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Mystery Australian Big Cat Shot
mugley writes "The Sunday Herald Sun is running a story about the shooting of a large cat, believed to be a leopard or puma, in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Alien big cats have long been a topic of interest for cryptozoologists (and more recently, Lance Henriksen and his credit card) - is this the first real evidence of their existence?" From the article: "Mike Williams, a representative of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, a body that researches mysterious or out-of-place animals, said he believed it was concrete evidence that big cats are on the loose in Australia. Hundreds of sightings have been reported over the years and a leaked government document revealed 59 sightings had been reported in Gippsland between 1998 and 2001. The cats are said to be descendants of animals that either escaped from zoos or circuses or were released by US airmen who kept them as mascots while stationed in Australia in World War II. "
I don't know exactly what this is, but I can't see a Cat in it, in fact it doesn't look like anything, and the picture quality isn't the best either.
LETS KILL IT!!!
"It was comin' right for us!"
-- You are in a maze of little, twisty passages, all different... --
At least he remembered to yell "He's coming straight for us!" before he shot it...
On a serious note, how do you hit an animal behind the shoulder and blow it's head off? Wouldn't that mean the cat was running away?
"... believed to be a leopard or puma..."
:-?
How does one confuse a leopard with a puma, especially when the animal in question is not running, but lying dead in front of you?
Or maybe they are talking about mysterious out-of-place big cats that alternate between two shapes
-A
"- What's so unpleasant about being drunk?"
"- You ask a glass of water."[from h2g2]
Are we sure these aren't kittens of something even bigger?
Software freedom...I love it!
The retired engineer said he lugged the cat back to his camp, but put the carcass into the river after removing the tail and photographing it.
Why oh why?
The best part of the article is this when the hunter says, "The predator charged in his direction." He's obviously been watching too much South Park. I be t the cat was running in the opposite direction and he yelled "Look out, its coming right for us", and shot it.
Stupid cat wanted to borrow tree fidy, so I shot it.
I'm agneglectic, too lazy to care if there is a God.
No , not at all . There have been numerous examples found over the years . As the article saysWhat is interesting is the cats origin , Is it a pure puma or has it interbred with other escaped cats in the bush
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
Bad, bad eucalyptus. Global warming is accelerating (marsupials).
I doubt that we will ever figure out - and I suspect that even if we did figure out we couldn't do much about it
Nice variation though. "Threw the carcass in the river".... Yeah, right.
While the cats may not be endangered on Earth, could they be endangered in Australia (as in the number of them in Australia is at a dangerous level for the cats to continue without becoming extinct)? If so, should they be protected? While having pumas (assuming that's what this is) roaming around Australia near populated areas isn't a good thing to have, shouldn't the government now step in and assess their affect on the environment, and if possible (while keeping humans and the environment at large safe) allow the population of the puma's to grow to a level where they won't be threatened with extinction? I'm not saying it CAN be done (they're a wild animal so they're dangerous to humans and they're not native to Australia so it's quite likely they'll have a large impact on it), it should at least be considered before the hunters of Victoria are let loose.
It might be a bit of a jump to say they're population in Australia is endangered, but if they are escaped creatures that were once captive, there can't be too many of them out there, so to me it's logical that they would be faced with extinction.
A Puma Ate my baby!
I'd say more, but my guild is raiding.
It was in a superposition of states, clearly:
{ |leopard> + |puma> } / sqrt(2)
When they measure the carcass, they will of course find that it has collapsed to one or the other.
They have a fierce scream too, which sounds fairly human and sometimes causes alarm for that reason. Don't know if they appear in Australia however(?)....
I suggest you read Slashdot
I think the prevailing theory is that Australia's large marsupials went very well with a gourd of fermented grape, since they all went extinct around the time early humans arrived in Australia...
I was in the Australian Army for a number of years and participated in exercises in the National Park near Sale. I was mates with numerous soldiers who had claimed to seen the Gippsland cat whilst on exercise in the national park but no photos were ever taken. Funny thing was we were more intrigued by the local prison population who did community work in the forest with their bright orange jumpsuits than by mysterious big cats.
* Introduced Species, check
* Predatory behaviour, check
* Running unchecked in the Australian bush, check
Considering how much damage smaller introduced animals (cats, dogs, rats, mice, rabbits, foxes, cane toads, et al) have done to our wildlife, do we really want much larger ones running around unchecked? :D
I'd say not - the real question is how this guy managed to have a gun, given our mega tight gun laws
This hunter is bold man. Kzinti won't forigive killing their recon and hanging his body in such humiliating manner.
Ok, this situation is hilarious. In Australia I suppose its not only ok but ENCOURAGED by the media to be a crazy redneck shooting random wild animals? I guess they have a history of roughing it and theres dangerous animals a-plenty, but still that culture seems a little bit whacked out. Just look how happy that crazy redneck in the picture is.
I guess that at least its extremely funny, if a bit strange and creepy.
"If you put butter and salt on it, it tastes like salty butter." -Terry Pratchet, on Popcorn.
I won't beleive anything 'till you bring me a faeces sample, and not just the faeces of someone who's seen this mystery animal!
For those who aren't familiar with it, is one of the trashiest "newspapers" around. And the Centre for Fortean Zoology's whose mission statement is "At the beginning of the 21st Century monsters still roam the remote, and sometimes not so remote, corners of our planet. It is our job to search for them."
