Email sent to BCIB in September 2007.
To whom it may concern,
i have read numourous articles on your web page today.
I only have one question - when you find these animals you not going to kill them are you?
I am a fan of big cats and large breed dogs and if they do exist in our country by no fault of there own I really would like to think they could live harmoniously among us as they already seem to have been ........ I would love to see some real life pictures of these magnificent animals.

Many thanks for taking the time to read my email

Letter sent to BCIB in August 2007.
Having just viewed your website I thought I would also tell you that there was another big cat sighting around the Huddersfield area quite a few years ago. It wasn't me who saw it, I just remember it being reported at the time.
I think it was in the early to mid 1980's, possibly late 70's. It made the headlines of the local newspaper (Examiner) and it was a black cat seen around the New Mill area as far as I can remember. It was witnessed by two or three women, at least one of whom was a police officer, who watched it for something like half an hour. She described the animal as a big cat with a long sweeping tail and cat-like movements. A couple of days later, however, the newspaper carried a big headline 'explaining' the sighting as someone's black dog (called "Blackie"?) wagging it's bushy tail!
I recall that at the time I thought this didn't make sense, and it smacked of a cover-up. After all, police officers are trained to be observant. How could a bushy dog's tail resemble a big cat?
Sorry the details are a bit sketchy, but it was a long time ago. I don't know how you would follow this up, maybe the Examiner has it on archive? or perhaps in Kirklees Reference Library?

Letter sent to BCIB in July 2007.
Hi, Came across your website via Smallholder website with all this controversy about Gordon ramseys sheep, anyway the site is fascinating well done and thank you. The reason for this mail is I find the subject of big cats fascinating and today on the local Welsh News there was an item about a police constable from South Wales who is training to become an "expert" on big cats so that he can head a task force if and when sightings occur in Wales. Now this really did make me laugh, hypocriocy of the highest degree.
The Welsh side of the site seems very quiet but to the best of my knowledge there have been at least 3 major cases in South Wales in the past few years alone, The LLanelli Lynx, sighted numerous times along the Jack Nickalus golf course, The Baglan beast - spotted by non other than a police officer in his back garden - this one from my own knowledge having lived in the area is quite a possibility as it has been a local story for many years and the situation is perfect - but alas was swept under the carpet as either a dog or a badger - hmmm!!!!! But got the credence because why would a police officer make it up? And the 3rd but possibly most significant is the case in LLangadog - Carmarthenshire - which became nothing short of mass hysteria. It started with the death of a whippet dog, eye witness claimed a cat, massive police hunt, every news channel descended on the tiny village and suddenly everyone had seen it. Massive forensic evidence which kept coming back inconclusive for weeks until finally, finally amid all the hysteria it was confirmed by the "experts" as having been killed by a badger. For the sake of public decency, the words cows faeces spring to mind! Which started me thinking thus the writing of this email. IF, and its a big IF, and when a cat is discovered and it is only a matter of time until it happens - the media circus would be massive and in these days when info can be transferred around the world in the click of a button it would be too dangerous, in fact catastrophic for police government or anyone else to confirm that there was a cat loose in such and such a location. Why? Because every wannabe big game hunter, trophy hunter and attention seeker would descend all guns a blazing to be the one to bag the cat because you could guarantee that there would be a media bounty. Why do the cats disappear from the side of the road once reported, why is it the police feign disinterest, why are the government so keen to deny the existence of cats because it is more dangerous to admit and acknowledge their existence than it is to deny it and write it off as something else.
Reading your reports of escapes and captures reminds me of something I was told a few years ago by a friend, a family tale went that a travelling circus always used to visit the area but was on its last legs, they had winter lodgings in the Carmarthenshire area of South Wales and the owner realising that the area would provide adequate cover one day set his cats free - species unknown, details too sketchy - but .... makes sense. Read Dickie Chiperfields autobiography especially about the war years when they struggled to feed the carnivores - this was their bread and butter, alternative was shoot them, the war wouldn't last forever would it!! Where did these animals go?? Which would explain the pre 1976 legislation sightings. Lets face it the cats are out there, hopefully someone will trap one identify it and let it go - instead of shooting it, because if they have survived thus far then let them get on with it.
Apologies for the length of this mail but it is one of those things that you have to get off your chest. Keep up the good work and here’s hoping that one day one of these cats make an appearance and its not a media hungry lunatic that finds it but someone with a genuine interest in big cats. Incidentally with regard to the Baglan incident mentioned earlier, bearing in mind the distance a cat can travel - don’t know if you are familiar with Wales but it is relatively possible to go from one end of Wales to the other without crossing a road especially if your a cat and follow all the right trails ........
Good luck in the search
Regards
N

