North Caroline Tiger

[bjdeming]

I write about wild cats -- though it's debatable if anyone reads it -- and look at a lot of pix and trail cams, and if real, the images in this article show a tiger.

Since Rowan County law enforcement and the local tiger group take it seriously, we should, too.

Yeah -- local tiger group. Oddly enough, there are more tigers in the US than there wild on the rest of the planet.

This could be a result of the recently passed federal legislation outlawing private ownership of big cats, or it might be an escapee.

Anyway, hard as it is to believe, take it seriously. The main safety tip, even if you meet one, is to never turn your back on it. That triggers the instinct.

I'll try to find some expert safety tips online. Can't believe this is necessary for North Carolina!

 

[bjdeming]

Uh, I did this on a phone and missed the spelling error in the title; could someone fix it please?

Tip time:

This is from an Indian safari operator, for Bengal tigers on their own territory. Any loose tiger in the US is going to be more unpredictable because it is disoriented and scared. Still, these are good tips IMO except for the part about climbing -- tigers climb very well and when with a cub have dragged down researchers who were 15 feet up in a tree.

It could work, if you get up to the small branches -- tigers are heavy.

The Amur (Siberian) Tiger Reserve has some good tips, too -- particularly #7 and #9 -- though they are addressing people who actually want to meet a Siberian tiger in the wild.

Those are the two biggest species, though tips apply across the board.

 

[bjdeming]

I looked up "how to shoot a tiger" and was glad to see all the photography sites that came up. One hunting site came up but they lost credibility IMO when they spoke about cheetahs attacking people in the same breath as tiger attacks.

Cheetahs don't do that. Tigers do.

Right now, if this is really a tiger, as seems to be the case, armed experts are probably out in force, probably with tranquilizer darts as well as bullets.

The best thing to do is just watch, and let someone know if you see something. In the unlikely event that it does come down to firearms for you, the cats weigh at least a couple hundred pounds and this one is panicked (presumably) and unlikely to feel immediate pain. Can you stop it before it gets to you?