| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Number of exotic beasts on the loose in Britain is rising |
| 2006-09-18 |
| I blame Bush! More than 10,000 sightings of wild and exotic animals have been reported in the UK since 2000 and the figure is set to grow, according to a new study. It seems there are more wild animals on the loose than ever before, including 5,931 big cats, 332 wild boars and 3,389 sharks in British waters. The British Big Cat Society has reported a dramatic increase in big cat sightings in recent years, with 2004-5 figures already up 3.5 per cent on the previous year's study. Hundreds of wild and exotic creatures usually found in the zoo or the jungle are sighted every week up and down the country, it found. As a result of climate change, ... Global warming! ... zoo thefts and animal escapes, it is no longer uncommon to see wild animals such as panthers, leopards, snakes and racoons in the UK, experts claim. Animal sightings since 2000 also include 51 wallabies, 43 snakes, 15 owls, 13 dangerous spiders including a tarantula and a Black Widow, 13 racoons, 10 crocodiles, seven wolves, four eagles, three pandas, two scorpions, and |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #24 FOTSGreg: I'm guessing you're not acquainted with the raccoons we have here in N.H. And don't get me started on our possums: what they lack in size, they make up for in cunning, viciousness and appetite. Packs of them have been known to devastate a herd of cattle overnight, leaving a field of bones to be discovered by the farmer in the morning. |
| Posted by: Carl in N.H. 2006-09-18 23:06 |
| #23 Late to the party as always... but ages ago, I ran across a book that postulated that the wolves which terrorized Europe in the late Middle Ages (there was apparently a notorious pack of them which haunted Paris, for a while) were actually wolf-mastiff hybrids. Those legendary so-called wolves were reported to have had displayed some characteristics of wolves, which are usually rather shy and not terribly large... but also those of domestic dogs, especially mastiffs--- which had been bred for war, were not afraid of humans, absolutely freaking huge, and not adverse to attacking humans, wherever they were. Make of that what you will... |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2006-09-18 19:37 |
| #22 Hi ninme! |
| Posted by: 6 2006-09-18 19:20 |
| #21 No Mo Uro: AFAIK, Coyotes and Wolves can interbreed and produce fertile offspring, both with each other and with red wolves (such as they are). And domestic dogs. |
| Posted by: Phil 2006-09-18 18:21 |
| #20 While it is well known that raccons can get very large, I'm having difficulty with the concept of a 100-lb raccoon and a 30mph running speed with a "sprinter's build". They ain't built that way if you've ever seen one running across the road at night. In addition, anyone who calls a raccoon "nature's perfect killing machine" simply hasn't been a) out in the woods enough, b) seen enough wildlife, c) done any studying of wildlife interactions or predator-prey relations whatsoever, d) hasn't looked at wolf spiders ever, and e) is simply too stupid to be considered any kind of wildlife expert at all in any fashion. |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2006-09-18 17:19 |
| #19 Um, Carl............... Was that raccoon you saw in N.H. - you know, the one with the huge body mass and (!) pressurized fangs - seen anywhere near the Seabrook nuke plant, by any chance? Or perhaps you found the amber liquid early and often the day you observed said creature? |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2006-09-18 16:36 |
| #18 who was that masked man? |
| Posted by: tabd 2006-09-18 15:35 |
| #17 Chang and Phil: As somewhat of a raccoon expert, due to my current location in the wilds of New Hampshire, I should clarify about the menace presented by raccoons: They are somewhat large (some over 100 lb), with your typical forward facing predator's eyes, and their fang-filled jaws have been measured as producing upwards of 600 lbs/in of pressure. Further, they have been clocked in excess of 30 mph over short distances -- speeds which they can attain thanks to their long legs and overall sprinter's build. They have been termed "Nature's perfect killing machine" by a local raccoon-ologist. So, I really think the defenseless population of Britain is owed our sympathy in the face of the threat represented by these dreadful masked killers. |
