"What did you learn about Big Cats in the UK then?"

 "What did you learn about Big Cats in the UK then?"

As I keep pointing out to people there is only one member of the Big Cat family noted in the UK -Panthera pardus. The puma is a Medium Sized cat. So I learnt not to call lynx, golden cats, pumas etc "Big".

I was not just collecting newspaper clippings and jumping into local news to pose for photos holding a pair of binoculars and be called a "big cat hunter" (in fact, reporters started calling me the "Big Cat Detective" and that was picked up by radio and TV).

What did I find out about territories? Well I found out what else lived in those areas -ducks, geese, rabbits, deer etc -that there were well travelled territories cats moved around and so on.

If you know the prey then you know where the cats will go and then move on.

In Wales a situation developed where it was possible to tell whether a certain male or female puma had killed an animal -both had distinctive ways of eating (this is how we worked out the males territory). We also worked out the female was not a good mother when it came to training her young -they were "messy killers".

The index cards covering just territories and identified cat species is an inch thick of closely typed notes.

I am a naturalist not a hobbyist.

Cards also note historical and other activity up until present. For instance, it was always thought that wolverine (Gulo gulo) did not get into the UK countryside until after the 1976 Dangerous Wild Animals Act or when fur farms were made illegal. Along with the Swansea Uni team I found out that wolverines were also in 19th century travelling menageries -notorious for the number of escapes of all types of animals.

I should point out that the most common used cage opened both ways -inwards and outwards!

Since DEFRA once threatened to legally seize my records (they had no legal back-up on this and it was just a threat) I keep most details in my head so the index cards give good information but most is locked away in my head.

Also, I can distinguish between a jaguarundi, puma, panther and domestic cat which most people involved "in the business" cannot (not everyone is that bad!).

Oh, and I have all the maps to back-up the index cards.

So in response to the question asked; since 1977 I have learnt a LOT.