Large Moggies

[BigPanzer]

Hi,

More big cat sightings reported in the media, this time in Bedfordshire. Could it be that it is a quiet time of the year for news, or could it be that there are more people out and about in the warmer weather?

For a number of years I lived in Devon and used to spend time in one of the village pubs on Dartmoor. Big cats were sometimes a hot topic of conversation amongst the local farmers and mangled, half eaten corpses of sheep were sometimes found.There was the occasional sighting, but this was frequently put down to an excess of scrumpy. I think it was in the early 1970's that the Army were deployed on Dartmoor to see if they could find anything, but of course the sound of size 12 boots would scare anything off.
My own personal belief is that there is a small, but breeding population of big cats in the UK that are solitary except for mating, avoid human contact and travel long distances to establish territory.

Ever since the 1960's this story has interested me, but I have never been lucky enough to witness anything that I could definitely say was a Lynx/Puma or whatever.

Any comments anybody? Any of the wild campers on here had any possible sightings?

Peter

[Bob]

Eastnor Castle 2 years ago we got a glimpse of something about labrador size, moved very fast and like a cat as we got close.

Note we were walking through the woods TO the pub.

Huge numbers of phesants in the area so easy pickings.

[BigPanzer]

Hi Bob,

I know some pumas were wild on the moor in the '80s, possibly escaped from Mary Chipperfield but what I MIGHT have seen way pre-dates that. I know that because I can remember what car we had at the time and it would be '69 or '70. We used to be regulars at the pub in Cornwood and once the locals found out we weren't grockles we would sit and play dominos with some of them.
What I saw was very late night driving over the moor. At the extreme range of the headlights something dark coloured crossed the road in front of us. It had the sort of fast trot that a cat has when you've caught it crapping in your garden, but it can't be bothered to run. Most un-dog like and much bigger than your average tom cat. "Strange" we thought.
A couple of weeks later we were in the pub and one of the local farmers told the landlord he had another ewe killed. They were a bit reluctant to talk about it at first because we were relative newcomers and the most common reaction from people outside their immediate circle was "dogs" or "away with the fairies" or "how much cider have you had" but apparently several farmers had found mangled livestock going back years and there had been several sightings.

I am always intrigued by the unusual and the stories in the media about recent happenings re: big cats brought this out of my memory.

Cheers

Peter

[helen&tony]

Hi
There are plenty of sightings round the UK...and a lot of folks won't admit to seeing them because of being ridiculed or scoffed at. There were a fair few animals dumped into the wilds after the "act" was passed in Parliament...'twas in the '70s , from memory...check it out...My ex. was a disbeliever in our local "Beast" in the U.K., until we saw it one day...and we went and examined the spoor after it scarpered...one big 'ol puss!....turned out quite a few locals had seen it, or its prey!
Cheers
Helen

[BigPanzer]

Helen - As you say, a lot of animals were dumped after the '76 act. There have been exotic animal collectors in the UK since at least Victorian times and I have no doubt that a number have been either been released or have escaped since then. Nobody really knows because there was little, if anything in the way of records kept and no requirement to report a loss. Then there was the attitude that people who say they have seen something, or in my case, might have seen something, were either drunk (I wasn't) or mad (no comment) so they would keep quiet about it. These days that attitude has changed and over the last few years people have started opening up.

Bob - I would love to have a sighting like that. Trouble is, by the time one has recovered from the shock sufficiently to reach for the smartphone the damned moggie would be in the next county. There have also recently been hoaxes, such as a stuffed toy and even a cardboard cutout.

Peter

[Gasy]

Same I've followed the story's over the years
And I think there is some out there
If it were dogs attacking the farm animals a big deal would be made
And it happens quite often when you speak to people

I saw a wild boar road kill near Chelmsford the other day
big pig dead in middle of road in the early morning
Gone when I came back later that day
Was going to have a leg or two
There spreading now days