Big Cat Roundup 16

Reports of sightings received by BCIB over the last week.

We give minimal information here, except when the report is gleaned from the press, in order to protect the privacy of our witnesses -- and the cats. BCIB members can read the full reports of these and many other sightings reported over the years, in the sightings database on the BCIB website.

If you are fascinated by reports of big cats in Britain, and would like to know more, or even help investigate sightings, why not join BCIB? For more information, see the BCIB website.

England

Cheshire
Tarporley area -- around 4 p.m. on the 18th of December, while travelling by bus, a witness saw a very large black cat on the roof of a house.

Devon
Exeter area -- 1 August evening in 1995, two witnesses were driving near Halden Forest, when a huge black cat bounded across the Road about 100 yards in front of their car, jumped up the bank and disappeared.

Isle of Wight

Blackgang area -- in the autumn of 1993, at midnight one night, two witnesses driving from Blackgang towards Chale caught sight of a large animal disappearing into the hedge. It was much bigger than a fox or cat, black in colour, with a very long curved tail.

Scotland

Renfrewshire
Wemyss -- at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday the ninth of December, a Greenock man and his wife, driving to Largs, saw a big black cat run across the road about 100 yards in front of their car. The cat was jet black, two to 3 feet long, far too big to be a domestic cat.
Read more at Greenock Telegraph

CatStats at a glance
Panther type (black) -- 4

Big Cat Roundup 15

Reports of sightings received by BCIB during the last week. Several sightings this week date from a good few years ago. Clearly, people who see these animals retain vivid memories of their encounters.

England

Norfolk
Foulsham -- around 7 p.m. on the ninth of December, a witness and their mother saw what they took to be either a young bobcat (lynx) or a Spotted Cat cross the road in front of them.

Northumberland
A697 near Shirlaw Pike -- around 10 p.m. on the 13th of December a husband and wife saw a large catlike animal run across the road in front of their car. The cat was light-coloured, greyish or ginger-ish, and rather larger than a fox. It was clearly not a fox however, as its tail was thin rather than bushy.

Oxfordshire
Didcot -- at 8:15 a.m. on the 12th of December, a BCIB member saw, on the edge of woodland a few fields away from Didcot power station, a large black panther-like cat.

Shropshire
Shawbury -- on the 9th of December at 5:40 a.m. a large black cat-like animal crossed the road in front of a local man as he drove to work.
Read more at Shropshire Star

Sussex
Westfield, near Hastings -- at 7:20 a.m. on the 13th of December, a woman and her dog came across a large black cat lying down. The cat saw them, and ran away at speed across the field towards woodland.


Scotland

Morayshire
Dallas -- on Christmas Day 1987, two locals walking their dog near the River Lossie when they saw a large black cat jump over the bank and pad through the snow to the back of the sewage works. They watched the cat around two minutes.

Perthshire
Loch Earn -- sometime in the early 1990s, two witnesses who were going fishing off the south shore of Loch Earn, saw what they recognized as a Lynx or bobcat feeding around 40 feet away from them.

Selkirkshire
Fountainhall -- around 10 a.m. one day in the summer of 1988, a girl driving to Edinburgh with her mother saw from the car window a large black cat chasing a deer across a field and into the forest.


CatStats at a glance
Panther type (black) -- 5
Lynx type (pale, bobtail) -- 2
Unspecified -- 1

November's CatStats at a glance

Panther type (black) -- 47
Puma type (fawn) -- 1
Lynx type (pale, bobtail) -- 2
Jungle Cat type -- 1
Russet coloured -- 1
Charcoal coloured -- 1
Colour unspecified -- 1
Attacks -- 2
Sounds -- 2
Eyes -- 1

Big Cat Roundup 14

Reports of sightings received by BCIB over the last week.

England

Bedfordshire
Cople – in July 1998, a local woman was sitting on a fence early one morning when she saw a very large (3ft high, 5 ft long) black cat about 100 yards away. She watched it for about 10 minutes but although it apparently did not notice her she became frightened and left.

Berkshire
Shinfield - an army dog handler saw a "black panther" leap across the road while he was on the way to work.
Read more at Crawley Observer and Get Reading

Dorset
Wool - on the sixth of December at 8:15 p.m. a driver saw a labrador-sized black cat in the headlights of her car. It stood for a couple of minutes staring into the lights, with something in its mouth, then backed away into the woods.

Leicestershire
Sileby - at 8 a.m. on the 29th of July a local resident saw a big black cat in the railway sidings. Brown circular markings were clearly visible in its coat.

Stapleford – on 4th November around 4.15 p.m., a passenger in a car watched a large black cat walk along a hedgerow.

Somerset
Yeovil - just after 7 p.m. in early April this year a local woman saw a large black panther-like cat standing on tree stump at the bottom of her garden.

"We have never seen it again but I am always aware when I am gardening that it once stood up on that tree."

Read more at Yeovil Express

Sussex
Telscombe Cliffs - on the seventh of December around 1:45 p.m. a local resident looked up from reading a book, and saw a large black cat in her garden. She thought it was a dog at first but as soon as it moved she realised it was a cat. She ran outside to get a closer look, but the animal ran away.

Scotland

Angus
Longforgan area – On 2nd December at 3.30 p.m., witnesses watched from their car as a muscular black cat, bigger than dog, prowled along the top of the hill and disappeared into bushes.

Read more at The Courier

CatStats at a glance

Panther type (black) - 8