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Beast Back on the Prowl

Dunfermline Press: 19th June 2008

Dunfermline Press
   
THE BEAST of Blairadam, it would appear, has been reading the Dunfermline Press.
For only hours after last week's edition was published – reporting that it had not been seen of late – two fresh sightings were brought to our attention.
But it seems that the giant cat is fast becoming the Beast of West Fife after one sighting was reported in Dunfermline and the other in Crossgates.
Dunfermline and West Fife MP Willie Rennie has also come out and said the monster could exist, after revealing a run-in with another legendary beast.
We reported last week on cat group Big Cats in Britain's desire to locate a webcam at the Kelty forest to try to spot the big cat.
After a spate of sightings in recent years, they want to try to settle the debate over its existence once and for all.
On Thursday, the Press received a letter from a Pitcorthie resident with a chilling account of "large black creature" emerging from North Wood.
The resident – who wishes to remain anonymous – claims to have seen the Beast from his bedroom window last week.
He described seeing his own pet cat fighting with another moggy at the bottom of his garden at around 1am, prior to the Beast making an appearance.
"To my amazement, I saw a very large black creature emerge from the wood and pad quietly towards the source of the noise," he told us.
"The appearance of this creature caused the noise to cease and my cat came back to the other side of the fence.
"The animal was bigger and longer than an Alsatian and had a very long tail. If it was a dog, it was like no dog I've ever seen."
The second sighting was by Dalgety Bay man Ian Bridges (47).
He claims to have seen the Beast a couple of months ago while driving near Crossgates "about 100 metres away" from his car, running across the road.
"There probably is a big cat living up there (Blairadam)," he said. "People have exotic pets so it's perfectly feasible.
"It's a good idea to try and capture it on camera, it could bring in tourism. I'm a believer and I'm confident that it's out there."
Willie Rennie – who is from Kelty – said he has never seen Blairadam's beast but does believe it could exist after meeting another big cat in Cornwall.
The Lib Dem man used to live down there and said he was driving home one night across Bodmin Moor when he came face to face with the local beast.
"I was driving and saw a large black animal sitting in front of the car," he recalled.
"Its eyes were caught in the headlights but I could see that they were green.
"I was sure it was the Beast of Bodmin."
Although he stopped and got out of his car, Mr Rennie said the Beast was nowhere to be seen.
He added, "It's possible (that the Beast of Blairadam exists).
"It's believed that big cats could cope in the wild, especially if there's a good supply of livestock."

Do you have any information on the above reports. Were you the person involved, or are you aware of any more sightings in this area. We would appreciate any information that you could give us.

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