News for nuts.
:wq
this seems fishy to me. Firstly, the hunter reckons his bullet blew the feline's head apart, and from the photo it really looks like there is NOTHING left of it... would a RIFLE bullet really do that much damage? I mean, if it was a shot gun, fired into it's face, then yea, but a rifle fired from behind, passing in behind the ear and THEN blowing the head apart?
Secondly, rather than pack out this surely important find, he cuts off the tail and just takes that with him, I mean, if it were me, I'd be carrying the whole carcass out, or at least marking and burying it so they can come back and retrieve it. It's not even like he had to carry it, he could have strapped it on like a backpack (I believe this is how hunters carry deer), tied it on the back of the bike, or even towed it behind the bike wrapped in a tarpaulin or something, it was dead anyway not like he could have hurt it any more than it was.
Thirdly, the fact that he shot the thing, when it was not a threat (he says it turned away, side on), with a rifle. I've never shot a gun, rifle or otherwise, but I imagine that with a rifle there needs to be some aiming involved, he was calm enough to aim, and fire the gun, making a clean shot into the cats head... if a big cat graced my path, I think I'd be frozen stiff, hoping like hell it won't be interested in me, not tracking it with the sights on my rifle.
I dunno, this whole thing just seems really fishy to me. Not that there couldn't be a few big cats roaming the Australian countryside, but have a sneaking suspicion that this was not one of them.
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mysterious or out-of-place animals, said he believed it was concrete evidence
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
Then, I know, I'll cut off its TAIL!
Hmm, what about the rest of the carcass? Hey, I'll throw it away!
What was this guy thinking? He kills a rare "urban myth" creature (one he had never seen in 50 years hunting the outback), proving the claims of hundreds of farmers (whether he knew it or not), and the best plan he can come up with is 'keep the tail - throw out the rest'? He was hunting deer, right? He had to have some plan to carry the deer out of the wild, right?
Can you imagine the scene when he came back into town?
"Hey, see this black rope?"
"Yeah?"
"It's part of a gigantic cat I shot while I was hunting!"
"Yeah?" (Sceptically)
"Yeah!" (Brandishes tail) "Look, It was coming right at me!"
"Yeah. Right"
"No, REALLY..."
1. The Herald Sun is ... how should I put this... not renowned for its high standards of journalistic integrity.
2. A hunter shoots a 'mythical beast', takes a photograph of the carcass (but not a very good photo, it's hard to tell WTF it is he's shot) and then only bothers to bring back the tail?
Oh Puh-lease !
3. I've been hiking in places which really have big cats (national parks in South America) and the paw-prints and 'traces' (puma sh#t) are everywhere. If there was a population of big cats in Gippsland, we'd know about it.
Quidquid Latine dictum sit, altum videtur (anything said in Latin sounds important)
How will encrypting these animals help the situation? Is Schneier in on it?
...or were released by US airmen who kept them as mascots while stationed in Australia in World War II.
Am I the only American to feel vaguely embarassed to once again be seen as the descendant of a bunch of knuckleheaded yokels?
"Oh, sure, we may have released gigantic carnivores in your backyard, but we sure saved everyone's asses in WWII."
The photo looks fake, like those ones where you hang something up close to the camera and pretend it is further away and bigger.
This is probably a feral cat, something there is no shortage of in the bush. By the time the DNA results come back they will have had their 15 minutes of fun.
I'm guessing that wasn't on their radar screen...
I've hiked in areas with cougars, ( nagali is the indian word it means Lord of the Forest ). I've been tracked by cats. They're big kitties and like all cats they're curious. I've woken in winter and exited my tent to find paw prints up along side the perimeter of the tent, the cat having walked quietly all around the tent. I've backtracked to find a fresh kill twenty minutes back from where I had been and had not noticed a cat ( they smell like big wet dogs ).
You can talk with multitudes of wilderness pros and not meet one who has actually seen a big cat. They're next to invisible. I've meet 5. One lay a few feet from me in the dark outside the door of an 8 x 8 cabin an airborne colonel had flown into a wilderness area. When I open the door to go for wood ( the cabin had a small firebox ), the single candle that lit the cabin cast a long light out the door and onto the cat. I was carrying an axe. I dropped the axe, flew backwards into the cabin and slammed the door ( adrenelin can give you superpowers), while the cat tore out of the underbrush and sprinted into the treeline.
In my meetings with cats only once did I know I was approached as prey. Cougars don't see us as prey.
In the hundred or so years records have been kept there have only been a handfull of lethal attacks by big cats on the west coast. Interestingly nearly all have been on Vancouver Island. The theory goes that the thick sala underbrush allows the cats to get close. Almost all attacks have been by sick or old cats.
Wild animals met with knowledge and respect can usually be party to an incredible experince (my north american exceptions would be grizzilies, polar bears and wolverines, oh and skunks). I've gotten close up and personal with wolves (very rare experience, beautiful, beautiful animals) and countless bears (most black, one grizzily and her cub very very scary).
On the other hand there is near unanimous agreement that pound for pound a leopard is the most dangerous lethal killer on the planet.
"Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
Cohen
How do we know for sure he shot the cat in Australia?
(Score:5, Not Funny)
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"It looks like a big cat..." "What like a Puma?" "Yeah there ya go."
