British Big Cat Crossing The Road

I don't know when this occurred. Sometimes people hold onto their big cat stories for a while before they share them.

george: Without trying to sound like a conspiracy theorist do you think the authorities know more than they admit too?

Danny Nineham: Definitely. These things are covered up. At the end of the day, it's down to money. Once it's someone's responsibility, it's going to cost millions to sort it out. Until someone is killed, they'll ignore the matter.

scotcats.online.fr...

The cover-up includes many 'experts' and enthusiasts whose job is to gather evidence and personal accounts then try to subtly downplay the numbers and give an easily accepted theory for their origins.

The truth is there are very many of them, hair analysis shows most of them are a species unknown to conventional science. They are not necessarily aggressive to humans and can be inquisitive, playful and friendly. They can also be terrifying and allegedly several fatalities have been covered up.

a reply to: TimBurr

There are big cats in virtually all parts of the World (save for maybe Antarctica), so I don't see why one couldn't exist in the UK. Actually, seems like a pretty hospitable place for a large cat breed, especially considering they exist in places like Tibet. I kind of doubt though that it is a 'species unknown to conventional science'; that's a bit of a stretch, I think. It may be rare, but undiscovered completely I would doubt.

There's probably enough wild food available in the form of birds and small game that these cats don't have to interact with humans very often, thus they are rarely seen.

originally posted by: TimBurr
I don't know when this occurred. Sometimes people hold onto their big cat stories for a while before they share them.

If it's correct, the dashcam shows 5th September 2024 at 7.31 pm.

The movement sure looks like a big feline. It looks to be low to the ground, so I exclude dears and such. I also thought a bear moves in a similar way, but I'm pretty sure there are no bears in Bexhill, East Sussex.

a reply to: TimBurr

It confuses me as to why the 'authorities' never admit or even entertain the possibility of a population of big cats. I don't buy the money excuse when they seem to come up with plenty for everything else.

Here in Michigan, it was "not possible" despite hundreds of sightings (including mine) until piles of scat and physical evidence forced them to admit the truth. Suddenly we went from not possible to breeding population overnight.

I look forward to the authorities in the UK admitting the reality of the obvious.

a reply to: billxam1

Funny how that works, isn't it?

We had the same issue in eastern Colorado. Everyone said there was no way mountain lions (cougars) would ever make it out here...until a guy shot one inside his garage when it tried to attack him! I'd found prints in the mud at our place that same year and everyone dismissed them as a large dog. Now it's accepted to the point people are warned about them.

a reply to: billxam1

I was going to post about that very same thing.
I think the Michigan DNR were the Kings of Deny, Deny, Deny.
About 5 years before they finally had to admit it, I saw a picture from a Trail cam in Weidman. Clear as day, of a beautiful Mountain Lion. Long tail and all, on a downed tree.

So for other countries/places to lie about it, is no shock at all.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I always wonder why they won't admit it. Many years ago, I was squirrel hunting in Western Ky, I'm talking 35 years ago, and was out with just a .22 LR
According to the "experts" there were no big cats in Western Ky.

I'm walking a trail back toward an old rock quarry and heard ROOOWRRRR. I'm no expert but I know a big cat when I hear one. I couldn't tell where it came from, so I put my back to a big tree and just waited for about 5 minutes. Didn't see anything so I eased back down the trail to my truck. From that point on, I carried a .357 when hunting.

a reply to: TimBurr
Authorites have definitely tried to play down the reality of big cats in the UK.

The only reason I can think of that they do this is because it was government policy which led to many big cat owners releasing them into the wild when the law changed,meaning you could no longer legally own a big cat.
Its a stupid reason,but government loves stupidity so it may be true.

