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In fairness, it's nocturnal and probably buggers off quickly when it spots you. But I'm biased, I'm a moose believer (or as I like to call it, a moother) based

In fairness, it's nocturnal and probably buggers off quickly when it spots you. But I'm biased, I'm a moose believer (or as I like to call it, a moother) based on the circumstantial evidence, but a lot of people are skeptical a creature as large as a moose could keep a low profile that long. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/103196185/new-zealands-moose-hunt-a-centurylong-quest-for-a-forests-final-secret https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/103196185/new-zealands-moos...

hnick 7y ago
Hah, that moose one is new to me. We have a history of some big cat sightings here around Sydney and NSW. The usual story is some US military people brought it (them?) for some reason and it escaped, I think. Though there are many stories and explanations as you'd expect.
- EdwardDiego 7y ago
  Well, we definitely know that they were there, released in the hey-day of Acclimatisation Societies, but the last proof of them was in the 1950s. The fact that no-one saw them while helicopters were beating the bush during the goldrush red deer helicopter hunting years counts against them, but my pet theory is that moose love water, and there's plenty of swamps in Fiordland (if there's a flat bit, it's probably a swamp) to hide from helicopters in.
- dwd 7y ago
  Personal story, the first I ever heard of big cats living in the Grampians, Victoria was after coming back from a lone morning hike up Boronia Peak overlooking Halls Gap. I would have been around 14 at the time and told some of the adults back at the campsite that I found really big cat paw prints on the bank of a creek. Similar story of US Airmen releasing their mascot pumas into the wild.
  - samplatt 7y ago
    Rural WA'ian here. There's plenty of rumours of a "panther" around Nannup; no US Airmen story, it was just a really big black feral cat the size of a panther. From what I've seen personally, feral gets can get BIG. Like mastiff-sized. So I tend to believe these rumours but take their origins with various grains of salt.
    - dwd 7y ago
      The origin stories should be taken with a grain of salt, but that we have cougar-sized ferals is well recorded. There was a Gippsland feral killed and DNA tested that was half as big again as a record-sized domestic cat. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2005-11-28/tests-reveal-super-sized-feral-cat/750340 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2005-11-28/tests-reveal-super-si...
bitwize 7y ago
New Zealand. Home to all sorts of weird-ass birds and bugs, but moose are considered cryptids there. I love how big the world is sometimes.
- yellowapple 7y ago
  It's upside-down in more ways than one, apparently.
- EdwardDiego 7y ago
  We even have our own Sasquatch. A fun game is telling foreign hikers in our backcountry huts that the terrifying noises they're hearing at night is a Maero[1]. They're actually from an unwanted Australian overstayer, the brushtail possum[2], but cannibalistic wild men is a lot more fun. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maero https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maero [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70n88xAdmo0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70n88xAdmo0
rangibaby 7y ago
A mere moose pales in comparison to the legendary CANTERBURY PANTHER
oh_sigh 7y ago
Do you not have hunters in NZ? In the US any actual cryptid would be caught on someone's trail cam, eventually.
- rdc12 7y ago
  There is plenty of hunters in NZ, there is even a wikipedia page on hunting in NZ I just discovered. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting_in_New_Zealand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting_in_New_Zealand
  - mcbain 7y ago
    And TV, Hunting Aotearoa: https://www.maoritelevision.com/shows/hunting-aotearoa https://www.maoritelevision.com/shows/hunting-aotearoa Great stuff, in a mix of Māori and laid back NZ English.
  - EdwardDiego 7y ago
    Yep, I hunt myself, mainly red deer and fallow, with the occasional chamois/pig/wallaby/rabbit/hare as I go.
- EdwardDiego 7y ago
  Plenty of hunters, but moose were released in the most difficult terrain in NZ - Fiordland.

hnick 7y ago

Hah, that moose one is new to me. We have a history of some big cat sightings here around Sydney and NSW. The usual story is some US military people brought it (them?) for some reason and it escaped, I think. Though there are many stories and explanations as you'd expect.

EdwardDiego 7y ago
Well, we definitely know that they were there, released in the hey-day of Acclimatisation Societies, but the last proof of them was in the 1950s. The fact that no-one saw them while helicopters were beating the bush during the goldrush red deer helicopter hunting years counts against them, but my pet theory is that moose love water, and there's plenty of swamps in Fiordland (if there's a flat bit, it's probably a swamp) to hide from helicopters in.
dwd 7y ago
Personal story, the first I ever heard of big cats living in the Grampians, Victoria was after coming back from a lone morning hike up Boronia Peak overlooking Halls Gap. I would have been around 14 at the time and told some of the adults back at the campsite that I found really big cat paw prints on the bank of a creek. Similar story of US Airmen releasing their mascot pumas into the wild.
- samplatt 7y ago
  Rural WA'ian here. There's plenty of rumours of a "panther" around Nannup; no US Airmen story, it was just a really big black feral cat the size of a panther. From what I've seen personally, feral gets can get BIG. Like mastiff-sized. So I tend to believe these rumours but take their origins with various grains of salt.
  - dwd 7y ago
    The origin stories should be taken with a grain of salt, but that we have cougar-sized ferals is well recorded. There was a Gippsland feral killed and DNA tested that was half as big again as a record-sized domestic cat. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2005-11-28/tests-reveal-super-sized-feral-cat/750340 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2005-11-28/tests-reveal-super-si...

bitwize 7y ago

New Zealand. Home to all sorts of weird-ass birds and bugs, but moose are considered cryptids there. I love how big the world is sometimes.

yellowapple 7y ago
It's upside-down in more ways than one, apparently.
EdwardDiego 7y ago
We even have our own Sasquatch. A fun game is telling foreign hikers in our backcountry huts that the terrifying noises they're hearing at night is a Maero[1]. They're actually from an unwanted Australian overstayer, the brushtail possum[2], but cannibalistic wild men is a lot more fun. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maero https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maero [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70n88xAdmo0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70n88xAdmo0

rangibaby 7y ago

A mere moose pales in comparison to the legendary CANTERBURY PANTHER

oh_sigh 7y ago

Do you not have hunters in NZ? In the US any actual cryptid would be caught on someone's trail cam, eventually.

rdc12 7y ago
There is plenty of hunters in NZ, there is even a wikipedia page on hunting in NZ I just discovered. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting_in_New_Zealand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting_in_New_Zealand
- mcbain 7y ago
  And TV, Hunting Aotearoa: https://www.maoritelevision.com/shows/hunting-aotearoa https://www.maoritelevision.com/shows/hunting-aotearoa Great stuff, in a mix of Māori and laid back NZ English.
- EdwardDiego 7y ago
  Yep, I hunt myself, mainly red deer and fallow, with the occasional chamois/pig/wallaby/rabbit/hare as I go.
EdwardDiego 7y ago
Plenty of hunters, but moose were released in the most difficult terrain in NZ - Fiordland.