BIG CAT STUDY GROUP: Cumbria hair and scat samples

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 they should be archived in some way by us, so 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 and is a fairly tedious task so I am not promising that they will be done each day, but I will do them as regularly as I can. JD

This letter arrived recently together with samples of scat and hair:

Hi,

Here are the ‘hairs’ and ‘scat’ as promised. I’m not so sure about the ‘scat’ but the black hairs I’m certainly interested in finding out what animal they are from.

I found the hairs in a field at ‘Rockcliffe’ near Carlisle where the ‘black panther’ had been seen most. The scat was nearby. Below the field is a river which leads into an estuary where wild birds are abundant. So I guess the ‘big cat’ will be using this area for food? Rockcliffe and Carlisle area has had numerous sightings of a ‘large black cat’ and I’ve just recently bought a trail camera which I’m going to put on a tree overlooking the field the cat frequents. Would really appreciate if you could let me know what the outcome is of the hair and scat. I shall keep you also informed of any ‘cat’ activity in Cumbria.

Thank you so much!

Sharon

Samples will be going to Lars any day now, and we shall keep you posted.