One of the main reasons I'm sceptical about big cat sightings is, to my knowledge, no-one has produced a body.
I live in a strong shooting area. There are dozens of such areas throughout the country. Night lamping is carried out regularly to keep the fox population down. Roe deer are shot from high seats. Dawn and dusk are good times. Perfect for spotting a cat on the prowl.
Would you shoot a big cat? I think most people would. Beautiful as they are, they are aliens and not particularly advantageous to our countryside.
When lamping, a big cat would almost certainly act like a very wary fox. It would give you a wide berth, move fairly quickly and probably pause a couple of times to look at you from cover. You see every type of animal at night,(lots of barn owls too). With experience you know a fox from it's actions and reactions. Night vision sights, which a lot of people now use, makes it even easier. Just with a lamp, I think the eyes of a big cat and its' movements would give you no doubt it was a fox. You would take the shot.
Given the number of people out lamping, deer stalking or night vision shooting, someone should surely have come up with a body by now, shot intentionally or by accident.
t.c.
[/QUOTE
I was talking about this with a gamekeeper friend. He pointed out that many folks might be concerned about their firearms certificate, if they shot a big cat, as each rifle owned has to be for a specified purpose. Obviously, shooting big cats is not one of them. He knows a couple of forest rangers who were faced with that very dilemma, while out night shooting deer under licence. They had a big cat in their spotlight but it made its escape while they debated whether they should shoot it or not. They were concerned, if they had, it might have caused them unwanted legal issues.