The Tech Terminal
At the end of WW2 many US Army units in Australia turned their mascots free into the bush. It has long been wondered if enough were set free to meet and breed and if these could have included large leopeards, pumas and jaguars. I personally have never believed it but it looks like I was wrong.
Another possible source is circuses losing animals (or setting them free after they lose their licence for the animals? anything is possible).
I wouldn't be at all surprised if this cat turns out to be some kind of hybrid.
For those who are interested, a Scotsman released moose into the wilds of the South Island of New Zealand a hundred years ago and they have never been seen since. Every now and then a camper comes out of the bush with tales of a monster. An intriguing prospect.
How is this "news" interesting to nerds? It's a story about some Australian hick who killed an animal.
F.
"The bullet entered behind the cat's shoulder and blew its head off, he said."
/. readers are hunters who can elaborate)
That's a lot of firepower. What was he hunting? Is this a normal hunting rifle? (I reckon some of the
Yeah, there is a good bit of aiming involved. This guy was apparently an experienced hunter, and some of those guys areinsanely good shots. When it turned away, it was actually a harder shot because it was moving side to side (bearing change) rather than coming straight at him.
He said he hit it behind the shoulder (which is about where you would aim) and the bullet destroyed the head. This implies either that the cat was running away from him, or the bullet was deflected inside the cat's body (probably by a bone or rib.)
Finally, if he was using hollow points (which is more likely in some rifles than in others) it could very easily blow the majority of the head off. So, maybe.
That paper's not very credible, though, and lots of people are saying the big cats are just myths, and he did throw away his best evidence. So, maybe not.
Interesting idea, either way.
Let's see, Pumas are a tan color with no spots, Leopards are a yellowish color with spots. The cat (?) in the picture appears to be black.
Huh?
Am I the only American to feel vaguely embarassed...
As a matter of fact, you are. That's why we keep you around. Like the cat in TFA, you're a rare and elusive zoological curiosity.
I do wish you wouldn't just sleep all day on that little shelf at the back of the cage, though. Couldn't you do tricks, rattle the bars, recite Maya Angelou poetry, something?
To clean all the blood off.
Because dead bodies of large animals that look like those of endangered species don't exactly pass through Customs at Schiphol airport.
If the cat is sideways (with respect to the hunter) and slightly at an angle. The bullet enters behind the shoulder (which is blocking most of the head since they walk with them hanging down), punches through into the head, then punches out the front of its face. Thus: blown apart cat head.
He did carry the whole carcass back. Did you read the whole article? Not to mention, look at the photo where the carcass is hanging from a tree.
I am just simply confused as to what the difference between a "large cat" and a puma/leapord/lion is. The articles all start by describing that it looks like a puma but then don't give much of a description from there. From what ive always thought...a puma does qualify as a "large cat".
Maybe it means "your finger"?
You know...the guy points to the animal, turns and asks his Native American friend..."So what's this called?"
From the article:
... He was making long jumps ... On about the third jump I shot him.
The predator charged in his direction
Does anyone else find this "story" a little OUTRAGEOUS? If this cat was so elusive to go undetected for decades, why would the thing decide to charge at the first sight of a human? And this guy is going to have the nerve to stand his ground and pick off a big leaping agile cat with a single shot. Yeaaaaaah. Ok.
I'm reasoning the guy probably felt a little remorse for running over a peaceful magestic animal with his truck in a drunken stupur and made up this crap story to make it sound like he was defending himself. If I were the law, I'd be grilling this guy to find out if it wasn't someone's unwanted exotic pet. Here in the US animal cruelty is considered a very serious crime.
You are probably referring to the Tasmanian Tiger. It actually was a marsupial wolf that had stripes, so ignorant humans called it a 'tiger'. The humans then proceeded to place a bounty on its head and hunt it into extinction. It was indigineous to the area. The humans were less so. Seth
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Here in the Netherlands, the country's media was recently abuzz for a while over news of a puma living in the forests here. Given the tiny nation here is not much bigger than tasmania and with 16m people, it got locals rather nervous:
details at expatica
Sparks:Gadget:Beer Maker
I think my ex-wife with a rifle is way more dangerous.
These cats are descendants of cats released 70 or more years ago. So they were released in breeding pairs and have escaped capture for that length of time. I am more interested in the sighting of a Fortean.
Its hard to say based on how little was said in the report. But the most logical idea is that the animal was running to the left (the report clearly states this) to escape and given the lack of thick, dense trees (look at the trees in the background), the hunter fired with a heavy caliber rifle. Bullet goes through the back of the arm but doesn't hit bone, so it keeps going and hits the skull. The rifle is TOO powerful for such a target (remember, 80 yards is considered to be short to medium range by shooters) and effectively destroys the skull, body comes crashing to a halt and the head smashes into the ground as a bloody pulp (it got 3 leaps off, so it was probably moving fairly quickly).
The rugged paws and the thick furry tail coupled with black color makes it fairly obvious that this is a puma. This is also plausible because pumas has a history of being used as pets.
I can't see anything wrong with the picture. You can see both the left and right front paws, and a severed head. The anatomy seems correct to me.
The head looks like that because when you're hunting, you don't use full metal jacket, nor do you usually use hollow point. You use very heavy and expanding lead-point bullets.
