British Big Cat Sighting Near Wakefield

The video looks fairly convincing. Full screen I can make out enough detail at 0:14.

Mr Chapman, from North Yorkshire, said: “I was on the phone to a friend looking out of the window at the fields, watching the rabbits, and this big cat just came through the hedgerow.

www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk...

a reply to: Kester
It would be nice to have a local person get some measurements at the scene to try and give some sense of scale to the video. Try to arrive at a size approximation for the cat.
Until then, someone will say it is just a big housecat.

Edit: How far away from you is this place?

Meh, Could be a big black dog, video is too poor to prove anything.

this is right by where I'm living at the minute. I think if it's a real large cat sighting More people would have seen and videod it in the area, especially since the redbeck is open 24/7 and is pretty much always busy due to the nice bacon sandwiches !

a reply to: butcherguy

I'm 150 miles away.

A comparison with a human in the same place would help.

a reply to: ColaTesla

Video proved only that Britain has still some fields of grains.

a reply to: ColaTesla

True the video proves nothing. Sometimes someone who wanted to believe all sightings are mistaken sees one themselves. Then they are subjected to the same doubt they used to show others. For the cats safety it's best nothing is proven.

The tail is just visible occasionally when the camera is held steady. It's fairly convincing to me because I've seen several black leopard type cats ranging from small collie size to large leopard size.

It could be a fraud or a mistake.

a reply to: DARKJEDIG

They often hunt a particular route, perhaps for weeks, then move to another area. It may frequently hunt that field or it may never have been there before.

Just say it is a big cat.. just wondering what a large cat would do for
food to sustain it long term.

What kind of prey is in the area in question for it to predate on?

a reply to: rigel4

They prefer wild meat. Farm animals are usually left alone though there are some killings and injuries. Rabbits are increasingly common as resistance to myxomatosis spreads.

The number of disease-resistant bunnies has soared by 50 per cent to an estimated 60 million in the last 12 years, nature experts fear.

www.telegraph.co.uk...

Domestic cats are sometimes taken. Occasionally many domestic cats will disappear in the same area. Deer are thought to be killed as a show of hunting prowess to impress others of their own species. Geese are sometimes taken.

Always had a theory as to the Big Cat Sightings in the UK - that many of these are actually pets let loose during the summer as the owners are away.

Either that or its coincidental with what we have in terms of low news weeks with Parliament in recess and all the celebs on holiday.

a reply to: Silk

Here's another recent sighting.

James Downs and his partner, Anna Lepianka, saw the animal stalking through a field near a disused railway line on the outskirts of the city on Wednesday afternoon. James, 37, said: “It was about the size of a Labrador, and dark coloured with a long tail. It was prowling at the bottom of the field and went up into the brambles. “I used to work in a zoo and was a zoologist by degree. It was no Collie – it was definitely a cat. Its front shoulder blades were popping like cats’ do. “Unfortunately we don’t have a photograph. It was about half a mile away.” They couple spotted the animal from their home in Stanks Drive, Swarcliffe, at about 2pm. “I walked up to the field about 20 minutes later to have a nosey,” James said. “It’s a deer path and if it’s a big cat it will follow the scent

Read more at: www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk...

One does have to consider longer daylight hours as a factor in the number of reported sightings.

I'm in the UK (Scotland) and I've personally seen large tan-coloured puma/mountain lion type big cats on two separate occasions.
Years apart but only a few miles apart.

What do they eat?
What did the wolves who used to roam freely here eat?

There are huge numbers of Rabbits, Hares, Grouse, Pheasant, Deer etc.
(And plenty of domestic animals and pets too, because of us.)
More than enough to sustain a large predator population.


G

a reply to: Kester

It looks Rottweiler size whatever it is.

On full screen it seems to move like a dog.

a reply to: Kester

Interesting.

Right at the end when it sped up, it seemed, only seemed mind you, to move much like a large cat.

Looked to me, and I may be wrong, to be around 100 yds, or so? That would make it a large whatever. But it's hard to tell how far it is.

a reply to: Gordi The Drummer

Has anyone found animal remains? With those it would be easy enough to figure out not only if it was a big cat, but the type. Well, easy for zoologists...

a reply to: Kester

How far apart are these two sightings?

About 15 miles I'd say a reply to: seagull

a reply to: Otley

Hmm...

That, possibly, could have been the same critter...what ever it was.

Still think it moved a lot like a cat at the end of the tape.

yeah, I'm an expert...they're real ...they're not panthers and they have the face of a pit bull.......I've got one here in north Texas ....Collin county....rd 466......with two kittens this march....

first one I saw was 25 feet away I had a 20 guage in my hand when I was 15 in 66.... and would never shoot one, for one thing they look like someone's dog loose till you see their tail, a full 36 inches long....

my brother in law who was animal warden said they've been reported in the trinity river bottoms for 150 years....