| Posted by: Carl in N.H. 2006-09-18 15:33 |
| #16 Racoons are a real problem, though. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-09-18 14:53 |
| #15 "I say, Wifred, isn't that a saber-tooth tiger?" |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-09-18 14:53 |
| #14 Wolves (Canis lupus) and coyotes (Canis latrans)are, in fact, separate species. If you saw two side by side you'd never again mistake one for the other. Full grown wolves are well over 100 lbs, stocky of build, with heavy jaws and forward facing eyes. Coyotes are rarely over 40lbs, much slimmer, and have eyes placed slightly further back on their heads. |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2006-09-18 13:28 |
| #13 Chang: on top of that aren't wolves and coyotes subspecies of each other? Related, but not that close, AFAICR. Saw a dead coyote on the highway near Cincinnati. No mistaking that odd, angular build. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2006-09-18 11:58 |
| #12 That would be the Red Panda, Chuck- the Giant Panda's raccoon-like cousin. One escaped from Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney a while back, and moved into a bamboo patch in a Mosman backyard. Owners thought they had a possum, did they get a surprise! |
| Posted by: Grunter 2006-09-18 11:38 |
| #11 My 17 pound tabbie fills an ecological niche in our househole. Hell, he pretty nearly fills the household. I am puzzled about the sharks. Are they not native to those waters? Three pandas, my ass! That's just too many pints before going home. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2006-09-18 11:10 |
| #10 The wallabies, crocodiles, pandas and the penguin strike me as exotic. The rest seem pretty tame. Only the Brits would have the presence of mind to report exotic spiders instead of squashing them. Although the big cat problem I can relate to. Last year our local security office put out a warning that mountain lions were seen in security videos checking out cars in the company parking (San Diego) lot at night. I am even less sanguine about the proposal to reintroduce grizzlies into Southern California. |
| Posted by: RWV 2006-09-18 10:21 |
| #9 animal sightings since 2000 also include 51 wallabies, 43 snakes, 15 owls, 13 dangerous spiders including a tarantula and a Black Widow, 13 racoons, 10 crocodiles, seven wolves, four eagles, three pandas, two scorpions, and one penguin. and a partridge in a pear tree. |
| Posted by: RWV 2006-09-18 10:14 |
| #8 Chang: on top of that aren't wolves and coyotes subspecies of each other? |
| Posted by: Phil 2006-09-18 09:53 |
| #7 Legalize gun use. EXACTLY RIGHT. The removal of the British people's right to keep and bear arms, the subsequent waning of British identity, and the rise of Britanistan is no coincidence. I can think of quite a few 'exotic beasts' that a well armed British public could rid themselves of....the two-footed kind. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-09-18 09:09 |
| #6 Oh. My bad. Saw the headline and thought that it was an article about Muslim immigrants. |
| Posted by: The Doctor 2006-09-18 08:49 |
| #5 Phil, Something similar happened in New Mexico. The native wolf species was eliminated somewhere around the early 20th Century. Since then the native coyotes have grown in size to about that of a wolf. The religious worshippers of nature are now trying to reintroduce the wolf even though nature has already taken care of the issue through natural selection. Its going to be interesting to see two similar size predators competing in the same environment. |
| Posted by: Chang Cholunter4501 2006-09-18 08:36 |
| #4 Meanwhile big cats sighted in Oz. My personal theory is that feral cats of which there are millions here are experiencing giantism, i.e. getting much bigger, to fill the ecological niche that results from the absence of large predators (in Oz). Can't wait until someone catches a 200lb feral moggie. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-09-18 07:55 |
| #3 Legalize gun use. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-09-18 07:53 |
| #2 aaah the brave Tamworth Two suprised there hasnt been a movie made yet , featuring Clooney and Fonda in lead roles |
| Posted by: Wheang Jeaque1583 2006-09-18 07:45 |
| #1 Number of exotic beasts on the loose in Britain is rising Finsbury Park ? |
| Posted by: classer 2006-09-18 07:36 |