These bullets has a thin metal jacket and a hole in the nose, and they are filled with lead. On impact with an animal the nose of the bullet expands voilently and creates something similar to an explosion (way more powerful than any hollow point). As mentioned, the lead makes these bullets very heavy and they sport a massive amount of energy. They are made for two purposes: to kill and to kill as fast as possible.
After the impact and immediate expansion the bullet remains partly intact and can easily travel through the rest of the animal, creating even more damage.
Here's a picture of one of the most commonly used lead points, Nosler Partition: http://www.nosler.com/images/partition.jpeg.
Lead point bullets creates awfully lot of damage to tissue, and it doesn't surprise me one bit that the head was so severed. Even with a .222/3/* you can get that kind damage with the right bullet. I assume the hunter was using .308 or .30-06 or larger ammunition, which can effectively cut a small sized human in two when hit from the right angle with the right bullet.
If you watch hunting videos where they have zoomed in on the animals they shoot, you can often see a thick red mist at the impact of the bullet. In most cases, if it was a hit in the lung/heart region, the animals drops dead on the spot. That would *never* have happened with FMJ or hollow point.
The current theory (based on sightings and walk cycle inferred from measurement of footprints) is that the USAF Mascot explanation is an urban legend created to account for sightings, and that the creature is in fact a large, previously undocumented species of marsupial. This coincides with regional aboriginal folklore, and seeing as US airmen havent been visiting the land down under since 40 000 years ago, makes a lot more sense. Dont even get me started on the likelihood of a handful of non-native animals surviving and reproducing for several generations in a vast, hostile environment.
Anyway, what i know from speaking with cryptozoologists (and not just hobbyists, i mean the ones who have spent 30 years full time in the crazy habit):
-Native to Southern East coast, with absolutely zero sightings North of the Blue Mountains or West of Forbes
-Most commonly sighted in Gippsland, Victoria (and videotaped) and Lithgow, New South Wales (and videotaped (also where i was born))
-Sightings have increased as drought conditions worsen, with the sighting closest to Sydney taking place in Kenthurst (semi-rural area where i went to highschool) where a young man was "attacked" and left with ragged clawmarks on his forearms
-Looks more like a dog than a panther, tail extends horizontally, trots rather than slinks
-Unlike a cat, claws do not retract while it is walking (as evidenced in footprints)
-Can make hefty leaps, capable of dragging a sheep carcass into a tree
-Documented report of a close encounter with a police officer in a car, who radioed the sighting as it occured. The event was recorded, complete with an incredibly freaky roar
I'm an avid, experienced camper/hiker. You will not see most Australian wildlife unless it doesnt care that you see it, or you are very, very good at finding it. I can honestly say that having camped out at Newnes (forests of Blue Mountains out past Lithgow), you could pass within two meters of something the reported size of these things, be looking in its direction, and not even see it. There are parts of the refinery ruins up there that you dont notice until you are literally standing on top of them.
These things (if they are real) could evade capture and documentation for another several hundred years, no sweat. Theyre probably already an endangered species, but with so much totally uninhabited land to hide in, theyre not under much threat
Re-reading that, i feel i should also point out that i was born in Lithgow, a tiny coal mining town, but moved to suburban Sydney as a small child. Kenthurst is on the fringes between suburban and rural, meaning there are people who live there who dont work on farms, but not many. The two are several hours of driving apart, and even Kenthurst is half an hour in light traffic from my current location (the Hills district). Children growing up in Lithgow would never, ever go to school in Kenthurst, so the only reason there would have been sightings this far east would be if the creatures are being forced by the drought to find easier pickings, such as the farms of Kenthurst. I'm not saying i beleive we have a native big cat population, but i find this to be the most likely explanation.
Gotta love /.. A forum which prides itself on supposed skepticism of everything scientific but soon as history or politics are mentioned it's automatically "AMERICA TEH BAD!!11" or inbetween the lines ... "I CAN'T APPLY MY SCIENTIFIC SKEPTICISM TO REAL LIFE THAT IS WHY I AM SOCIALLY INEPT."
PETA mad!! PETA liek no killing animalss!!1! *pouts*
You know i find it a bit of a laugh how most people are dismissing this as a hoax..
...
For me i find this more plausable then "terroist attack in london" or "microsoft is cheaper to run the linux" sorry but this story doesnt have a reason to exsist it really doesnt, no one would give a rats if a big cat exisisted in australia, heck we have enough dangerous animals live around here then anywhere else in the world, a big black rare cat isnt going to trouble anyone...
Oh and the bit about the cat runing to the left, perfectly plausable, regular tactic for the feline family to attack their opponent with their torso sideon incase they need a quick escape they can run forwards and evade
No it wasnt, what a load of crap... It was the regular people who are populuting our oceans with crap killing our sealife and people logging the amzon for fossil fuels to power cars, some guy in the bush doing some recreational hunting isnt the reason why our planet is screwed!
How could this person possibly kill such a magnificent creature and discard its body without ever finding out what it tasted like?
It's the drop bears that are endangered. Those and the Yowies.
Nerd: Derogatory term typically directed at anybody with a lower Slashdot ID than you.
Felines are the most effective Killing Machines Nature has created.
In Mainland Australia, the Top of the food chain was Dingos, Quolls and Antechinus. When you introduce Domestic Cats, they quickly move to the top of the food chain and grow. And Grow and Grow and Grow.
