Huntin' big cats

[twoblink]

I was eating dinner at a restaurant, and I can't imagine why the little detail like DINNER is overlooked by the owner; but he had the discovery channel on, and they were showing "Cats of the Savanna" or something close to that..

Anyway, Leopards, Lions, Cheetahs..

Can I just say for the record, I have serious new found respect for the big cats?

Quoting from discovery "The Cheetah's can climb a tree with something 4x its body weight in its mouth."



What was scary was I was eating and saw it climb up a tree with a big antelope. (and proceed to eat it).

BTW.. It might just be my vision, but the Cheetahs looked like they had 2" teeth... which looked quite big.. until they showed the Lions with their 3" teeth..

Anybody actually try huntin' these big cats before? I would be doodooing in my pants if one of them came charging at me..

I hope the hunters do a good job maintaining the population and not let the poachers get the majority and thin out too much of the herd. Beautiful animals, gained my respect.

 

[mete]

Do you have your cats confused ? As far as I know cheetahs don't climb. lions rarely climb but leopards are excellent climbers. But a leopard might take an animal up a tree that was twice it's body weight but 4x ?? Anyway those tv programs always have errors - I just saw another computer representation fo a bullet going down a barrel - bullet rotating to the right with left handed rifling !

 

[HankB]

What mete said . . . with non-retractile claws, cheetahs are not known for climbing trees. Leopards are. In fact, leopard baits are usually put high in a tree.

I've taken leopard and lion and believe me, it's a LOT of fun.

 

[H&Hhunter]

Twoblink,

There are more hunters and guides out there wiht leopard scars on their anatomy than ony other type of dangerous game....Bar none. If a lion gets a hold of you the games pretty much over.


I would dearly love to shoot a big tom leopard but as of yet it's leopards 1 H&Hhunter 0.


I've never hunted lions becuase the cost is so darn high on them.

Cheetahs are pretty much protected the world over however I think Namibia still has some legal cheetah hunting.

Am good friend of minefrom the RSA was visiting a buddy in Namibia. While there a lion decided to start chopping off some of his buddies cattle. So he and the buddy went out at night and tried to put an end to the troubles. My friend from RSA shot a huge mainless tom lion with his buddies 7X57 ruger #1. Hit the lion in the chest and the lion ran off.

Two days later they found the cat. Unfortunatley the hyenas had pretty much devoured it. But he does have most of the skull.

And a new respect for the toughness of a lion.

 

[patentnonsense]

One of the TRULY scary things about African cities is that some of them supposedly have indigenous leopard populations in their outskirts!

Just like racoons and rats, leopards are smart enough to scope out their ground and find lairs close to the plentiful food supply...

Somebody tell me if this is a myth!

 

[H&Hhunter]

One of the TRULY scary things about African cities is that some of them supposedly have indigenous leopard populations in their outskirts!

Patentnonsense,

This is a true fact. But I find that a lot less scary than a gang of bandits armed with opium and AK's as far as threats in some African cities.

 

[Stand_Watie]

I have seen footage of Leopards climbing trees with an antelope slung over their shoulder and it is truly magnificent to see.

I suppose a cheetah could climb in the same sense that a dog can climb, that is they could jump into the lower limbs of a tree.

 

[twoblink]

Ooops. That'd be a leopard.

I now know what I suck at climbing trees... Lack of 6" retractable claws!!