Thank you very much for your reply in response to my sighting (June 2007)
Hi,
Following the two recent articles in the Maidenhead advertiser, whereby sightings of big cats have been reported in the Burchetts Green area of Berkshire, I thought that I would contact you to report another sighting in Berkshire.
Unfortunately, it was a long time ago - about 12 years ago. At the time I was an undergraduate doing a summer animal-behavioural project for my degree in Zoology. I chose to study the nocturnal habits of badgers and I was aware that there was a sett located not too far from where I lived at the time. I therefore set off most evenings accompanied by my brother and carrying a pair of binoculars and a torch. We arrived at site before dusk and stayed until about 11pm most evenings. I discovered that we were extremely unlikely to see any badgers when there was a full moon.
On one such moonlit evening, we had given up any hope of seeing a badger and so we sat down to enjoy a cup of coffee from our flask before leaving. It was a dry night and it was approximately 10pm and whilst it was dark, there was plenty of light from the moon. Before long, we heard a terrible squealing noise from the hedgrow/trees at the edge of the field and I immediately assumed an animal had been caught by a fox or a trap. However, not too much time passed before we saw the sillouhette of a large cat emerge from the trees. It appeared on the brow of a hill on the far side of the field from where we sat. Due to the moonlight, we could clearly see the distinctive outline of a large animal, with it's tail held upright. The cat walked slowly out of the trees, stopped and turned to face us.
This was evident by the way that the moonlight glinted in it's eyes as it turned it's head. (I am sure that the smell of the coffee quickly gave us away!). I felt sure by the shape of the animal, it's eyes, the way it held it's tail and the way that it moved so gracefully that it was a large cat. It did not have any prey in it's mouth.
Unfortunately, we were too afraid to stay in such close proximity and so we made a hasty exit! I am therefore unable to provide too much information as to the possible species. I am also ashamed to say that I did not even return the next day to see whether we could find evidence of the kill or any tracks. We were ridiculed by anyone that we told our story to, so I think we dismissed it and started to think that we were mistaken. However, at the time, I thought the cat was dark in colour and sizeable enough to be a panther. It certainly was not as slender around it's stomach as many other large cat species.
My sighting was approximately 20 miles from Burchetts Green, on the south side of the M4, in farmer's fields in the Finchampstead area (RG40).
I realise that this information is probably not much use to you due to the fact that it happened such a long time ago, but it does help to confirm that big cats have been in the area for a considerable period of time. I know that these cats do roam some considerable distance and have large territories, however I am not sure how likely it is for a cat to cross the M4!
If you do have any questions, please feel free to drop me a line.
Best Regards T

Thank you very much for your reply in response to my sighting (June 2007)
I have been worrying about it all day, and concerned as it is a popular field for dog walking and near a residential area. I am naturally concerned now about walking my dog in the field, should I be?
Should I notify the local police?
To be honest it has frightened me, and I would feel awful if I then read in the paper about an attack by a cat and I had not reported it, as I understand the police are not always very understanding with issues like this and think you have nothing better to do!
I would really appreciate your further advice on this, or should I try to forget about it.
The more I think about it, I am convinced the cat was laying down watching me walking towards it. I must have walked passed it first with my dog before I turned around to walk back, which is when I then saw it, has really spooked me!
Thank you so much, I eagerly await your advice.