My Brother was out hiking with some mates, when they got back to where the car was parked, one of his mates (who plays lots of Football) saw a Feral Kitten (about the size of a Domestic Cat), and booted it as hard as he could ('cos he's a sadistic Bastard). The Kitten went flying 10 metres, landed and came running at them. My brothers Sadistic Mate still has the scars on his leg.
My Father got a Goat Skin from an old Tracker, who claimed to have found a Feral Cat when he was out Hunting Goats. This 6"6' Bloke claimed to have lifted he Cat up at the base of the tail, and the head was still touching the ground. It had been disembowled by a Mother Ring-Tailed Possum, defending it's young. (1" retractable claws and 5mm thick skin are no match for 3" retractable claws and 1cm thick skin)
These Rural Myths about Black Panthers are just Feral Cats, selected through Evolution to be big and black.
His name was Karl Popper. And my "karma" is superior to yours. ;-)
However, I agree about the story. Dumped the carcass? Head blown off?? Right...
I've just been reading through the other comments, and it seems like there's a lot of ignorance about animals, guns, cryptozoology, etc. So here are my thoughts. . .
1. If it's real, it's a leopard. Pumas (i.e. cougars) don't come in black. There have been rumours and legends of black pumas for a long time, but nobody's ever shown one. Melanistic leopards -- popularly known as a black panther -- by comparison are well known.
2. Leopards or pumas could survive in Australia, it's not far-fetched at all. In the Americas, pumas live in almost every environment: jungles, swamps, forests, plains, deserts, mountains. They are highly adaptable. If you drop one into the Australian wilderness, it has no way of knowing that this is supposed to be an "alien and hostile" land.
3. It is plausible for the head to be destroyed by the rifle shot. It's not common, but depending on the caliber and bullet used, it could possibly happen.
4. There are hillbillies where I live in central Texas. Yes, when they see a strange animal, their first impulse is to shoot it. It's not just a stereotype. On the other hand, that doesn't mean this hunter was a hillbilly. Shooting a black panther in Australia would appear to be justified for a number of reasons: it's an invasive, non-native species, and of course you'd like to have some proof to show they're out there.
5. As described in the story, it's a shot somebody could make. It's not a shot everybody could make, but hunters vary widely in their marksmanship skills, their coolness under pressure, and their damn fool luck. Here in Texas, pumas get shot once in a while by a random hunter or rancher (i.e. someone who isn't actively hunting pumas or tracking them with dogs). It's quite rare, it happens maybe once in 20 or 30 years, but it happens.
The hoax question is an interesting one. . . My first reaction when I saw the photo was: Let's see the skeptics dismiss THIS! You just don't get clear photos of mythical animals, it doesn't happen. Plus the tail and pending DNA test. . .
Then I thought it over, and. . . Yeah, it could be a hoax. Assuming the tail really has been sent for DNA analysis, that should go a long way to settle the issue (though, it's always possible that he could have smuggled in a piece of a leopard's tail from somewhere).
The question becomes: if this isn't proof, what would be? Do you have to capture one alive and put it on display? And if you did, would someone then claim it was smuggled into the country, and it's still a hoax? If you've got an issue where some people consider it worthwhile to expend some effort to fool the public, then it's tough because they can be quite devious and ingenious in their hoaxing.
I live in a dense populated country (UK) with no native large wild cats. For at least twenty years now there have been persistent claims of pumas or leopards living wild here, probably released by their owners when keeping them was made illegal. Numerous press reports, even books on the subject. At one stage army snipers were called in for a stake-out. Sightings are usually referred to as "The Beast" - the Beast of Bodmin, the Beast of Exmoor, and only last week half a dozen miles away claims of a sighting of the Beast of Long Hanborough.
One Beast, it was claimed, broke into someone's outhouse and stole several pounts of sausages from a fridge. The householder said they were alerted by the noise of the break-in and a terrible slurping sound. They stayed in their bedroom, quaking.
Just one problem. No body. No solid, untainted scientific evidence from anywhere in the world. In fact, nada.
We'd all like to believe it, I guess. We all have a deep, primitive need to believe it, perhaps. All of human history is full of tales of terrible but elusive predators, part real, part nightmare. The writer Bruce Chatwin theorized that this is the subconscious recalling the days earlier in our evolution when proto-humans were easy prey for big cats like sabre-toothed tigers.
Perhaps this is rather like alien sightings or ley lines. There are plenty of them where people believe in them and study them, and none at all where people don't.
Las qué passoun
tournoun pas maï
whilst this is a great troll, anyone who was dumb enough to join mensa can't be taken seriously.
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I reject your reality, and subsitute my own
You just blew the head off a georgeous and rare animal (check the pic out)
Ugh. My stomach did a cartwheel.
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Idiot! http://www.google.com/search?q=hunting+extinction
From TFA:
"The retired engineer said he lugged the cat back to his camp, but put the carcass into the river after removing the tail and photographing it."
There is where this whole thing turns into a hoax. He got some friend who was vacationing in Indonesia to buy an exotic animal tail and they made the rest of the story up.
Thundercats HO!
Slashdot, news for the gullible.
My bet is that GWB's admin will shortly have a report out with loads of evidence to show that Clinton released all the cats out there, just so that he could have some pussy (probably have both bill and hillary doing it).
