Travellers to Śląsk-Opolskie beware - pumas on the loose

Opole is where they are said to be. They move fast though. You live in the vicinity of Opole, right? Ożimek or...?

nope on the other side of Odra
but one was sighted not very far from my place (20 miles - Strzeleczki and Dobra communities)
or reportedly actually just a couple miles from Szydłów (near Niemodlin, quite into forests that reach as far as Odra though) where I live

and I do bike in forest :)

my bro insists he has seen strange traces (big things) in snow and some strange animal as well but from a distance - he sais it was a couple of weeks before it was reported in the media

Yeah, the reporting could be better at times. Some have even said that they have been around for a while, before those Czech breeders released them. I wouldn't mind seeing a lynx (rys) or 2.

I can send you a pair of Puma running shoes...you will be as fast as them then...

have no idea whether there any lynxes in the forests I live next to (I doubt it actually - but it is really a difficult animal to spot) - those pumas don't shy away from open ground contrary to lynxes (and from easy pray around human household as well)

Yeah, pumas can be found in open fields quite a bit. As long as you see them before they see you :)

Gryzke is her name (by popular choice)

source:
nto.pl/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090418/DRAPIEZNIK/262041608

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there were some indices the animal could be an Asiatic snow panther before
(fur found in one of the attack spots (household animals were killed) has been tested for DNA)
the animal was quite capable of hunting in snow - and there was plenty of snow in the begining of March here - I don't know whether pumas are good winter-time hunters

btw a the animal in question (or one of the animals in question) has jumped upon a car in motion near Prudnik while hunting for a small deer (sarna - don't know how is sarna in English)

(the conditions were snowy - I guess on the road as well)

google Lech Kubat for the incident

Sarna is roe, or female deer. So you don't believe that it's all a joke? Wild cats like pumas just doesn't sound right for Poland.

:):):) I meant the animal is going in circles around the region. :):):)


No, Seanus, it is all true. A predator is at large in your area and you`d better not go out after dusk. We really don`t want to lose you.

no, it is for real and I really think there are a couple of them around

Although they are highly adaptable, they are not natural to this neck of the woods if you forgive the pun.

Thats right....they might regard a sheep as a tasty change from deer...

Thanks for the warnings, pawian. I'll believe it when I see it. It'll be during the daytime. This sheep will have to resort to evasive maneuvers. Still, scaremongering has been known to happen. Why would big cats be roaming around Poland? Cougars are native to America.

it's enough someone has let one (or a couple of them) go into the wild (or that one has escaped somehow this is not outwardly impossible) - you yourself stated they are highly adaptable

So are racoons , but there are now millions of them running around Poland after good old boy Herman goring let a pair go in the German forests in 1934...

There was a case back in 2006 where 2 alligators were spotted in Jaworzno so stranger things have happened. The funniest was when a Japanese men went fishing and discovered an alligator. It's funny because he didn't get hurt. What a fright he got!

english.sina.com/video/2009/0326/229081.html
it has also gone international. No less then Reuters has covered it. My friend thinks I'm a nut for mentioning it but police have gone through villages with megaphones, emphasising the need for safety and vigilance.

It is the second Polish brute which has become famous lately. The first was the gay elephant.

i have heard of even stranger things - like Mayne beast :P

i mean Maine ;) :P

Well, the gay elephant is relatively harmless. Why aren't Polish rangers (leszicy?) putting out more information of its whereabouts? It is their job to monitor and inform. I'd hate to see a kid getting caught by one of these cats. Forests are often used around here for hikers and cyclists.

I suspect its due to the fact the tourist season is about to kick off....they don,t want to scare people away....

Yet again, money takes presidence over personal safety. It's good that the police and hunters are doing their jobs.

leśnicy are forest rangers and they actually do not have much to do with animals and hunting professionally and are unarmed (though there is a service called Straż Leśna and they are armed I think - still they are not that numerous and they deal with people who violate forest laws - you should not drive into the forests for example)

but many of the hunters are involved in hunters organization say hunters' association (Polski Związek £owiecki) (there's only one such in Poland) which seems to have some professional staff - anyway the animal(s) is not easy to follow - and most appearances to the general public have been reported to the media

We have the same in Scotland. I often cycled near the prime locations and found nothing. Still, humans love the element of danger. It's not like 30 are roaming loose around a few forests. If the risk element was so high, forests would be cordoned off. Some have been in Opolskie. If my bike pump works, I'm off out tomorrow to the top spots but it is a daunting prospect in a way.

I have a friend in Ukraine who tells me that recently a young schoolgirl was torn to bits by a pack of domestic dogs....?

It could have been a pack of domestic dogs or it could also have been a pack of lies ;)

btw Sean sarna is not a female deer in Polish; female deer is łania while male grown deer is byk (which is bull of course)

as for wildlife around here I get a feeling I have seen an elk (łoś, female of łoś is łosza or klępa)or even a group of them (some other time) I wasn't close enough to be sure though

and some cranes colonised a swampy side nearby recently (have seen them on ground as well as in flight - magnificent birds)
and there are lots of crows - too many in my notion - they hunt young hares whiles these have become rare before and also squirrels

I once saw some 30-40 crows in one place (a glade in the middle of the forests)

on the strange side - several times I seemed to have heard the sound the bats make - very high tings ;)

Sarna is a female deer which is a roe deer. £ania is a doe, so of the same type. What is jeleń then?

jeleń - is a deer (the word is actually cognate (etymological staff) with elk )

not sure I understand what you write but sarna and jeleń are different species

male of sarna is called kozioł - female sarna is just sarna (don't know any special term)

sarna is considerably smaller than jeleń

contrary to jeleń (European deer)? sarny (roe-deers - just looked it up) are often found in the open (in winter they seem to prefer staying in the open in big packs (but they don't hunt fortunately ;)

I don't mind about deers, they pose no threat.