volunteers.  

Canids...

One for those interested in Wildlife .....or cryptozoology!

  

 Terry Hooper~Scharf

The Red Paper: Canids

Paperback, 

A4 

(21 x 30cms)

202 Pages 

Photographs, illustrations and map

£20.00

http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/the-red-papercanines-vol1/paperback/product-20492038.html

By the 1700s the British fox was on the verge of extinction and about to follow the bear and wolf having been hunted for sport for centuries.  

The answer was to import thousands of foxes per year for sport. But foxes kept dying out so jackals were tried. Some were caught, some escaped. Even wolves and coyote were released for hunting and "country folk" were very far from "happy" -some even threatening local hunts -one intending to release a wolf for a hunt- with legal and other consequences. 

The summation of over 40 years research by the noted naturalist and former UK police forces exotic wildlife consultant reveals the damnable lie of "pest control" hunting but also reveals the cruelty the animals were subject to and how private menageries as well as travelling shows. Private menageries, or single exotic "pets" as well as travelling shows helped provide the British and Irish countryside with some incredible events such as the 1905 "vampiric" sheep killer of Badminton, the mystery hounds of Cavan and Coyotes of Epping Forest.

The Girt Dog of Ennerdale is also dealt with in detail -was it a tiger? A Tasmania Thylacine? This book gives the exact facts and details for the first time. Up-dated 2013 edition includes a section on sarcoptic mange in foxes and treatment plus a list of wildlife sanctuaries and rescue centres in the UK.

Fox and Hybrid Study (UK) Continuation

I first began watching foxes and then looking at mystery canids in the UK around 1976.  Naturalists as a whole were not that interested in studying foxes ~and the UK universities and colleges have no biology departments studying wildlife ("It just ain't sexy and there is no money in it!").

Things have changed a little but there are too many prejudices involved and you just must not rock the boat these days....yes, that money thing again.

However, I intend to continue the work begun back then for as long as I am breathing and not wait 40 odd years before publishing research ~as with The Red Paper: Canids.

Initially the idea was to find someone at a lab who could analyze DNA to identify origins of foxes in the UK, and if you have not read my book that ought to confuse you.  However, not many people willing to do these tests for free because they are expensive and time consuming as I discovered when we worked with a laboratory on analyzing samples allegedly from large cats.

The most basic form of survey would be on fox types.  There used to be noticeable differences in the appearances of foxes ~Hill foxes, Valley foxes, terrier foxes and so on.  People on fox groups seem to be like people visiting blogs ~look then go. I am hoping this appeal will break that bad streak (please!).

I have come across problems when I did a brief badger study as well as when I was looking at exotic fauna in the UK. People are very ~very~ protective of the animals in question.  There is no argument with that on my part but I will make it clear: This work has absolutely nothing to do and no connections with hunting or trapping of any kind.  This work is intended to add to our knowledge of the fox in the United Kingdom only.  That is GUARANTEED.

All I need are decent photographs of any foxes that visit where you live.  If you know the vixen from the dog fox, great and that's basically it.  I'll need info such as:

1)  Town/City and County (information is welcome from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland *

That is the basic information but please, if you can answer or add more it all helps. So, additional:

2)  How long have the foxes been in your area or visiting?
3)  If you feed them what are you putting out for them?
4)  Have the foxes ever had mange in your area? **
5)  Have you seen young or noticed the foxes pairing up?
6)  Do you only see the foxes in the evening/night or also during the day?

If you send a photo please ensure there is permission for me to use it.  I may not but if I do anything that may identify the exact location WILL be removed.  Animal safety is the priority.

The other aspect of the study is to look at unusual fox colouration. My files have records on black as well as white foxes.  It would be interesting to find out whether any unusual colouration has been noted in the foxes in your area?  The photo(s) may sort that out but worth mentioning.

Any photographs and information should be sent to:

blacktowercg@hotmail.com

Please identify your email is concerned with the study by adding "H&FS" in the subject bar.

And THANK YOU in advance for your cooperation!

                                                                          

* In any notes or texts no exact address nor identification of contributors is made except when crediting the person supplying the photo/information (in print initials or pseudonym can be used)

**If you notice mange in the foxes you see or any injuries I urge you to contact the National Fox Welfare Society who do great work in helping and treating injured and sick foxes and is a charity.

https://www.facebook.com/foxwelfare/

British Big Cats

I know that not all cats that are non native and in the UK are members of the Big cat family. To make it clear I will repost this piece from the last post.

The Red Paper: Felids will be Science based document to be submitted  to DEFRA, Home Office as well as other groups with an interest.

Between 1977~2012 I worked as an exotic fauna consultant to UK police forces and was also consulted by both German and Dutch police forces regarding large, non native cat sightings (as coordinator of the Exotic Animals Register). I also worked with farmers, game keepers, estates as well as other official bodies to assess sightings, activity and tracks, kills and scat.

Neither the EAR nor I are involved in hunting and it is necessary to emphasize this as some individuals have been unwilling to give information without a guarantee that no hunting is involved).  Under existing laws trapping of any animal cannot take place without the guarantee of secure transport to a licensed wildlife park or zoological garden.

It is not anything to do with any government body.  It is a private study by a naturalist of 50 years: me.

I am not interested in accounts of shape shifting cats or cats with "paranormal powers".

Only real evidence would be accepted.

1) Please, if you can make recasts of prints in your possession that you wish to submit, do so.  Vagaries of the postal system means items can get lost or be broken so do not send all your casts and the ones you do suitably protect.

2) If you only have clear photos of paw~prints suspected of having been made by a large cat then please forward these as jpegs only and head any message as Big Cats Photograph.

3) If you have photographs of animals allegedly killed by a non native cat please forward these under the heading above but subject head  "Big Cats Photograph. Kill"

4) If you suspect that you have scat/droppings from a non native cat or other samples "Big Cats Photograph. Samples"

5) Please do not send any samples until they can be assessed and analysis guaranteed.

6) Always include dates, times, locations where any evidence/photographs was taken.

7) Always include your contact details

8) Anyone can contribute to the study and please be aware that submissions from the public are submitted under the guarantee of confidentiality. No identifying information will be included in the final report though to authenticate evidence as genuine I would require this (from 1977~2012 no witness has ever been identified without explicit permission ~this is a guarantee).

9) All communication will be via letter or email unless specific extra details are required so if you can, please include a phone number.

That is it. Nothing too scary and no groups are excluded whether farmers groups or UK Big Cat groups or naturalists: any genuine evidence is accepted.

Note that anonymous submissions will not be included in the study and will probably be binned.

Initial contact via email to:

blacktowercg@hotmail.com

Thank You