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
The guy was on the news tonight, and his story was as fishy as. The reasons as to why he came back with such lousy proof are just odd, and he's heading off by himself to retrieve the rest (any day now) in secret for some poorly defined reason. If it was for real, you'd think he'd be pretty keen to at least have it up behind the bar at the local pub or something, the story's vibe was just wrong.
I am surprised that it's made the front page of Slashdot, then again...
Xix.
(off to watch the MST3K episode of "Puma Man")
"Everything is adjustable, provided you have the right tools"
First, he got rid of the proof (except for the "tail"). Then, there is a Mr. ROSWELL in the story? As in NewMexicoCrashedUFO ROSWELL?? Fishier and fishier.
What did he have to kill it for?
/hoping for criminal charges
There are big cats native to the islands north of Australia. A lot of WWII happend there, too. If American service men obtained big cats for mascots this is probably where they came from.
Where were the bases where Americans were stationed? I think that for the Americans Austrailia was a base for air crews flying missions into the war zone, a forward base of operations closer to the war zone, and a R&R destination closer to the war zone. I think many of the Americans in Australia were in the Northern part. I'm speculating. Can somebody out there who knows clue us in?
I would imagine that the climate etc of the northern part of Australia would be more like the native teritory of these cats. I think they would be more likly to establish a self sustaining breeding population. This is possibly a weak argument, non-native species somtimes do well outside their native climate.
South Eastern Austrailia is, however, the part that is the nearest to Tasmainia, home of the Thylacine. Tasmania does have a fauna distinct fauna that of the mainland of Australia. However, it may be that something similar, or filling a similar niche could have evolved on the mainland. Or humans may have introduced them to the mainland.
This is an incredable long shot, obviously. But it would not be the first time that an animal thought to be extinct was discovered alive outside of what its native ranged was believed to be. If it was a new, large marsupial this would be truly exciting.
All we have here are opossums.
I read the article in my Sunday paper (I'm well north of Gippsland) and the first thing that struck me was how sharply focused the "Great Hunter" and the background was ... and how fuzzy the "Monster Cat/Puma/Beast" was.
Ever seen a fishermans "prize catch"? A herring held real close to the camera lens looks just like the Great White Shark out of the Jaws Movie.
Panther? Puma? Porcine Avionics!
Don't blame me, it's usually 2 in the morning when I post
1. Bigs cats are not native to Oz.
2. Difficult for American aviators to smuggle a big cat in.
3. I've heard of German and Brit aviators with bigs cats.
Question - Pardon my stupidity, but why does the article suggest only American aviators as a source of the big cats. Couldn't Brit, Australian, or other Allied aviators have had one as a mascot?
RE: Russia had things almost finished before America came along. Why did America wait so long?
Before shooting yourself in the foot, check the facts, man.
1. When did the war start?
2. When should America have joined the Allies?
3. At what point did it change from a regional issue to one involving the world?
Check out some basic facts.
Many historians say the war started on 1 Sept 1939 when USSR and Germany invaded Poland. (That's when England and France declared war on Germany.)
Others say it started when Germany and USSR signed their secret "non-aggression treaty" to invade and divide up independent countries. Should America have declared war on Germany (and USSR) then? (I'm sure your history teachers taught why the USSR started fighting Germany. Did your history teachers explain why the USSR actively started the war on the side of the Axis?)
Others say it started in 1937 when Japan invaded China. Or 1931 when Japan invaded Manchuria. Maybe the USA should have declared war on Japan and Germany way back then? (You'd think someone invading your neighboring country would make you uncomfortable. But maybe Japan and USSR had an "understanding.")
I won't say America did it without major help from all the Allies. Nobody did it on their own. Someone pointed out that while Bletchly Park broke the codes, the info was useless without an ordinary soldier acting on the info.
Felis Cattus, is your taxonomic nomenclature,
an endothermic quadruped carnivorous by nature?
Your visual, olfactory and auditory senses
contribute to your hunting skills, and natural defenses.
I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations,
a singular development of cat communications
that obviates your basic hedonistic predilection
for a rhythmic stroking of your fur, to demonstrate affection.
A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;
you would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.
And when not being utilized to aide in locomotion,
it often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.
O Spot, the complex levels of behaviour you display
connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.
And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,
I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.
Data, "Schisms"
They took DNA evidence which seems to be gettng glossed over.
so, this type of animal is EXREMELY RARE in australia. so what does this dickwad do? he FUCKING KILLS IT. good job asshole!
the quality of articles continues its slow decline
a questionable story from a questionable source not related to linux,computers, REAL science, or even windows.
whats next, linking to loch ness stories ? come on editors !
...it's a displacer beast tentacle! ...and he threw away the skin! ...loser!
But who the hell shot the picture?
if it was a kzinti recon, it'd be the hunter strung up, not the other way around.
What's this about felines in cryptozoology?
Slashdot requires you to wait longer between hitting 'reply' and submitting a comment.
but he shot it anyways, while it was running away. Gee, such a dangerous animal.
I find it funny that they can't tell the difference between a leopard and a puma. Here's a hint, pumas don't come in black! Only Leopards and Jaguars do (in the big cat family).
How does one confuse a leopard with a puma, especially when the animal in question is not running, but lying dead in front of you?
Simmons, what have I told you about starting Slashdot stories about mythical animals?
