TelosianEmbrace
7th February 2014, 10:38
For many years I have been fascinated by stories of big cats roaming the Australian bush. Whenever I can I have asked questions of others, and have been surprised by the seeming commonness of encounters. I shall recount three instances.
!. A dirt bike rider and his mates used to stay at my father's old farm in Tatong, central Victoria. While he didn't have any sightings, he knew one or two others who had.
2. A band member in a friend's band recounted the time when he and a group of friends were walking a bush track in the Great Dividing Range, Central Vic. They crested a rise and came upon a big, black cat sunning itself on a rock by the path just twenty or so metres further along. It looked at them in such a way that caused them to immediately turn and get the hell out of there.
3. A fellow delivery driver was driving into Cape Schanck Golf Course very early in the morning before first light. As he was driving down a sweeping curve he saw a big, tan coloured cat in the headlights. Perhaps the size of an alsation. It sped off into the bush, and it's size made him fearful enough of his safety that he didn't get out and investigate.
Michael Williams and Rebecca Lang have recently published 'Australian Big Cats, An Unnatural History of Panthers'. www.australianbigcats.com.au
They have been as thorough as possible in documenting sightings. They document zoo escapes, mascot releases and other possible origins of the beasts, and give a rundown of likely culprits. Some of the accounts are eye popping, and one in particular stands out.
A man and his family were staying in holiday accommodation in Oberon, central NSW. He went outside the cabin at night to give the calves grazing in the field a scratch, and was confronted by the sight of two panthers at close range. He retreated to the cabin, woke his wife, and spent a sleepless night as they prowled outside. The next morning he photographed the sizeable wet prints they left on the patio paving, before getting out of there at first light. The cats knew where they slept, because the prints went right up to the sliding doors to the bedroom.
Perhaps most intriguing is the conspiracy by the government and government departments to keep these sightings under wraps and to remain in denial. We all would recognise the tell tale signs of a cover-up... missing documents, prints and other evidence, investigations not getting off the ground, or pointing the finger at big feral cats as the culprit. The question I have to ask is why the coverup? Why not just publicly admit that they are there and base any future actions upon that assumption? What do they have to lose? Liability for stock losses? Requests for them to eradicate the beasts, a near impossibility? Why are they hiding this from the general public?
Any other sightings would be welcomed.
!. A dirt bike rider and his mates used to stay at my father's old farm in Tatong, central Victoria. While he didn't have any sightings, he knew one or two others who had.
2. A band member in a friend's band recounted the time when he and a group of friends were walking a bush track in the Great Dividing Range, Central Vic. They crested a rise and came upon a big, black cat sunning itself on a rock by the path just twenty or so metres further along. It looked at them in such a way that caused them to immediately turn and get the hell out of there.
3. A fellow delivery driver was driving into Cape Schanck Golf Course very early in the morning before first light. As he was driving down a sweeping curve he saw a big, tan coloured cat in the headlights. Perhaps the size of an alsation. It sped off into the bush, and it's size made him fearful enough of his safety that he didn't get out and investigate.
Michael Williams and Rebecca Lang have recently published 'Australian Big Cats, An Unnatural History of Panthers'. www.australianbigcats.com.au
They have been as thorough as possible in documenting sightings. They document zoo escapes, mascot releases and other possible origins of the beasts, and give a rundown of likely culprits. Some of the accounts are eye popping, and one in particular stands out.
A man and his family were staying in holiday accommodation in Oberon, central NSW. He went outside the cabin at night to give the calves grazing in the field a scratch, and was confronted by the sight of two panthers at close range. He retreated to the cabin, woke his wife, and spent a sleepless night as they prowled outside. The next morning he photographed the sizeable wet prints they left on the patio paving, before getting out of there at first light. The cats knew where they slept, because the prints went right up to the sliding doors to the bedroom.
Perhaps most intriguing is the conspiracy by the government and government departments to keep these sightings under wraps and to remain in denial. We all would recognise the tell tale signs of a cover-up... missing documents, prints and other evidence, investigations not getting off the ground, or pointing the finger at big feral cats as the culprit. The question I have to ask is why the coverup? Why not just publicly admit that they are there and base any future actions upon that assumption? What do they have to lose? Liability for stock losses? Requests for them to eradicate the beasts, a near impossibility? Why are they hiding this from the general public?
Any other sightings would be welcomed.