Sheep kills, what to look for

Evidence for the existence of large, exotic cats in the wilds of the UK is, according to sceptics, absent. Strangely, several naturalists on website forums, and 'experts' in zoo parks, and within the agricultural community, clearly have not a clue as what to look for regarding such evidence. One website continues to mock sightings of 'big cats', stating quite categorically that there is no evidence, and yet on the same website there are prints and deer kills and in every case the possibility that a large cat is responsible has been dismissed. In the wild, foxes and deer to not attack deer with a throat bite and then strip them clean, foxes are a messy predator and do not chew through thick bone...neither the badger of the fox takes a kill high into a tree either. When tree bark is marked, it is easy to pinpoint which type of animal is responsible, but claw marks an inch apart, eight-feet up a tree cannot be made by any other animal except a large cat which has been sharpening its claws and leaving a scent. In the UK countryside sheep kills are frequent, despite 'experts' once again saying that there are no livestock kills. When a carcass is stripped by a cat there are tell tale signs even if the carcass has been left for a while. Puncture marks around the throat area, through bone, and ribs chewed down. Yet these are signs which people do not look for, especially if they do not believe that large cats roam the countryside. How many tell-tale signs are being ignored ?

When a fox tears at a sheep or deer, we must remember that the teeth and jaws are relatively small compared to a large cat, and certainly a lot weaker (a cat rasps the fleece from a sheep with an extremely rough tongue) and a fox will rip and tear, often leaving a mess of fur/fleece/feathers. When a large cat kills there are rarely signs of any struggle at the location. When a kill is made, a cat will often leave the head, and when scavengers step in and finish the rest off.

Cat prints in sand

Whilst a cat often retracts its claws, the following photographs, taken from an undisclosed location in rural Kent, show the claws not fully retracted.

Leopard cat in London!

On July 19th 2011 ITV's Wildlife Patrol investigated the report of a juvenile Amur leopard which had been found in a London back garden, echoing the 2001 capture of a lynx which had been tranquillised after roaming a garden in Cricklewood. For more information visit Beasts Of London

Two sightings on 22nd July 2011

Several 'big cat' sightings have been reported recently, two were from the same night. At 8:30 pm on 22nd July (Friday) 2011 a lady driving along the Bayham Road, between Bells Yew Green and Lamberhurst saw a large animal which came down the bank on the left-hand side and crossed into undergrowth. The animal, which measured approximately four-feet possibly a puma, was uniform in colour with a long tail. Three hours later a large, black cat was seen by a male witness in Bromley. At 11:30 pm the witness was alerted by a strange noise in his garden and shone his torch out of the window and picked up a large cat walking round the garden around 70-feet away. The cat was at least three-feet in length and it's eyes reflected orange. The witness was adamant it was not a fox or domestic cat as it was too high in the body.

Young black leopard seen near Blue Bell Hill

A female motorist has reported seeing a black leopard, the size of a small labrador dog, with a long, curving tail. The animal was seen at 8:40 am on the morning of Sunday 17th July 2011. The cat appeared at the side of a field close to the M20 motorway, within the vicinity of the Museum for Kent Life. The animal was heading towards some undergrowth on the left hand side as the witness drove towards Detling.

Coming Soon: MYSTERY ANIMALS OF...LONDON, the book!

For those of you who have followed sightings of strange animals throughout the south-east, especially at Beasts of London you'll be interested to know that as a follow up to the successful MYSTERY ANIMALS OF THE BRITISH ISLES: KENT book, 2011 sees the release of MYSTERY ANIMALS OF THE BRITISH ISLES:LONDON. The book, weighing in at almost 400 pages, is a true menagerie of the damned, featuring chapters of 'big cat' sightings around the capital, historical accounts of animals escaping from menageries and zoo parks, strange creatures in the River Thames, folkloric monsters, insect swarms, alien species, unusual birds over the capital, and even vampires! As a teaser, here is a picture of the cover: