Fresh Ashford and Maidstone sightings

On 29th May 2011 at 9:30 pm in the vicinity of Kingsnorth/Mersham, a couple were walking their puppy when in the distance they observed a large black animal they at first took to be a dog. Waiting for the owner to appear the witnesses were then extremely surprised at the speed which the animal used to ran across the field. The animal, which was clearly a large, black cat, then turned towards them and the couple, in alarm, picked their dog up and hurried home.

On 30th May at 10:30 am a Bearsted man was working in his back garden when he saw a big, black cat with a shiny coat and extremely long tail sauntering through the undergrowth. The animal appeared to be in no particular hurry and disappeared into undergrowth behind the shed of the witness. At Ditton a man found that four of his chickens had been completely eaten by a predator which killed unlike any animal he knew of. Only a few feathers remained of the carcasses. This echoed a similar report mentioned briefly in The Sun newspaper of Saturday 28th May in which it was stated that ten geese had been killed at a pond in Aylesford. Aylesford is just a few miles from Ditton.

Sussex black leopard

"We live on the banks of the Cuckmere river just next to Alfriston, a few miles from Polegate, and as I drove across a bridge over the Cuckmere just near our house earlier this year, coming towards me on the road and caught in the headlights was what looked like a very large black cat – to me it looked elegant, sleek and somewhat puma like. I slowed down as I neared it, and it snuck under a railing and went into the undergrowth by the river. Of course I guess it could have been a black dog, such as a black Labrador, as it was about the same size as a lab, but it certainly looked much more cat like than that. I remember its eyes in the headlights being very reflective, and I think they reflected green, though its a while ago now and I cant be sure that I've remembered that correctly – but we have two dogs, and I remember thinking that the eyes didn’t look anything like our dogs eyes when reflected in lights.






We have about twelve acres of fields or thereabouts, with some six hundred years of river frontage, the frontage being all very overgrown as it is not grazed or cut at all and therefore providing good undisturbed cover for animals... hence the probable mink and stoats that I’ve seen, and the otter that someone fishing on our river bank early one morning believes that they saw. Whether a big cat passes by from time to time, who knows, but it could be possible, and there are some signs of a large predator of some sort having been here on more than one occasion. The nearest sheep to us are probably a mile or so away – but on a couple of occasions we have had what I think were large chunks of sheep vertebra (18in to two feet sections) and a sheep’s pelvis left in the field, so whatever brought them there must have carried them quite some distance. No doubt it could have been a fox, as there are vast numbers of fox and rabbits in the area, but whatever it was would have to have been quite sizeable to have carried such a large chunk of sheep, and somehow to me it just didn’t feel like the sort of thing a fox would have done, especially with so many rabbits in the area!"

Latest reports - Maidstone-related:

The Sun newspaper ran a strange and very brief snippet on Saturday 27th May concerning ten geese that were alleged to have been killed in the Aylesford area, a few miles from Blue Bell Hill. The newspaper stated that 'two escaped panthers' were being suspected. This strange, and vague story is now being investigated, as it appears unlikely that ten geese would be attacked by a large cat in one night, a predatory cat will usually stalk prey, and animals such as geese would be killed with a throat bite and then often removed from the area to be eaten elsewhere. A large cat - puma or leopard - would not ransack a flock and leave a gory mess but often take one or two and leave very little trace, and how the newspaper, or its source came up with the details of two escaped panthers is beyond us. No-one in the area owns leopards so it seems more likely that dogs were to blame until we can verify anything from the kills.

A Lenham farmer has been in touch to say that he has lost an alarming number of ducks etc, over the course of several months. These disappearances have coincided with a sighting of a puma. Also in Maidstone, a clear photo has emerged of a puma stalking through long grass. The photo is one of the clearest photo's of a large cat in the UK and hopefully it will be published as soon as we have clearance from the witness who took the photo.

From the files: Goose carcass at Aylesford

This goose carcass was found at Aylesford. A dog-walker observed a large, black cat, bigger than his own Labrador dog, stalking geese. Upon returning to the spot the witnes found the eaten remain of the goose. Only the wings remained. The rest of the carcass has been licked clean.

Possible Dymchurch sighting

'This is probably nothing, but my 13 yr. old son saw a large dark coloured animal at the end of our garden at dusk the night before last (15th May2011) . He said that it was about waist height ( he is 5' 10") our Jack Russell started barking & running up the garden, & the creature ran off.

I asked him what the tail was like , but he did not see the tail, it was around 8.30 in the evening, & beginning to get dark. It may have been a fox, although, it would have had to be a very large one!

It may be coincidence, but to my knowledge, at least two small dogs have gone missing in the vicinity recently, & on the school run this morning I saw a lady putting up a notice on a post about 1.5 miles from here, & having seen your website, confirming the sighting of a large black cat in the area. I am probably putting 2 + 2 together & coming up with 5, but I am now a bit concerned, & will not allow my dog out at night unaccompanied!'

Recent May sightings

'Sunday 15th May 2011 - "myself and my wife have just returned from a walk in chalk woods which is part of joydens wood in bexley. we saw a what looked like a jet black alsation or ladorador about 10yrds in front of us in undergrowth. we were on a windy path, i called back my dog and expected to continue on the path and come across a fellow walker with said dog. but nothing , in our conversationg my wife said it could have been a cat and on reflection there was no noise and dissapeared just like that."

There has also been a sighting of a lynx in the area of the Rochester Maidstone Road, crossing from heavily wooded area in vicinity of airport.

Spate of mystery fox killings

Recently there has been a mysterious spate of fox killings within a few miles of one another. In each case the unfortunate victim has been bitten in the throat and blood drained from the victim. Another fox was found with a throat wound and also its hind quarters eaten - this is an ongoing investigation at the moment. The area in question has also produced several sightings recently of a black leopard. More photo's to follow.

Hartley Bottom sighting

"My friends and I were driving through Hartley Bottom last night (12th May 2011) at about



11.15 when we saw about 30 yards or so in front of us a fox go across the


road followed by a black creature and then another fox. I was driving and


didn't say anything, a couple of minutes later one of my friends asked if I


thought that was a panther crossing the road. We then realised that we had


all seen the same thing and decided we felt it was too big to be a domestic


cat.





It was probably the size of a labrador dog but had a feline sleek shape and
 the movement was quite different to the fox it was more of a glide.

 What was strange was that it appeared to be quite close to the foxes. Have


you ever heard of this before?"

Tunbridge Wells sighting

"This evening (11th May 2011) whilst driving through Tunbridge Wells in Kent I saw what I can only describe as a very large black, almost panther looking animal. It ran like a cat across somebodies front lawn. It quite startled me, and I am 100% positive it was not a large fox. It was pure black and had a very long, thin tail. Can you tell me if there have ever been sightings in this area before? Many thanks"

There have been many sightings around Tunbridge Wells over the last few decades. More recently a puma was sighted, and the reports investigated, in the vicinity of Knights Park.