Hi There, (June 2007)
Although not seen by me, there has been a number of local, unconfirmed reporting’s in our village of Laughton near Gainsborough, Lincs, over the past month or so and I thought I would let you know.
It sounds like an ideal time to get pictures at the minute. Our local Farm shop have found some very large prints and have lost a turkey.
The old game-keeper reported seeing large cats on a number of occasions at 'Bunkers Hill' but don't know if this is worth anything to you.
Are there any potential dangers to people...?
The reported cat is a puma. Any information on local sightings, and anything up to date, will be really interesting to me and I would love the opportunity to asist you if required.
Thanks...
S F

Heya people! (June 2007)
I don't have a big cat reporting to make as such but my father told me a few months ago about a collegue of his who loved mountain biking, And while going thru " ladybank " ??? He noticed somthing to his left following him at a steady pace just above walking speed, As he looked to see what it was he said it was a massive big black cat and out of nothing but fear he pedaled like a mad man and managed to lose the cat wich sounded like it was doing nothing more than stalking. anyways he got to the local post office and asked if they knew anything about a big cat? the old woman at the office told him to stay there and she'll call the police.
The police officer has been following up these reports and apparently this report was far from the first. Im not sure if you are aware or in touch with local police in areas where sightings have been made ,however im not exactly sure where ladybank is... needle in a haystack i know but its in the central belt of scotland thats for sure.
and at some time last year, in the local paper the Falkirk Herald it had a story about a black panther on the go around the calandar area wich is in the outskirts of falkirk! so these cats are very much in the central belt, despite it being the central belt there is still vast areas of woods and fields so its not that outlandish to suggest we have a small group of cats living quite happily.
I'd have thought such creatures would love nothing better than to roll around the highlands but they seem settled in this area. im not sure if this helps any? but i love following up on big cat detail and thought i'd just share me little knowledge of the goings on up this way.
Hope this helps somewhat
Niki X.x.X

Dear Scottish Big Cats
I have been commissioned by the archaeology and local history publishers Tempus to write a book called The Guide to Mysterious Inverness and Loch Ness. This will be the third book in a series that started with my The Guide to Mysterious Perthshire (published December 2006, first printing already sold out, just reprinted) and continues with The Guide to Mysterious Iona and Staffa, which will be coming out in next week. The Guide to Mysterious Inverness and Loch Ness will be published before Christmas 2007.
Each book is a comprehensive guide to everything strange, curious, supernatural, folkloric and weird in the chosen area, organised on a village-by-village or street-by-street plan. As well as what you might term the usual suspects - ghosts, fairies, witchcraft, folk magic, holy wells, anomalous aerial and water phenomena, second sight - the books extensively feature archaeological, historical and architectural curiosities. Hoaxes, strange behaviour, mysterious deaths, simulacra, baseless legends and gargoyles also get added into the mix. So, something for everyone. Each book is illustrated by 60-80 of my photographs, and has a full bibliography and index. The books are aimed at both the armchair traveller and the intrepid on-location visitor - the kind of person who likes to visit that stone circle or graveyard and find out that there's folklore or a supernatural story for the same area.
Of course ABCs are part of the remit. I've looked through your website and found several stories which I've added to those I'd already found in Fortean Times and elsewhere - the area the book covers is a triangle with its lower point at Fort Augustus and its other points at Kirkhill and Fort George, so it includes Kiltarlity, Ardersier and Daviot. I intend to include your site in the bibliography under 'recommended websites' and when I get round to updating my own website I hope you won't mind if I add a link to your site. In the meantime I wonder if you could answer a few questions:

1. In the geographical area I've outlined, do you think it likely that a breeding population of ABCs exist? (Or, more realistically, include the area in their territory.)
2. Many of those with a Fortean bent admit that some ABC sightings are genuine but wonder if other sightings might be the result of other factors, such as temporary shamanistic states caused by possible environmental factors, or even that the ABCs may be spirit beings or tulpas. This point of view is put forward because many credible witnesses have seen 'impossible' beasts in the UK, such as long-extinct Irish Elk or hairy bipeds. Other beasts in this apparently para-real menagerie include black dogs/shucks. What are your thoughts?
3. Eye witnesses are notoriously unreliable; memory is faulty; photos can be faked; video is often inconclusive. Other than Felicity, what is the state of hard evidence that could convince a sceptical audience?
4. Are there sightings other than those listed on the website that have taken place in the area of my geographical area?

