The beast of Baglan
 

No, not me.....but it's out there!

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/di...=sidebarsearch

Baglan is a small village and happens to be the part of Port Talbot in which I live - I'll be taking my camera everywhere with me now :D

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

Can Clarie not just take a piccie of you and job done ?? :Sprint:

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

Grrrr......

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

no Russ, should be more a purrrrrrrrrrr :D :D

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

Or, in the case of a big cat:

PURRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

A long time ago spent some time in Wales, I think I may have gone out with this girl ! ;)

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

This story certainly gives a greater credibility to the other big cat stories around the country...

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

It would do because it was supposedly spotted by a copper, if it was spotted by a normal memebr of the public the press would have laughed. It's nice to see that they took a cast of it's foot and tested it for DNA "another waste of police money".

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

Such as the sighting of the large (actually, huge) black cat which the authorities claimed was just an unusually large domestic moggy? Please. Its tail alone was longer than a Norwegian Forest Cat, and they're about the biggest breed of felis domesticus there is.
That was no moggy. It was a panther. End of story. There have been many cases of cattle and sheep being killed by something which left wounds entirely consistent with those which might be inflicted by a big cat. I don't think any dog, however large, could kill a cow - but a big cat could.

The theory as to where these big cats came from is that they're escapees and/or illegal releases from the various private zoos which were briefly popular in the 70s before they were first heavily licensed, then banned altogether. Doubtless their former owners thought they wouldn't survive in Britain's harsh climate - forgetting that while Africa is much warmer, in terms of survivability it is no less harsh. Big cats are highly adaptable survivors; colder climes wouldn't bother them all that much.

If anything, Britain is a more favourable environment - virtually no competition for food and territory, as the UK's largest native cat is the Scottish Wildcat (which isn't much bigger than a domestic cat); lots and lots of cover (moorlands, forests, hedgerows etc.); and, best of all, easy prey in the form of cattle and sheep. Frankly, I'm surprised there haven't been more sightings than those reported.

But I hope the police et al don't overreact by shooting them; big cats will avoid people instinctively, and thus won't be all that dangerous. Granted they should be caught, just in case, but they should either be sent to sanctuaries or back to their native lands. Shooting them isn't necessary. Some of them are far too rare as it is.

Here's a question: the BBC has big cat experts on its staff, viz. the Big Cat Diary crew. Why not send them to look for these cats? They've had years of experience tracking down even the most elusive of cats, the leopards; they shouldn't find it too hard tracking them down here.

BTW: the article says, "We have been told it is not a puma but either a mountain lion or a lynx." Oh, good grief. A 'mountain lion' is a puma. So much for these 'experts'. :erm:
Mountain lion, puma and cougar are three names for the same animal (though there are several more) - the name varies with the cat's native region: puma in South America, cougar in the western states of North America, mountain lion in and around California. The photo is definitely not of a puma, but a lynx - smaller, native to more wintery climes such as Canada, but no less beautiful.

---------- Post added at 07:11 ---------- Previous post was at 06:52 ----------

If you see it, Russ, please post any photos you manage to take!

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

The pic on that news story look remarkibly like the one on wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

Actually, that's not so stupid as it sounds. Even if they are essentially the same animal, there will be subtle genetic differences between the South African and North American animals. So it is reasonable for the 'experts', on the basis of DNA tests on the hairs, to be able to rule out 'puma' but not be able to say whether it's a lynx or mountain lion - presumably genetic differences between the North American varieties are less noticeable due to the possibility of interbreeding.

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

So now we know where they got that reference picture from :D

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

Latest picture is in!!!

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

You have waaaay too much time on your hands. :erm: :D

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

Took me ages that did - people kept asking me to do my job while I was doing it ;)

Anyway, never miss the opportunity to take the mickey - you know that :D

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

It's the Lynx effect... ;)

Is that my coat? Ta :walk:

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

Looks like someone fell out of the dopey tree and hit every branch on the way down..... :D

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

Coming from the guy who bounced at the bottom and hit 'em all on the way back up as well ;) :p:

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

I expect Ian Blair to announce imminently that a terrapin has been arrested on suspicion of being the Baglan Big Cat...

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

More likely he will announce that a 200kg Bengal Tiger has been shot dead after refusing to heed repeated warnings. Then, a couple of days later, it will emerge that they have in fact killed Tibbs, Mrs Jones' ginger tom, who was sauntering into her kitchen after hearing a can of whiskas being opened. :erm:

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

'The complaint in relation to the tragic killing of Tiddles will be heard by Mr. I Blair (no relation) and will be as full, frank and open as is possible in the five minutes he has between TV interviews.'

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

Apparently its main diet is that of banjo players and people who only have one eyebrow.

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

It's going to be f*ckin hungry then, isn't it?

:D

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

Nah, from what I've heard, in that part of the world its food stocks are plentiful.

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

How grown up of you :rolleyes:

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

Awww.. what's up Russ, leave your sense of humour at home today. Thanks for the rep I'll treasure it.

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

Seems the police are now backtracking
http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/di...=sidebarsearch

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

"The only evidence of the existence of a large cat is the several unconfirmed sightings from members of the public."

If more than one person has reported a sighting, doesn't that confirm it? :confused: If not, what 'confirmation' is he waiting for?

Re: The beast of Baglan
 

I'm going big-cat hunting this afternoon :D

I'm going to my mate's house which backs on to the mountain where all this has happened to I'll have my camera ready along with a few tins of whiskers :disturbd:


Well - I might get hungry :shrug: