Transcript
Speaker: Hello everyone, it is Erin here and today I'm just going to be recording a Tiny Tales episode on Australian big cats.
Speaker: So it's just little old me today. Catherine I have an episode in the making that will be released next month. But until then, you're going to hear me talk about one of my experiences I had when I was out on the open road.
Speaker: And I believe i saw a big cat in Australia, which is kind of weird because it's not normal to see that shit. So you also might remember if you listen to our Australian Cryptid episode, i think I mentioned about five to 10,000 times that I was going to do a Tiny Tales on Australian big cats.
Speaker: And um today is the day that you'll hear me talk about it. So yeah, I'll get straight into my little story. It's weird being on my own without Catherine's banter. So first for me, pat on the back.
Speaker: um what what what do Where do I start? Let's just have a think about this. I really should have prepped for this Tiny Tales episode, but you know, there is fun in the chaos of the fact that I have no idea where to start.
Speaker: So essentially, I was on a bit of a road trip from Perth down to Esperance and it was me and my partner, Mike, and we were traveling from Bremer Bay to Margaret River.
Speaker: Or Bremer Bay. Somewhere. Anyway, it was a bit of a road trip. And we left really early in the morning. And there had been rain the night before.
Speaker: And it was funny because we were driving and all these birds were like on the side of the road drinking like rainwater. So it was obviously like the rains hadn't been for a while. So all these birds are like drinking on the side of the road.
Speaker: And the reason I think this is important to say is it makes sense for why you would see, like it makes sense to me that I've seen a big cat because what I think was happening was that cat was like having a bit of breakfast you know what i mean so there's birds that are like drinking the rain water and it's Australia and we don't have predators so they're just like I'm safe drinking you know rain water from the road meanwhile there's a fucking big cat that's like I'm gonna eat you So I think that's why we saw one. It was really early in the morning.
Speaker: There were a lot of birds out on the side of the road. So, you know, perfect conditions for seeing like an animal like that um in the middle of nowhere, pretty much.
Speaker: And it was really weird because we saw it from quite a distance away. So we were driving and I was like, Mike, like, I can see a big cat and that's bigger than what it should be. So it wasn't like a bobcat or a feral cat.
Speaker: And trust me, when I say I was obsessed with this for about two days straight after we'd seen it, like, I'm not kidding. I was Googling, i was on Reddit. I was like, how big can feral cats get in Australia?
Speaker: What do they look like? um And I was looking at all these photos and they're all kind of like fluffy, Weird looking like cats pretty much, but this was definitely not that.
Speaker: And I'm just going to take a pause because there are helicopters that won't fuck off and I need to just have a bit of quiet so I can continue talking about um my big cat.
Speaker: So here's my first intermission three minutes in.
Speaker: All right. And I'm back and I've got some quiet. So yeah, I literally hands down, like hand on heart. I know Mike and I saw what I have like gathered is a cougar because it didn't have any stripes. There were no spots on it.
Speaker: It was like a caramel beige color. And lucky for me, I was in the passenger seat, so I wasn't driving. And Mike thought it was weird. i remember him being like, whoa, like that's big.
Speaker: And it scurried across the road. So when we got like, cause we saw it quite a way down the road, when we got to the point that we'd seen like where we'd seen the cat, I remember taking a look outside of the window to see um if it was still there, like in the bushes on the side of the road.
Speaker: And I saw like a glimpse of it because it had just crossed the road. ah car had reached the point. And I remember looking and being like, that is it like the height of the cat from like the ground up was about, I'm like trying to suss it out.
Speaker: How high is that? I don't know, 500, 600 centimetres, half a metre. Like this wasn't, this was like a size of a really big dog, not a cat.
Speaker: And it kind of just like threw me a bit and me and Mike were just for a long time like, what the fuck? And I was like, that was definitely not a cat. That wasn't a feral cat. This shit's weird. And it's funny, since doing the Cryptid episode last month, I'm like, is it that weird to see ah cougar out in the wild in Australia? Because, i mean, it's not anything that I'd expect to see outside of a zoo.
Speaker: But you do, like, when you look into it, you hear all these stories about why a lot of people think there are big cats in Australia and it's pretty self-explanatory. So that's why we didn't really go into it in last month's episode because, you know, I like the kind of weird cryptid stories and this is just very, very much linked to back in the day um people bringing exotic animals over to Australia.
Speaker: We all know, you know, it happens in America. Tiger King, anyone, if you know, you know. But ah yeah, who's to say that that did not happen in Australia um or still, you know, I'm sure it still happens. There's probably some interesting characters out there who want to own cougar or a puma and they somehow get these cute little cubs in and then they get older and they just release them into the wild.
Speaker: But um there's actually a Facebook group ah linked to big cats in WA and that kind of thing. And I wonder if I got accepted. I tried to actually join that group.
Speaker: And I wouldn't mind like sharing my story in it. um But yeah, I looked on the internet a little bit and other people have seen big cats in the Bremer Bay area. And it's weird. Like I remember telling a few people and they're like, right, sure you did. and i was like, is it that hard to believe?
Speaker: Like I'm not saying I saw a Bigfoot. It was a big cat. It was a cougar. But yeah, you don't really see them in Australia. And it also makes me worried about the wildlife and all that kind of shit. So that's my kind of tiny tail. Like I saw...
Speaker: I saw a cougar and it was definitely a cougar. And I spent two days looking at all different kinds of feral cats to see if I could match it up. And I'm convinced, absolutely convinced.
Speaker: um And while we're here, i thought I would go into some other big cat sightings and why they're here pretty much.
Speaker: So there's a documentary called The Hunt and it was released in 2020 and it was made by ex-zookeeper, Vaughan King. And he said that it's really hard to get evidence of these big cats and it's because there's obviously not really any funding behind you know, researching whether they exist.
Speaker: And I mean, you'd probably have to get the right conditions and they're just really good at evading traps and that kind of thing. Because cats, they're pretty smart, they're intelligent. But I really want to check out that documentary. So if you're interested in looking into big cats in Australia, look at that doco, The Hunt, released in 2020.
Speaker: um So there are some other reasons for why there might be a cougar that I saw in Bremer Bay and it's got to do with military mascots. So i went down this rabbit hole of military mascots. I had no idea it was a thing. There's penguins and fucking elephants and shit.
Speaker: And they're just to boost morale, I think, in like war times and all that kind of shit. I'm not well versed in that world of war, but have a look, guys. The Americans, when they came over to help the Australians fight ah in World War II, I believe, they brought over some big cats.
Speaker: And what happened was the Australian government was obviously like, what the fuck are you doing? We can't have big cats in Australia. Like it's going to decimate our wildlife. Yeah. there's a bit of a conspiracy behind it, which is kind of cool.
Speaker: So um when you look into it further, apparently there's like, no recollection of this happening.
Speaker: So even though I'm saying, hey, look, there are military mascots, the US soldiers brought over um like cougars because they werere like, hey, morale or whatever. And to anyone that's into war and they're laughing at me right now, I don't care. Get out your phone, Google it, fix my bullshit in your own head.
Speaker: But essentially what it is, is the Australian government, this is my this is my version of the conspiracy, I think the Australian government found out that there were, like, cougars getting brought to but military bases. So, you know, they brought one to Bremer Bay.
Speaker: And then they're saying to the US soldiers, can you please kill this animal because we can't have it. It's going to affect our wildlife. And then the US soldiers, because they, like, bonded with this cougar, I don't know how they weren't murdered by it,
Speaker: But they probably didn't kill the animal. They probably just released into the wild and were like, off you go. We're not going to kill you, but we're not allowed to have you you know So it's a bit of a cover up. And then meanwhile, because they're all different cats brought over, because there were probably a few different bases, all these cats found one another or they bred with feral cats and stuff like that.
Speaker: And it's created some weird big cat animal culture in Australia. so that's kind of interesting. I think that's the more like,
Speaker: valid reason. Like that's the most rational explanation for why I saw a cougar in Bremer Bay. Because it's kind of near Albany and it's a bit of a military, you know, there's a lot of history there related to World War II and stuff like that.
Speaker: um And it was just fascinating reading about all of that. And then i went into more of the military mascots thing and they're really well regarded and stuff like that. So Whatever keeps people happy during war, you know?
Speaker: But good on the Australian government. They were just like, no, no, no, kill them. And then i understand the people that were like, well, no, no, no, I don't want to kill an animal. So we're just going to release it.
