Your Favorite Big Cat

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I like cats, and as a naturalist of sorts and a guy who's been thrilled by the exploits of Jim Corbett and others in stalking man-eaters, I've studied the big ones.

Do you have a favorite and why? I prefer the leopard: beautiful, self sufficient, wily, adaptable, a survivor, even in cities!

Corbett admired the tiger most, but the two cats that came closest to killing him were both leopards, called panther in India.
One had killed at least 400 people! (But one tigress had gotten at least 436. These were known kills. Some surely went uncredited.)

List any you favor, from the bobcat-up. I didn't make this a poll, as there'd be so many options.

My favorite among the smaller ones is the Caracal Lynx, called Rooikat in Afrikaans. (Red Cat, as many have a reddish brown hue.)

The jaguar gets extra credit with me, for having such a strong bite that it can kill turtles and caimans! :eek:
 
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arjay said:
Mountain lions. Just because they're local,but I've yet to see one in the wild or the burbs,just the zoo!
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My son has seen them in his yard! And javelina and coyotes, bobcats, rattlesnakes...

Okay, you like them because they're in the USA and secretive?

They probably have the most names of any cat: Puma, cougar, panther, deer tiger, painter, Florida panther, mt. lion, etc.
 
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walkin jack said:
I have long been a fan and admirer of the cheetah. Sleek, fast, awesome when they are on the run. They are very handsome cats.

But I guess I'm now in awe of the tigers. The big Siberians and the white tigers. They are truly majestic.
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Cheetahs.. unlike most cats, the claws don't retract.
Their speed is awesome. The small head looks a little out of place, as on cougars.

BTW, I'm drinking tea from a cup with a very realistic painting of a cheetah on it.

In prehistoric times, there was an American cheetah, probably the reason why the Pronghorn developed such speed. And the American lion was even larger than the cave lion! The Dire Wolf and the Short-Faced Bear would also be a threat to Pronghorns.
 
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Can't pick just one ........ but I admire cats that can hunt on their own. So that excludes lions that primarily hunt in prides (groups).

Cougars, leopards, tigers & jaguars are the big cats that are solitary hunters. Smaller cats such as Bob-Cats, Lynx and some others hunt solo....& I find them more intriguing.

Don
 
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Golddollar said:
Jaguar, the ones with 4 wheels.
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Reminds me... in about the 8th grade, I asked a new student from Brazil how to pronounce the name for the jaguar where he came from.

He managed a mangled version of the English "jaguar." Turned out he meant the car, not El Tigre, which is what I wanted.

I'd been reading,Tigrero! by Sasha Siemel. This is board related, as he used Smith & Wesson .44's as well as a Winchester M-92 and his famed spears.
 
The jaguar is my favorite great cat. It has no competition. I prefer jaguars because they do not harm humans. On Youtube there are videos of jaguars hauling 200 pound snakes and other meals out of rivers. Most of the videos were filmed by children who followed along behind the jaguars with Zero fear of the big cats. Their one draw back is that they are the only great cat that does not roar.

Without ever making any effort to find them I get a glimpse of a cougar about every 5 years. I have no fear of them and think I'm lucky when I spot one. Rumor has it that as long as they can feed on venison that's all they eat and there's plenty of venison around. Locally the only place where they are seen more often is in neighborhoods where residents feed the deer apples or honey oats the year round. The fools blame hunters every time one of the bucks or does that they've named stops showing up.

By the way, NW male cougars grow to over 200 pounds which would make them challenging for an LB7.
 
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Paitnter

Panther, or "Painter" as it would have been pronounced here in Upstate New York during the canal era. The last one was taken in 1938 in the Adirondacks.
 
k22fan said:
The jaguar is my favorite great cat. It has no competition. I prefer jaguars because they do not harm humans. On Youtube there are videos of jaguars hauling 200 pound snakes and other meals out of rivers. Most of the videos were filmed by children who followed along behind the jaguars with Zero fear of the big cats. Their one draw back is that they are the only great cat that does not roar.

Without ever making any effort to find them I get a glimpse of a cougar about every 5 years. I have no fear of them and think I'm lucky when I spot one. Rumor has it that as long as they can feed on venison that's all they eat and there's plenty of venison around. Locally the only place where they are seen more often is in neighborhoods where residents feed the deer apples or honey oats the year round. The fools blame hunters every time one of the bucks or does that they've named stops showing up.

By the way, NW male cougars grow to over 200 pounds which would make them challenging for an LB7.
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I think you underestimate their potential to harm humans. Not just children, as those films are made by crews who specialize in that, not by kids.

And I think the only big cat that can't roar is the cougar, not the jaguar. It lacks the capability in the hyoid bone area. Cougars scream; don't roar.
 
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Yes jaguar can roar and there are at least one story here I read sometime ago of the killing of a human being by one, if I´m not mistaken in the State of Mato Grosso.
But who knows what happens deep in the Amazon forest?!
When you mix radical enviros and the media,truth is not served !
By the way we have here both the Puma, more widely distributed throughout the country and the Jaguar, basically in the States of Mato Grosso Amazonas and Para, albeit I have reason to believe Jaguars can also been found in the remanescent forest in the Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo States. Both are known as Onça though.That funny letter " ç " is pronounced like the " s " in SAY.Just the same sound.
My old man used to tell me of several sub types of " Onça Parda" or "Suçuarana" .
One of them sporting a larger head is known as " Lombo Preto " or Black Back.

Puma = Onça Parda. Parda means Marroon, well sorts of !
Jaguar = Onça Pintada. Pintada means Spotted
Black Jaguar = Onça Preta . Preta means Black.

Regards, Ray
 
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