Okay, After reading your comment I went back and took a good hard look at the picture, you're right, it's a domestic cat.
How do I know? I used to own a leopard (legally) and have handled several more for animal facilities over the years. The tail is too short, the feet are too small, the coloring is off, and the body shape isn't right.
That isn't a leopard.
I posted this above in response to another post:
Okay, After reading your comment I went back and took a good hard look at the picture, you're right, it's a domestic cat.
How do I know? I used to own a leopard (legally) and have handled several more for animal facilities over the years. The tail is too short, the feet are too small, the coloring is off, and the body shape isn't right.
That isn't a leopard.
.... He has another big cat to name an operating system after.
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
Considering how much damage smaller introduced animals (cats, dogs, rats, mice, rabbits, foxes, cane toads, et al) have done to our wildlife, do we really want much larger ones running around unchecked?
Some extinct Australian creatures, like the Tasmanian Tiger, would probably include humans in your list.
Seth
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
Cant have that pesky evidence that you faked it all laying around.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Here is an analysis of the DNA describing it as a wolf.
Here is an article in Audubon magazine titled, "How Tasmania's Marsupial Wolf Became Extinct."
So, I think you have no idea what you're anonymously talking about.
Seth
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
Steve Zissou: I'm going to find it and I'm going to destroy it. Possibly with dynamite.
Scientist: What would be the scientific purpose of killing it?
Steve Zissou: Revenge.
I hunt. Bullets do not send animals flying, nor do they cause such explosive damage--even rapid expanding bullets. They leave a cone of damage that MAY be bigger at the exit wound. Most often this is the case.but there is no "explosion" resulting from hydrostatic shock. A skull would not blow apart like that. They are hard. I'd say that was a housecat popped with a .22 or maybe even a smallbore shotgun.
There is a lot of BS about terminal ballistics out there because of Hollywood, videogames, and little boys. Don't think you know about it until you've seen it.
If a hunter shoots a big cat in the middle of Australia and no one is arround, does it still make a sound?
On land you have flies and other carnivores, as well as the smell coming off the carcas. In the water you hide the smell thus keeping most animals in a 20 mile range from finding the carcas. Think similar reasons to why carnivores burry/cover with dirt a prey they can't finish in one sitting.
Fly me to the moon Let me sing among those stars Let me see what spring is like On jupiter and mars
The primary species of large cat usually featured in Australian cryptozoological reports AFAIK is the thylacine, a large and very strange looking marcupial. They normally primarily appeared in Tasmania, but we had a few here on the mainland. They were supposed to have become extinct in the 30s, but people still see them occasionally, and a friend of my father's has sworn he saw one in front of his car in Gippsland one night...scared him half to death, he said.
;)
The cat in that photo doesn't appear to look anything like a thylacine, however. I never would have thought cougars born in captivity would be able to live in the wild over here, although there is livestock for them, and they could try and take on roos as well if they were sufficiently ambitious or hungry. I wouldn't place bets as to who'd come out second from a serious argument between a cougar and a large red roo though, either.
Given both the remoteness and the bizarre climate of Gippsland though (I've seen mosquitos in midwinter) I woudn't be entirely surprised if just about anything could live down there.
While I'll agree with the people that say that parts of the story sound unbelieveable, I think that with the tail for DNA testing there is enough evidence so that we should keep an "open mind" and wait and see what the testing reveals.
Also, having been interviewed and "quoted" by a newspaper before, I can tell you that the possibility exists that the story he told the reporter is not the one that you read. The reporter may have misquoted him or the editors may have changed the story enough so that if you asked the retired engineer; he may tell you that the story you read was hardly recognizable as the one he told! These guys are far more interested in selling their paper and ads than they are in telling the real story.
I've heard local stories about odd animals in the woods here in Minnesota (including albino sasquaches) and while I don't exactly believe them - but I've seen some strange things in the woods myself, including a pile of scat that was so big I would have hated to see the animal that left it! I've seen freak of nature animals that include white (not albino) deer, black and white squirrils. People I trust have told me about black deer and a grey bear (who I assume was a very old black bear).
http://www.snopes.com/photos/bugs/camelspider.asp
Look at the pic again. It's just an ordinary domestic cat hanging close to the camera. It also explains why it has no head. An ordinary cat's head comes off a lot easier (by maybe a larger predator? dog?) than the head of a puma!
Lance Henriksen and his credit card?????
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
Once you realize it it is so obvious. The head can have been taken off by a dog or other larger predator. It might even be a roadkill. Just look at the picture again. It's bloody hilarious, especially when "experts" come forward and proclaim to know the species and breed of cat and how it got its head blown off, and readers moderate them to 5:Informative. Hahahaha!
It's a cross between a leopard and a puma, bred for it's magical powers.
"Mr Engel said he found the remains of a freshly killed wombat nearby, which had had its skull crushed."
How many other big cats kill their prey by crushing their skulls. I know this is a signature of the way Jaguars kill their prey. Most big cats well strangle by the throat region, then again it's only a wombat. How big do wombats get.
I'm sure a cat species, that nobody has ever been able to confirm even existed, posed a HUGE PROBLEM to the outback wildlife environment.
Seriously, give me a break.
- It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
In soviet russia, the cat shoots you!
This sig is neither interesting, nor humorous. Including meta-humor.