Speaker: And then the Australian government was like, I'm going to turn a blind eye to this. I'm going to assume you killed that animal. Meanwhile, they're eating all our birds and shit like that. So that is one of the most rational theories for why there are big cats in WA.
Speaker: There are other theories. One is, i've already explained it earlier in the episode, but historical like ex exact like exotic animal trades. And also Oh yeah, well there was another theory about just evolutionary trail of feral cats.
Speaker: So, you know, lots of feral cats, Maine Coons are like the largest sort of breed of cat in Australia. Like if you're going to buy a domestic cat, Maine Coons are like the the big kind of interesting ones. So you could say that they just have been breeding with a lot of different feral cats and They're getting bigger and bigger because there's no predators killing them off. So they're just evolving. But I don't know how much can one animal evolve over a period of time, you know?
Speaker: So it's really interesting to think about.
Speaker: So I'm going to take this moment just to have a little break, um break number two. ah And when I come back, I'll talk about some of the other big cat sightings, some of the more famous big cat sightings that have been reported in Australia.
Speaker: So yeah, look forward to talking about that in just a moment.
Speaker: All right. Welcome back. So three other famous Australian big cats. We have the Gippsland phantom cat. So in the Gippsland area over east, so I'm in Western Australia, but over east, there's like quite a lot more information out there on sort of more of the panther, the Black Panther sightings.
Speaker: um You've got the Otway's panther and that's in Lawn, Victoria. And you have the Lithgow panther in the Blue Mountains. So these are all Black Panther sightings and it's said that the, is it the Gippsland panther? Let me have a look.
Speaker: One of them is also said to have been linked to a military base. Yeah. The Gippsland Panther, which is also called the Gippsland Phantom Cat, is believed to have been let loose by US soldiers based in Victoria during World War II.
Speaker: So that is kind of similar to my theory with Bremer Bay because Bremer Bay is quite close to Albany. So a few of these, you know, ah military mascot stories seem to be, you know, plopped around Australia in different locations.
Speaker: I really like hearing about the Lithgow Panther in the Blue Mountains because I think Catherine haven't really touched on that, but the Blue Mountains is an area that I personally know is linked to Bigfoot sightings,
Speaker: um There's some really interesting paranormal stories that I've heard on other podcasts. And so i think there's these weird hotspots around Australia where, you know, yes, they can be linked to old military bases and these cats have bred.
Speaker: But then there's like this supernatural element in these really interesting locations like the Blue Mountains and just really like rainforest areas where there's other sightings kind of like linked to high strangeness and that kind of thing.
Speaker: So I always like thinking about the supernatural element. So if we're talking about cryptids, I think it's kind of interesting that there aren't any scientists or there hasn't been anything on the news to say, hey, big cats, they're a thing in Australia.
Speaker: I think there's just a little bit of government stuff going on. They're probably researching it um and it's probably got to do with how fragile our ecosystem is. So they don't really want to get people up in arms about this kind of stuff, um especially if it's linked back to, you know,
Speaker: the government and war and how they didn't really think about introduced species or you know they had been thinking about it but they really weren't good back in the day there were obviously bigger things to think about but um yeah I'd love to go to the Blue Mountains and stay out there for a week and see if I could find any weird supernatural cat sightings.
Speaker: um Yeah, I think there's always high strangers involved with some of these sightings. I know what I saw in Bremer Bay was very much a real cat. And it wasn't something that I saw and then it disappeared. So there was no sort of so supernatural element involved. But, you know, I think in areas like the Blue Mountains or maybe the Otways where it's a bit more spooky, bit more of a vibe out there, it wouldn't surprise me if two worlds are kind of colliding. yeah.
Speaker: Like Bigfoot, you know, there are people who think Bigfoot just is really good at hiding. It's just an animal that hasn't been you caught yet and studied. And I think sometimes these black panthers can be a little bit supernatural in their appearance.
Speaker: um And it's cool to think about. So yeah, I hope you enjoyed today's Tiny Tales. I hope a few more people run into some big cats in Australia. And ah I'll be with Catherine next month to talk about more paranormal things.
Speaker: Have a good month and keep things spooky. Bye.