Dear Sirs, (February 2007)

Lynx in our midst!
Has anyone else seen or heard the wild Lynx Cat in the Meadfoot or Wellswood area of Torquay? I live in Meadfoot Lane. Behind our properties there is a 30' wall on top of which there is an area of woodland. On the other side of this strip of woodland is Jacobs Ladder; steps which lead up from Parkhill Rd. to Vane Hill Rd.
I have a cat who goes out of my back bedroom window, jumps up onto my bathroom extension flat roof then across onto my neighbours back bedroom extension flat roof, across the adjoining wall to the woods for his little outings. He normally stays out between half to one hour. However, since the beginning of the new year he has stayed out for 3 hours or more. During these long absences I have heard loud growling wailing noises coming from the woods. As the woods are inaccessible to me I have had to stand in my small back yard and call my cat from there. He still didn't come and I assume he had gone into hiding until the coast was clear for him to make a run for it. when he finally appeared he was clearly traumatised.
Last Wed. 7th. Feb. My cat was sitting looking up at the window where he would normally go out.I approached the window and to my absolute amazement there was this enormous cat staring through the window at me. This was no ordinary cat. It had short brown dense fur, very muscular body, about a third to half the size bigger than a domestic cat, its hind legs were long, about 8'' from elbow to heel, it had a blunt (rounded ended) tail, Its head was large with pronounced cheek bones and large almond shaped yellow eyes which were unwavering in their scrutiny of me.
Its striking upright ears were huge with dark tufts of hair on their tips and were close together on the top of its head. Its mouth was a large upside down T shape. It was growling and wailing with its mouth closed, it seemed to come from the throat but was unmistakably the same sound I had heard during the weeks before.
The next day I phoned Mr. Neil Bemment, the curator at Paignton Zoo who was not at all convinced and told me to take a photo of it! Unless it comes back to the window this is impossible since the wood has steep banks and is level with the roof of my house.
I have since spent hours on the internet . Firstly looking at domestic cats. Could it possibly be? I thought. But nothing even remotely resembling what I had seen. I then went on to look at wild cats and Lynx's in particular - The coat, eyes, tail, height, length, and in particular the ears and cry, all add up to it being in fact a Lynx. The fact is that it lies in wait for its prey, pounces on its victim, breaks the vertebrae on the back of the neck and devours it. I believe it intended to have my cat for breakfast. Incidentally my cat doesn't go out anymore, only into the enclosed back yard. Lynx's can travel up to a radius of 25 miles, but usually remain within a 3 mile zone if food is in abundance. This animal would be able to travel from Meadfoot Lane to Vane Hill Rd, into St. John's wood, across to Daddy Hole Plain and along the Coastal footpath to Hopes Nose or Ilsham Woods while virtually being able to maintain its cover in the vegetation for the whole distance!!! Living Coasts should be vigilant.

Dear sirs
I am investigating a case which happened nearly 100 years ago near Slovenian town Dravograd.
I got a scull of a big cat, which supposed to be a lynx. The animal was shot in the spring of 1913 above the town Dravograd close to Austrian border. The lynx shot was reported in hunters magazine and local gazette. After nearly 100 years the investigation and measurements of the scull were made. It turned of that the animal was a female leopard. There is no idea where that animal came from.
Regards
Boris

