NIGEL WRIGHT: Big cat reports from the Lake District

TWO MORE BIG CAT REPORTS FROM THE LAKE DISTRICT

2012 has begun with yet more big cat sightings from the Lake District. The following two reports come from the Westmorland Gazette

Windermere pensioner spots 'big cat' in his garden
6:10pm Tuesday 3rd January 2012
ANOTHER ‘big cat’ sighting in the Lake District has re-opened the debate about what the mysterious animal may be. For years, Westmorland Gazette readers have reported seeing large cats at various places across Cumbria and Lancashire. Startled Windermere pensioner Brian Jowett claims he saw the curious creature in the early hours the week before Christmas. Awoken during the night, Mr Jowett noticed security lights come on at his home at Rowanrigg, on Lake Road. He looked out and saw an animal measuring around two feet long with a bushy tail, which he first believed was a fox. But on closer inspection, the 82-year-old realised he was looking at something he had never seen before. “It was a very large cat, very much like a striped tabby cat with very pronounced rings around its bushy tail, and pointed ears,” said Mr Jowett. “I watched it for about four or five minutes, it looked at me, panicked and went off.” Mr Jowett said he was surprised by his encounter with the fawn-coloured creature as wildcats in the UK are usually found north of the border.

“From information on the Internet, it would appear to be a wildcat but they are not supposed to be anywhere other then remote parts of Scotland,” he added. “I was very surprised. It was strange - we have chickens, which I checked the following day but they hadn’t been disturbed.”
David Harpley, senior conservation officer at Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said the animal might have been a large domestic cat. He also suggested it could be an otter, which people do not often see on dry land. “There are a number of theories about what these things are - one is that they are big cats living free, but it seems a bit unlikely,” said Mr Harpley. “The other is that people are probably not used to seeing male otters, particularly male otters, on dry land. “Otters move across dry land in order to get from one water course to another. It’s a big animal and people might confuse these, potentially, with big cats.”

Mr Harpley added that a large puma-type cat would measure about four or five feet long.
“I would guess this was a large domestic cat.

As January progressed, another big cat sighting from the area was reported…

Angela Jones and Eve Grayson, who say they saw South Lakeland's mystery big cat

Two terrified runners have spoken of their face-to-face encounter with South Lakeland’s mysterious big ‘black cat’. The latest sighting was reported by Angela Jones and Eve Grayson, whose evening jog on Scout Scar was dramatically interrupted at around 6.30pm last Wednesday. They have vowed never to venture up to the popular beauty spot in darkness again after coming across what they said was ‘definitely’ a big cat.

It follows years of apparent sightings of the curious creature in Kendal, Levens, Natland, Witherslack and in the Winster Valley.

The jogging duo, who both live in Kendal, spotted the animal just four metres in front of them on the side of a path. Angela said the animal was jet black, the same size as a Labrador, had long legs, a tail and was staring straight at them. “We stopped, shone our head torches towards it to get a better look and saw two orange eyes and the outline of a large feline animal,” said Angela “It was definitely a big cat.”

As they moved towards the beast, Eve, a student, reported that its tail moved and ‘bristled’, similar to a cat’s when it is angry. But fear quickly set in and they decided to run in the opposite direction. Angela, who works for Cumbria County Council, said it was an ‘amazing experience’ but also ‘a bit frightening’.

“We were terrified because it was dark and we didn’t know what it was going to do, or whether it was going to follow us. It is not something you expect to see in this country – and not so close.”
Later that night, they turned to the internet to try to establish what they had seen.
Angela – who said she had never taken previous big cat sightings seriously – was surprised by the number of reports locally.

Word of their brush with the mystery moggy has been met with scepticism by some, but Angela and Eve are adamant about what they saw.

“People still don’t believe it but we know what we saw,” said Angela. “They say: ‘Are you sure it wasn’t a cow or a sheep’ – we were close enough to see that it wasn’t.

“It’s almost like we want to see it again to get a picture to prove it to people.”

And so it continues!…When will the government finally come clean over big cats?. How many more reliable, daylight sightings must there be, before the true emerges, and we all know , once and for all, that these beautiful creatures really do roam our English countryside!…