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Puma Watch


Garrath

27-Jun-2005
11:14:42 AM

Is it true, can there really be a puma or two wandering around the Gramps. Have you seen one, heard one, felt like your been stalked.

ABC 774 had a little discussion on this very topic. Evidence including a sighting by a Vet, cast prints verified by a US Puma expert as being that of a big cat (not your typical feral moggie). Apparently during WW2,. US armed forces personnel based at Mt Gambier may have had a Puma or 2 as mascots.

or

Are our feral moggies mutating.............................

Duncan

27-Jun-2005
11:43:52 AM

The Grampians? I thought the puma was in the Bluies? Or was that a jaguar?


Romfrantic

27-Jun-2005
11:49:21 AM

yes, that would be at Grose Vale (Blue Mts). This Bulletin article makes reference to both Grose Vale and the Gramps!
http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/bulletin/EdDesk.nsf/All/587288F1C522499FCA256E2500818B33


brat

27-Jun-2005
12:32:23 PM

I've seen a huge feral moggie in the lakes district of Tasmania, bloody big tabby thing, probably diet and crossbreed vigour would account for it's size. I'd have my money on a similar thing happening here, as we know boys and girls, it would take at least two to maintain a population!

Duncan

27-Jun-2005
1:35:27 PM

Thanks carolina, awesome link!

climbingjac

27-Jun-2005
3:32:36 PM

I know someone who claims to have seen the puma from the flight deck at Araps!!!

Hmm. Perhaps a few too many beers the night before??!!

jiminy cricket

27-Jun-2005
4:57:34 PM

sounds a little too much like the story of the big cat that has been sighted around geelong...which sounds a little too much like the beast of bodmin moor...which sounds a little too much like...et cet et cet et cet

kieranl

27-Jun-2005
8:22:57 PM

There were a couple of guys from Cavendish who spent years trying to catch a puma but only ever succeeded in falling into their own traps. Though when I was at school the mother of a friend described to me seeing what she was sure was a puma stalking her sheep (she lived down Hynes road at Glenisla).
Still there is such a large deer population in the Grampians that a sizeable puma population could be supported without predating a large number of surrounding sheep but I would be amazed if pumas could survive in numbers without leaving any definite signs.


Paulie

27-Jun-2005
10:09:13 PM

On 27/06/2005 Garrath wrote:
>felt like your been stalked.

Not in Australia, but I've been stalked by a desperate pack of Cougars in a pub in Jasper, CA before... :D

Seriously though, we were followed up a mountain (Roche Bon Homme) in Jasper National Park by a big cougar. Didn't even notice until we were coming back down and you could see her/his tracks all the way up from the road to the treeline!! Mountain is about 2.5km high. There was a fesh dusting of snow and we were the only party on the mtn that day. Quite freaky really...makes you wonder what might have happened if you'd be up there alone.

Paul


dr box

28-Jun-2005
10:17:25 AM

on one trip to the gramps with uni, we found a cat foot print of a rather large size
ie friggin huge cat.
dont know if it was a puma, we claim yes, but what ever it was it was a big cat. we id the foot print as 'cat' with guide books and sent photos, drawings and some scats to parks vic.
it was up in muline crag


Rupert

28-Jun-2005
11:37:24 AM

This site http://www.uq.net.au/~zzpclach/bigcatsentry.htm
lists many sightings from all over the country - including places some of you may have heard of like Grampians, Tullarook, Buxton, Cape Liptrap etc. I also found a couple of references on other sites to sightings at Arapiles.


sabu

28-Jun-2005
1:01:50 PM

maybe regular visiters to the Gramps should buy themselves a big knife to carry around in the dark, or a hunting rifle for that next sighting, (just a thought!)


steph

28-Jun-2005
3:08:43 PM

On 28/06/2005 sabu wrote:
>maybe regular visiters to the Gramps should buy themselves a big knife
>to carry around in the dark, or a hunting rifle for that next sighting,
>(just a thought!)

and a big cooking pot...


jens

28-Jun-2005
5:00:18 PM

Heard there is supposed to be one around Tyabb. Must be lost or something, Why would you hang out around there?

Find it hard to believe though.

Seen a few Jaguars around....

red ones, green ones, rusty ones...

I know, shut up.. right?!?

Take!

28-Jun-2005
6:49:35 PM

An old climbing mate (not 'old', I just haven't seen him for years) saw "a big couger looking cat thing" standing at the side of the road when driving to/from a climbing area in the Gramps. He turned around and had another drive by the area but didn't see anything else. He had no need to bullsh!t to me, and didn't make a big thing of it, I believe him. I think about it whenever I see a report of something like this.

It has been reported, I think through the freedom of info act, that one of the wildlife services (Nat Parks etc?) has supposedly kept secret 'x-files' on these things for many years. Do a google to find that info, its on the net so it must be true...
Interesting topic, but I try not to think about it too much, otherwise (as mentioned earlier) you wouldn't camp out or walk around the area after dark unless you were armed or had a very big dog.

(Edited phor spelingk)


Mung

28-Jun-2005
7:01:02 PM

I saw a big black animal of some kind disappear into the bush when walking on Rosea as a nipper ... only later did I hear stories of the cats. Very far from conclusive - could've been a darkish deer.


cheesehead

29-Jun-2005
8:12:40 AM

Yeah, I totaly saw this one on X-files. They relocated it to B.C. for photogenic reasons, but it's probably based on this one....
Generally getting creeped out with this, the Youieswitch project, the naked debauchery in the Nowra mansion spa...


climbau

29-Jun-2005
9:54:55 AM

There have been sightings of some bloody huge (long haired German shepherd) wild dogs up here in the North-East. And up here the dogs aren't running away from humans, but sneaking up on them.
I was talking to one guy who was having a brew in the wee hours of the morning and got creeped out by all the howling. So he got up to leave and as he turned around there was this wild dog right behind him all sneaky lookin'. So he just shat himself and started yelling and screaming to scare the dog away, but it just walked off with a growl

dalai

29-Jun-2005
10:04:29 AM

Recall seeing a piece on the feral dogs up in the NE on ABC's Landline a while back.

They are breeding into big, brazen monsters!!


IdratherbeclimbingM9

29-Jun-2005
10:04:59 AM

You wouldn't believe the size of the feral bilby that chewed through my brand new 65m 9mm static haul line (in 3 places) on one of my Warrumbungles trips.
Got back to the car after bivvying out and found the bugger had beat us back and chewed through the rubber boot enclosing the gearstick in our 4WD to get inside also ...
:(
Needless to say my climbing partner and I have since withdrawn our subscriptions to the 'Save the bilby fund' as a consequence.
:)

There are 24 messages in this topic.