There was a naturalist, rather sceptical when it came to reports of non natvice cats in the UK. I would mention a report to him and he would tell me how unreliable witnesses were and say Probably a large house cat".
I promised him never to give out his name because of what he saw.
He had gone up to Scotland to visit a friend who offered to take him to one of the best fishing spots around. So he drove to Scotland, had a pleasant day talking over work with the friend and then one morning he was taken to the fishing spot. Apparently secluded, surrounded by bushes and woodland. His friend remembered that there was a call coming through that morning so had to rush off. The naturalist (who was a Professor of biology by the way) sat back and soon caught a big fish that he knew his friend would be envious of so put it on a nearby bag.
Apart from birdsong it was quiet. Very relaxing. Then there was a rustle in bushes to his rear and in his mind it was either his friend returning or a fox unaware he was there. "I can hear you. I know you are there" he said. No response but he heard a movement so just glanced to one side. He froze. Walking casually toward the bag with the fish on it was a puma: "Biggest bloody cat I've ever seen. Male -I noticed that as he walked off!" The puma ignored him, picked up the fish and walked off. About 2o seconds all together and not long after the man's friend returned and saw a very ashen faced naturalist frozen to the spot.
He eventually explained to his friend what had happened. Huge laugh -"BIGGEST fish caught? Taken by a bigger cat?" All weekend that joke was repeated. I kept professional chatting to him while wanting to yell "Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah!". He described a puma in every detail and when he told his boss he was told "Yes. Let's keep that to ourselves shall we? We need those grants to keep coming in!"
I was then contacted by a zoologist who had been studying puma on Vancouver Island. As he put it "Trying to study them" -they knew the cats were there, saw the occasional tracks and heard the odd vocalisation but in a year he had not seen one. Travelling along the road one day in good clear and sunny weather he was driving casually taking in the view and fresh air. Glancing out of the car window he saw something move into sight. He slowed down and watched as an adult puma casually strolled along a field some 200 yards away until it moved into some trees. The zoologist then carried on for about half a mile before braking and said out loud "Wait. That is not right!"
The man had flown from Canada the day before, hired a car and was still in the "I'm in Canada" mindset when he saw the cat -in the Scottish Highlands. Hence his sudden braking. "I was going to tell the team I'm finally seen one of the damned cats then realised where I was" he told me.
So what about a sernior lecturer in zoology who had been involved in puma work in the US and Canada who, "in perfect viewing conditions", stops his slow moving car as a black puma steps out into the road, stops, looks at him before moving on? He told me how he sat in thecar and noticed each diagnostic feature of a puma and once it had moved off he got out of the car and took road and barrier measurements to get an idea of size. A biologist, who refused flatly to talk to the zoologist whose word was not in question, told me "Oh, he probably saw a panther!" To this the zoologist asked me to get the biologist to talk to him (he wouldn't): "If I had seen a leopard I would never have gotten out of my car afterwards to make measurements. A puma is a puma and a leopard a leopard!"
One biologist told me that he was at a farm one day and a faremer had shown him a deer carcasse. "It looked typical large cat kill" he told me. The farmer had seen the cat in question. Two other men present said "Oh that's dog attack -you can claim on your insurance and we'll back you up on that. Not a cat" As they uttered those words (making it clear that if the farmer wanted his compensation they would back that...as long as it was a 'dog attack') some 50 yards away "The biggest black cat I've ever seen in my life walked across the path ahead of us." Thetwo sceptics rushed off to their cart and refused to acknowledge what they had seen. Those men were from DEFRA.
Members of badger watch groups -including some well known naturalists- have seen these cats. Some have been sighted in an area for 15-20 years indicating that there are offspring (as I've proven). There are five (5) areas where I received unconnected reports from and discovered that not just the current generation of parents were telling their children what to do if they see a "large cat" but that they were taught this by their parents who had been taught by THEIR parents and this led back to the 1920s/1930s. At one point I had 4 people from different parts of the same village report a large cat to me (no, I did not tell them WHO else had reported the cat).
It takes decades to start finding these things out and only then after people who are protecting the existence of these animals -farmers, estate owners, game keepers, country shooters and many others- have checked me out. Even then it is not unknown for me to be told "you had better NOT tell anyone else!"
I found that the British Naturalists Association (f 1905) knew about the cats. The National Farmers Union knew about the cats. Police forces and other official bodies knew about the cats so why does DEFRA lie while killing any "exotic" they can?
I have studied the data going back to the 19th century and the existence of "exotics" -cat or otherwise- has had no detrimental effect on "natural" fauna -in fact it has had positive effects in many cases. Apart from a few hoaxes no human being has been injured or seriously harmed by a free living "exotic" in the UK going back to the19th century.
Wildlife tourism could well be very profitable for the economy. Hiring people to hunt or trap and kill exotics is very expensive and is an openly known fact to everyone but the public.
The United Kingdom needs to once and forall stop wanton killing of these animals. With millions or rabbits and deer many of the species that have become native after a very long time are good at "pest control".
Like the fact that the UK had a rather barbaric fur industry until recent years is being whiote-washed so is the killing of many exotic species each year. Introduced or not: it is still an evolutionary process taking place and it has balanced out well.
Ask your MP to stop the exotic (some times exotic pets are killed, too) killing in the UK.
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