Hi Mark, (November 2005)
Just found your site,very interesting....I was looking up on web about badgers, foxes, spoor etc, quite simply, these photos, taken a few weeks by myself whilst on swan rescue, a surviving signet, about 5 months old, parents gone (flown off probably), and two others dead, eaten,and one left on the bank with head neck and guts eaten ...The holes are approx half mile away in dried up pond bed sand bank,,,i could not smell a fox,...Lots of tracks, and some offal nearby. Are these badgers maybe, probably, or fox and badgers sharing, and is this claw track a badger? {or maybe a deer on deer spoor}...others must be dog..but I know big cats have retractable claws,apart from cheetahs (my foot is size 12). Only a few days later, there was a reliable reported sighting of black panther about two miles from where these were pics taken.....would be nice to think was something different....But I guess just dog or foxes and badgers.....maybe...The land area where I took these photos is massive, and has its own wood and deerpark,,...Anyhow, hope not wasted your time...
I did also visit the area of the panther sighting, and for sure you could imagine such an animal being there, and well hidden. Not much of a path though for spoors mugs due to sand gravel pathway. Hope to hear from you, as so far everyone else has let me down.... Regards G.

This 8 page document available at www.cfz.org.uk/cats/july2005.pdf is quite remarkable. Mark Fraser has put together every big cat from the UK for the month of July (2005). It includes reports of sightings of 15 large black cats, 5 brown puma like cats, 2 attacks on domestic livestock, and 1 report, complete with picture, of a 28 pound black domestic cat who is occasionally mistaken for a panther when hunting in fields close to his home (in Devon).
Such reports, including the possible mistakes, as well as the more convinvcing sightings make analysis of the data much more possible than it is when an annual no. of sightings by cat colour and county are listed.
Mark, and those who assist him are to be congratulated and encouraged for producing such a comprehensive report, monthly, on an evolving area of British Natural History.
Chris Moiser, 2nd September 2005

Hi, I live on Hayling Island in Hampshire and have seen a swamp cat here. My cousin and his friend also think they saw a puma in this area. Has anyone else reported this? A swamp cat and a leapard have both been knocked down in this area. We have also uncovered what we believe to be prints and dens.

Hi Mark,
Just saw your letter in FT - I'm afraid I can't add much to your knowledge, as I was only six at the time, but the ABC seen around the Culzean Castle area would have been at some time around summer holiday (July/Aug) 1976. We were camping close to the castle at that time, and all the campsite kids spend most of the day combing the woods for the beast - one even showed me "bite marks" in his stick! It was definitely assumed to be a puma, and was featured in the local paper - unfortunately, my copy has long since vanished. My sister and I agreed that we were safe in our tent as our car headlights would probably scare it away, though I remember some nervous nights.
Hopefully, the date might help you narrow down your archive search.
Cheers N

Hi there,
I don't know if you are aware of numerous sightings of a large black cat seen in the Kintyre peninsula over the last 15 to 20 years. It or they have been seen in various areas from Caradale in the North to Southend in the south. Many sightings have been reported in the local paper "The Campbeltown Courier". I believe the most recent sighting was in the Caradale Forest last year. As well as a lot of domestic livestock in the area, we have a large number of deer and wild goats in the area which has huge areas of dense forest.
Although I havn't seen one myself, I do believe I may have heard one. I used to live in an area of Cambeltown looking straight out onto the hills and loch. we often had deer coming into our garden. One night about 12 years ago I was about to take our dog for a walk. (cavalier king charles spaniel). usually she bounded out of the door straight onto the field. However on this evening although she bounded out as usual, within seconds she bounded straight back in with her tail between her legs. She refused to go back out. I went out to investigate and although I couldn't see anything, I heard this very low growl/purr. I'm not really sure how to descibe it, but it seemed to be right on the lower level of human hearing. I didn't wait around to look further. I went back inside sharpish. Although I continued to look out the window I didn't see anything. A few weeks/months later there was a report of a big cat sighting linked with animal deaths(I think it was a number of sheep) about 5 miles south.
I'm not sure of actual dates of sightings, but I'm sure a call to the "Courier" could provide you with the articles. If any more are printed in the future I'll email them to you if you wish.
I hope this is of help
Name and contact details supplied.