Anyway-if you can excuse the pun-the cat is now out of the bag,due to big cat DNA being confirmed at the sight of a sheep attack-

DNA from a black hair caught on a barbwire fence following a sheep attack has offered ‘definitive proof’ big cats are roaming the British countryside.
The strands were sent off for testing after being recovered from a farm in Gloucestershire where there had been some ‘unusual predatory’ activity.
Suspicion was raised when video footage of a large black animal was also captured only a few miles away from where the sample was taken.
And documentary-makers, who had been investigating sightings across the UK, say the test has now come back ‘positive’ and confirmed the existence of black panthers and other big cats living in the UK.

metro.co.uk...


My local area in North Wales has had a few sightings-even some in my village-with one lady who claimed to see one in her garden in the street I live on.There are pretty big woods across the street,so Its the kind of place one of these animals may be able to live and keep a low profile.

a reply to: TimBurr

I'm no expert but my first reaction was that it was a cat of some sort.
Watched it two or three times now and I haven't changed my mind.

Not sure how big or what type of cat but definitely moves like a cat and has the shape of one.

a reply to: onestonemonkey

If you ever come across a giant hairball... run!!

a reply to: Encia22
No giant hairballs so far-but I have heard some strange noises coming from those woods.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

There are big cats in virtually all parts of the World

We sadly hunted all our Large cats to extinction including the Lynx, but we do still have a small population of Scottish Wild Cats in the remote Scottish Highland Forrests.
theaveragescientist.co.uk...



From the video posted this is what it looked like to me, British lanes are approx' 3.6m wide each way and it too about 4 strides to cross the road and I've seen large 'tabbies' do that? Maybe a Maine coon-cat?

I have posted about Big Cats in the UK in this forum before and there's some pretty good evidence to suggest we do have a small population but that doesn't look like one to me?

We've discussed this many a time around your camp fire. That is defo a 'big cat' and looking at the footage a few times, I would say the same sort of size as the one I saw clear as day in my car headlights.....although it was strolling as cool as you like across the Fosse Way. I don't think mine was hunkering down as much as the one in the video though, so mine could have been bigger. It was the tail that did it for me.
You also know why I think the authorities wont claim they exist..... it would become open season for somebody to try and get a trophy. I'm surprised nobody has thought of that yet. But farmers.... they have to report to DEFRA..... so their hands are tied.
Rainbows
Jane

a reply to: DAVID64

possibly the same reason they keep wolf pack locations a mystery in Scotland, for fear people will hunt them again
so maybe they know the locations of these big cats but keep a guarded secret for fear of sport hunters or just general populace wanting to eradicate them

There's certainly been big cats around the south of the Mull of Kintyre peninsular (Davaar Island region) 25 - 30 years ago as my Dad (ex-Ranger) came face to face with one when climbing a style and the cat was doing the same from the other side and wasn't a UK wildcat despite similar markings.

There's meant to have been a few around Bolton/moorlands around Greater Manchester according to past volunteer work with Lancs wildlife trust that had established themselves after owners released them due to exotic animal laws. I don't think they've been seen, tracked or scat detected since the major drought and moorland fires a few years ago though (2017?) .

a reply to: Encia22

That is the motion of a predator. I saw it once with a wolf in a forest. Completely different from the gait of a dog.

Cheers

originally posted by: Encia22

originally posted by: TimBurr
I don't know when this occurred. Sometimes people hold onto their big cat stories for a while before they share them.

If it's correct, the dashcam shows 5th September 2024 at 7.31 pm.

The movement sure looks like a big feline. It looks to be low to the ground, so I exclude dears and such. I also thought a bear moves in a similar way, but I'm pretty sure there are no bears in Bexhill, East Sussex.

I personally don't think it is a big cat myself because of the way it is running. To me it looks more like the motion of a ram or mountain goat running or even something like a shaggy big dog. Most of the running by big cats I have seen has been on shows like wild Kingdom years ago, but I have seen some big cougars/mountain lions running over the years in my travel and they are pretty sleek runners. I could be wrong, it could have been spooked or just old and not so good a runner anymore.