The cats are said to be descendants of animals that either escaped from zoos or circuses or were released by US airmen who kept them as mascots while stationed in Australia in World War II. "
More americans fucking up the environment. It's Kyoto all over again. No wonder the Muslims want them dead! I'm French and I'd never hurt the environment.
Once you see it it's so obvious. It lost its head to a dog, a car, a larger predator or something like that. Here's a larger version of the picture._ page/0,5936,16855046%255E903,00.html
http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story
The article says:
"Kurt Engel photographed the dead animal and cut off its tail after shooting it while hunting deer in rugged terrain near Sale in June."
But look at the picture. There is a neat pile of firewood behind Kurt and it looks like a lawn in front of him and there's a dirt road close by--in this supposedly "rugged terrain." My guess is the poor cat is hanging from the porch roof.
It's hilarious though, especially with all the people proclaiming to know what species cat it is. You can be had.
There is sunlight falling on the front of Kurt. The cat's body is in shadow (or you would see reflexes). This is not possible if the cat body is large and hanging only some feet in front of Kurt, but perfectly consistent with it hanging close to the camera, with some other object (e.g., a roof) shading it from the sun.
Have a look at the photo - I had a good look yesterday on the front page of this laughable so-called newspaper. In the foreground you can see an out-of-focus black cat hanging from a piece of string. In the background note the in-focus hunter and motorbike - I'd say he's at least 4 or 5 metres behind the 'big cat'. In my estimation this makes the cat at most 60 cm (that's 2 feet for you Americans) long from the remains of its head to its stretched out hind leg. Hardly a monster. At most a relatively large feral domestic cat (which are very common in southest Australia).
This photo is an obvious fake. I examined it in some detail yesterday on the front page of this laughable so-called newspaper.
For those who have not seen the photoraphic 'evidence' there is an out-of-focus cat hanging in the foreground which, at first glance appears to be quite big. Then in the background there is the hunter standing next to his motorbike - both sharply in focus, as is the bushland behind him. This puts the cat very close to the camera, and the hunter about 4 or 5 metres back, in my estimation making the cat at most about 60 cm from the remains of its head to its extended hind leg. This appears to be a fairly large feral domestic cat (note: very common in southeast Australia) and not a puma (note: no evidence of their existence in southeast Australia).
"Kurt has killed an urban legend," Mr Williams said. There's something a little sad in that statement. In fact, I'm reminded of the day I found out Santa Claus wasn't real.
Aren't you breaking the law by not helping bring the rapists to justice?
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
There is no such animal as a 'Black puma', cougars do not come in black, it's a myth.
Having spent over a decade raising them, and knowing all major breeders in the world, no one has ever seen a black cougar who was a reliable witness. Furthermore, no pictures of any exist.
Wiki (as is often the case because it isn't fact, it's opinion) is well off base on this.
It looks like a regular cat, but it's closer to the camera. You can even see that it has at least a motorbike between then. Looks like hoaxes are taking control of /. this days.
if it is true it was large cat or a puma why would the guy shoot it. for 1 cats only hunt things smaller then them so he was in no danger of attack why you think it changed direction. lets not forget if this is true it would make it rare and illagle to kill. it was probly just wondering what he was and checking him out. all large felines are known for that cats and otherwise.
"The retired engineer said he lugged the cat back to his camp, but put the carcass into the river after removing the tail and photographing it."
"Hunter" I doubt. What sort of idiot would dispose of a carcass by putting it in a river where it will pollute it for weeks. Try digging figgen hole next time mate.
"The bullet entered behind the cat's shoulder and blew its head off, he said."
Yeah, not only did it blow the head off but it also caused all the remains and bones to vanish into thin air too I bet.
He appeard on one of the crappy commercial TV channels last night, his story was all over the place and he described the "encounter" as though he had read it in a book.
Aren't you being retarded by putting his feet to the fire for saying he has an image of a criminal act? He may or may not have taken the picture, or personally known the soldiers. Give the website a look. It's like a fark.com clone. I don't see you asking Drew Curtis to go after Goatse for obscenity charges just because he's seen the image. "Drew, can you indentify the owner of this stretched anus?"
Crikey, look at this little beauty! Let's go up and have a good look at him. Bang!
yeah, there aren't much in the way of large ferocious animals in Oz, but I tell you, if it's not venomous, it's poisonous.
However, Kangaroos are pretty vicious in the wild, they will disembowel a person, no problems. Spiders and Snakes, have them in ample supply. Ever seen an angry Emu?
Dangerous place Australia...
Leg Godt
Loren Coleman has been promoting his book(s) by signing up to a bunch of mailing lists over the past few years. He got kicked-off snopes by Barb because it became obvious that he was just there for marketing purposes.
Maybe the cat was drunk or pissed off about some football loss.
-Eric
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
ASSYLUM CAMP ABIDJAN From: ERIC /JULIETH KAMARA
e-mail me :eric_juliet10@terra.com.mx
call me +22507795731
Attn: SIR.
CONFIDENTIAL
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fund in bracket(PAY AS RECEIVED), where I am
residing under political assylum with my younger
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years old.
Now the war in my country is over with the help of
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Best regards
ERIC /JULIETH KAMARA
NB: my late father used me the only son as the
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also told me I need a foreign assistance of a
foreigner with a legitimate bank Account abroad who
will stand as co-beneficiary and partner abroad.