British Big Cats - quick update

[BigG]

Cat Problem?

Simple Answer: All the British have to do is take their guns and... oh wait!

 

[Iain]

Keith - saw a wolf (possibly wolf hybrid) on a lead in Spain in the middle of Iruna (city). That took me aback, but she was a gorgeous creature.

One of the info sources I was reading about this mentioned the previous laws on keeping 'dangerous' animals and how round the corner from the authors house there was a pub that used the keep a bear in the cellar.

I wonder just how tame 'wild' animals ever really do get though. Old nature or nuture argument I guess, does a cat have a wild instinct if raised by hand. It occured to me that if there are panthers actually surviving and hiding away in the UK then they should be captured and used for 'breed to release' programmes as they must be pretty wily individuals with some good genes.

BigG - haven't you read the reports about the UK? Every juvenile deliquent has an illegal gun and is willing to use it apparently.

 

[Keith]

BigG,

Farmers still have shotguns in the UK. It's a lot of trouble and hassle, but many people still have them.

St Johns,

I don't know how much hunting behavior is instinctual, but obviously some of it is. George (yeah, she was a girl and named George...), was able to catch mice from the time she was no more than a few months old, and she seemed to be successful at it from the first. Maybe you've seen a fox doing the same thing? They'll hop in a weird way to chase mice under the roots of the grass - then when they hear the mice move they'll pounce again to pin them down under their paws, dig them out with their teeth and flip them up in the air and eat them whole. A disgusting habit, really...
Yet, not once did she ever chase a rabbit - she just ignored them for some reason... She never chased deer either, but I was pretty stern about cutting that off from the beginning, so I don't know if she would have or not, really.
With bears, she totally flipped out. She'd bristle up and actually force me in another direction when we crossed the scent of a bear - had to be instinctual.

Keith