3rd January 2008: Leicestershire / England
After much effort, BCIB member Donna Brown finally saw the animal she suspected was in the area, she reports: “At 13.30hrs today I finally got to see the cat that roams around Aylestone Meadows. It was laying down in over-grown shrubs surrounds the bottom of pylons.
“We were in slow moving traffic near Middleton Street, I saw something in a half laying down and half sitting position, when I looked back at it its eyes was a clear give away of what I was looking at.
“I looked straight into the cat eyes, it was absolutely beautiful, its coat was a glossy black colour, its eyes were a yellowish greenish colour. It was the size of my GSD, and it was very healthy, and quite at home. I was that close to it I could see the colour of its eyes staring back at me,
“I am 100% of what i saw ,it wasn’t panther-type it wasn.t puma-type it was an actual panther...I am still excited about now.....and will be for some time, because I actually got the chance to look one in the eyes, which are absolutely beautiful.
Nigel Spencer visited the scene of the sighting with Donna and reports:
No cats seen but hope these pictures help explain it all. The first is an Arial shot we took from the chopper (or was it google earth!!)
You can clearly see the green corridor running from the bottom left up to the middle to the left of the Walkers stadium
The right had green line is the Grand union/ soar navigation, the left-hand is the old Great Central railway, now a cycleway right through the Aylestone meadows flood plain.
Interestingly, there are sightings on the Northern side of the city on the GCR preserved seam railway, although large sections of viaduct are missing so it must follow the canal at that point until it regains the trackbed, unless its not the same cat!!
The mainline to London runs North south exiting btm right.
Sightings all along here and in gardens in the past on the Saffron estate.
Donna was on the road called Middleton St that runs NW over the meadows and goes under the GCR way footbridge and over the canal at the same point.
To the south West is the busy Fosse park out of town shopping and main police Hq where there has been reports in the past .
Its amazing how much open space and corridors there are in towns when seen from above.
Donna is standing where the car was when she saw the cat lying under the pylon. The ground is very hard stone with this grass layer so no prints found from cat or travellers horses that are in the long narrow field
The traffic is very slow at his point as there is usually a que for the traffic lights, so she got a good look.
The Old GCR now a cycleway runs to the left on a high embankment , loads of dog walkers and a boarding kennels on the other side of the road!
Aclear view of the of GCR running above. Old building is other side of bridge across the river soar. Grand union canal runs along the right. Leicester centre is about two miles north up the old GCR past gas works where more reports have come from in the past. The whole area is littered with tracks and scrub a bit like Cannock chase, enough cover for a small army, let alone a panther.
Dog walkers we spoke to said that all the rabbits have now gone! We saw little wildlife today apart from swans and geese etc
Prime suspect: This old club house has been disused for some years and is overgrown. Doors and windows all gone, but eight foot high railway type fence all around. Cats have been seen to jump over these though, elsewhere with ease. GC runs on right, and other side of this was Donnas sighting
Clear view of access to building what lurks inside!! No one seems to know who owns it. Travleller’s are on land behind camera so no chance of setting any gear up to monitor, unless it is inside an armed van.
(Source: Donna Brown BCIB & Nigel Spencer RLPW)