Hi Mark,
My hubby told me today that a big cat had been spotted in Dalry I think and police spent all morning trying to catch it, my question is "why?"
Do these cats cause problems,? no! are they a danger,? no! so why are they wasting countless hours as well as money hounding these animals who let's face it, are only trying to survive? and more to the point, what do they intend to do with one should they catch one?
I also have a couple of things I'd like to share with you.
In the mid 70's I was coming through Fullerton Woods at roughly midnight when a large black cat like animal ran across the lane in front of me (I was on a motorbike). It was so quick that I didn't really see much apart from a big black mass that was there and gone. I didn't mention it until recently although I know over the years other sightings have been mentioned. Was there a cat in these parts back then?
Also, both my husband and I can back up the story regarding the golf course in Troon, to the East of Marr College as last year in the Autumn we saw a dark creature run across the horizon heading for the houses at the back of Teviot Place in Troon. We knew it wasn't a dog as we have GSD's and this was both longer and bigger and was definitely not dog shaped, not only that but one of our dogs was very spooked, didn't even utter a growl in fact neither of them did.
For many, many years now we've always fed our fox over the course but now I'm wondering if it is the fox that were feeding as the place we saw what we think was a cat is also one of our feeding spots for our fox!

Communication from the CFZ on their recent trip to Sumatra.
We have just had a telephone call from Richard in Singapore. The expedition seems to have been a significant success. They have achieved most of their objectives including obtaining hair samples ( before you get excited - although they were found in the right location and environment, Richard believes that some of them may be from a Malayan Tapir), and also photographed significant footprints and some very interesting teeth marks on a thick plant stem. They have also obtained some useful first-hand eyewitness testimony.
Sadly, Jon Hare was stricken by food poisoning and had to miss the last leg of the journey. Halfway up a mountain, and preparing for a 12-hour trek through the jungle to a remote village without running water and no doctor, he became very feverish and had to turn back to base camp, with one of the guides. "It was awful," he said. "I was in delirium for two days, and then had food poisoning." He returned to Britain several days early and has, happily, now fully recovered.
The jungle was hostile to equipment as well as personnel - the humidity often affected the cameras, misting up the lenses from inside, often making photography impossible. "We really needed water-proof cameras!" Jon commented.
Richard will be back in the UK within the next 24 hours and we will be posting more details as we get them.
I am sure that you will all join with me in wishing them hearty congratulations on what, by anybody's standards, has been a pretty successful expedition.
J. Downes.

For more information on the CFZ and their recent expeditions follow the link.

Hello.
Are you aware that there have been big cat sightings in the East Yorkshire area? A big cat/s (black in colouration) has been sighted near to villages in this rural area. I live in the village of Walkington (on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds - 3 miles west of Beverley) and there have been numerous sightings in this area. Horse riders, late night taxi drivers and farm workers are among some of the people to have seen this cat. It has mainly been sighted in the Walkington/Little Weighton/Skidby area for some years now. It is rumoured that this cat/s resides near the disussed railway line that bisects the area. Deer and game abound in this area. Any information you have regarding big cats in ths area would be interesting. My wife was talking the other day to someone at a farm in Risby that has actually seen this beast.
Yours sincerely, A.B.

Hello,
As reported on local news on Mon this week a big cat was reported in Staintondale North Yorkshire.Sheep remains where found by farmer who also saw the cat.
I myself live in Hull,East Yorkshire and specifically am interseted in sightings closer to me.I know of numerous sightings within about 35 miles of the city in a ring west to Goole,North towards york and East to the coast.After a bit more research ive found one particular hotspot between Driffield and Bridlington where in an area only stretching over 2 adjacent villages cats are apparantly seen quite"regularly" .In fact i have a report from local police about a local bobby who saw a large black cat on March 21 this year.The police also said this is not at all unusual and while they dont have specific files for the cats they recieve many reports dating back over 20 years(about the same time as legislations regarding keeping exotic animals where changed I believe).
Whilst I can find web sites for most parts of the country I cant seem to find anything for my area and after a little digging have found much info. Other areas such as Market Weighton to Shiptonthorpe area where I know some farmers have also reported sightings.Do you have any info about my area or any suggestions about who to get in touch with?? Any help would be greatly appreciated as I fully believe in their existance in this area but it seems to get no coverage.....am I the only person taking an interest in this magnificent local creatures???
May 2001