The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper column inches than any other cryptozoological subject.There are so many of them now that we feel that we should have a go at publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in.
It takes a long time to do, so I am not promising that they will be done each day, but I will do them as regularly as I can. JD
Read on...
The big story today seems to be that of a Bristol barber who took a photograph that may have been of a big cat. The picture, however, as you can see, shows a very blurred print that may be from a felid but can't really be seen as conclusive evidence. At the risk of appearing cynical it looks as if the newspapers are jumping on the big cat bandwagon in an attempt to follow on from the big story in The Sun earlier this week.
Read on...
The same story has appeared in two of the national daily papers (see below)THE large print of a clawed paw is preserved in mud — the latest evidence of ...
The Sun
Now it's the Beast of Bristol: Giant paw print spotted in hills surrounding city
Daily Mail
Has 'Skerray Beast' struck here again?
Sutherland Northern Times
And now, the people of Farr are wondering if the large puma-like cat has returned. The beast's modus operandi, marking it off from local scavengers or predators, was its ability to skin its prey every bit as neatly as any human being could.
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And also in Scotland...
Ross-Shire Journal
By Hector MacKenzie
This image shot by Lisa Sydenham of Tain, sparked a flurry of interest amongst big cat enthusiasts. THE mystery of a panther-like big cat spotted by a series of credible Ross-shire witnesses has been revisited by an acknowledged...
Read on...
I am not sure what to make of this picture. There doesn't seem to be any frame of reference so that one can tell the size, but the creature does seem very muscled. Perhaps a domestic moggy that has been eating steroids? I am basically joking here but would be interested to see what other people think of this picture.
And finally, Hinckley in Leicestershire was shocked recently by the discovery of the head of a muntjac in a tree. Was it the work of a big cat?
Mystery of the severed head on Burbage Common is solved
Hinckley Times
DOG walkers and others wanting to enjoy the picturesquely frosty scenes on Burbage Common can now do so without fear of a big cat attack. The mystery surrounding how a muntjac deer's head ended up in a tree has been solved - by the person who put it...
Nope: it was a bloke out walking his dog. His dog found it, and the owner took it away from the dog and put it in the tree to keep it away from the dog. I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of stories are as simple as this if you dig hard enough.
The print is clearly a big dog.
ReplyDeleteAnd the 'cat' is a domestic...the tail isn't long enough to be a 'big cat', i.e. melanistic leopard. Domestic cats can often be found skulking along headgerows, prowling for mice etc.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion the claw marks are those of a canine..Also only in my opinion the black cat is obviously a domestic. One only needs to look at the cat in conjunction to the tall grass behind it. I have recentley had breeder friends measuring their Maine Coons to get an overall perspective on feline lengths compared to that of the gloucestershire cat and similiar reported sightings..Head to bottom of spine were several inches longer in the Maine Coon than the cat other cats. This would also apply to the cat sightings in North Devon.
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