Big Cats

[brenbee]

I've just been on the cat deterrant forum & It set me thinking. Of all the people on this site, has anyone seen a Big Cat. you know, a possible puma etc. Or seen any signs of one. We've had sightings in Galloway of a big black animal. But we never seem to get any nearer 2 proving there Is one. No photos or tracks. So come on, WABs lets hear your experiences.

[Dogghound]

Very inconclusive in my eyes. There is very little evidence, you never see clear photo's or video's in the UK. The sightings range from cheetahs to lions to tigers. They would leave some clear field signs. I know alot of people that say they have seen them in my area, ive spent years looking and am yet to even see a footprint. There is plenty of easy prey and you would of thought more farmers would be complaining about missing livestock. I dont doubt that in the past there were escapees and ones released but that was a while ago, I doubt they would breed with such few numbers.

[poohbear]

I drove into the Manifold Valley in the Peak District National Park many years ago with my son Martin who was twelve, and our alsatian Gemma.
We made many trips starting out before dawn to see and photograph wildlife before humans got out of bed...best time of the day.

Just after sunrise we were walking by a stream that runs below Thors Cave...(Google it...very impressive) on crossing the stream on stepping stones I noticed some large paw prints in the mud...I shouted back to my son who was dawdling as usual...
"Is Gemma with you?"
"Of course she is...why?"
"She's not been ahead of us has she?"
"No...she's here beside me ...why?"

I took a look around the trees and fields and then back at the prints in the mud at my feet...they seemed too big for a dog and I hadn't seen the like before...It was then that the thought of them belonging to a big cat crossed my mind...On looking back to the prints I suddenly realised that they were slowly filling with water...in other words whatever had made them it wasn't more than a few minutes since...
I didn't see or hear anything except the hairs prickling on the back of my neck...not a pleasant feeling.

Looking back,Gemma was stock still, hackles raised, staring across the stream into the wood on the other side.Something I'd never seen her do before,her usual reaction to wildlife was to bark madly...much to my annoyance when hoping for a camera shot.I looked where she was looking but couldn't see a thing.

I made my way very cautiously with son and dog back to the car a few hundred yards away and decided to spend the day elsewhere.

I saw and heard nothing that morning apart from the prints in the mud,but the feeling of fear was not something I would care to experience again.

On getting home I looked through a couple of books on African wildlife..The pug marks of a leopard were very similar to what I saw that day.

I for one believe there are wild pumas or similar beasts roaming remote parts of our country.

[Dogghound]

You should have taken a photo of these prints.

[Picidae]

Panther prowls Brighton garden (From The Argus)

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/23323...strikes_again/

From the County Newspaper.

Rumours have persisted for years that there is one or two roaming wild in this area. I've never seen one but then I don't drink, perhaps that's something to do with it

Far more likely if there are BC's loose in UK, they're in the Highlands of Scotland or remote areas like parts of the Peak District although there's a possibility of hybrid Scottish Wildcat in these areas which are all black .... but repeated sightings over the years in a City? With no proof?

Brilliant and atmospheric account Pooh Bear. Made my hackles prick up just reading that!

[poohbear]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

You should have taken a photo of these prints.

We're talking about twenty years ago now, and having to wait to have film processed...I don't think it crossed my mind at the time...I can just remember wanting to be somewhere else.
I used to carry my pentax with a 600mm mirror lens most of the time for long shots.It wouldn't have taken long to change the lens but as I say it wasn't the priority in my mind at the time.
If it had been today with my minute digital camera in my pocket, and the use of a computer to enhance the images, It might have been a different story.

[Hedera]

There was a "sighting" reported in our local paper last Friday by a tree surgeon in the next village who was up a tree and saw a big black cat. he took a photo of its footprint next to his glove, and it certainly is big!

[GothicSquirrel]

I saw a puma in Thetford forest when I was doing a research project there in 1995. Myself and a fellow zoology student saw it once at a distance running down a muntjac and once at close quarters when we startled it out of some undergrowth. Both times were just after sunrise. We later found clear tracks at the edge of a puddle.

We were working in a restricted area so it would have been largely undisturbed. We discussed it with the project leader who tried to tell us it had just been a red deer in grey summer coat (it most definitely was not!) but on the day we went home he confessed there had been several reliable reoprts of a puma in that area - he hadn't wanted to tell us cos he thought we'd refuse to go out and do the work.

There was no doubt in my mind or my colleague's about what we saw - especially when seen at a range of around 6 foot.

[hammock monkey]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/4830320.stm

story here about a lynx shot by a farmer in Norfolk.

I saw a large black cat myself, very close to the motorway in somerset. It feels as if I'm putting myself in a catagory of either liars or possible nutters by saying that (i'm sure most people feel the same) but I stared at it and thought "NO!!", shook my head and looked again...still there, very large cat, large S shaped tail, walking like a big cat...I showed the two others sat on the front bench seat of the van, both saw it, both were pretty sure it was a large black cat.
My common sense tells me I'm mistaken, but when it happened I had enough time to gather myself and look again, checking for perspective, other animals, re-checking it wasnt a dog several times....

dunno, common sense still stops me from being 100% convinced, especially as it was day time beside the M5...but if I had to bet my life on it.....

[James M]

It's an interesting subject, there have been stories of big cats around Saddleworth too, the most recent last year:
Farmers fear return of ?Saddleworth Savage? - News - Oldham Advertiser.
You would think though there would be some clear evidence after all these sightings, but still none has surfaced.