http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2079676/MoD-chiefs-hid-evidence-big-cats-prowling-UK-new-book-claims.html...as if connections between UFOs, ghosts, demons and big cats were not absurd enough, the Daily Mail are now claiming that, according to a new book, 'big cat' bodies have been scraped off the roads by the Ministry of Defence and hidden in secret hideout's across Britain. Not only had the website taken a photo of a Jungle Cat - photographed in Kent in 1998 by Harry Matthews - and claimed it was the 'beast of Bodmin', but now the so-called British 'big cat' situation is once again being relegated to folklore and made a laughing stock by claims of covert operations involving secret laboratories hiding the alleged carcasses of exotic cats. Now, let's face it - if a large cat was killed on UK roads and reported to police or whoever, then we've no doubt the body wold be removed - but this isn't some dark conspiracy but the simple fact that a large, non-native animal dead/or injured on a UK road SHOULD be removed anyway, because surely it's the right of the police or whoever to remove it ?
The hilarious thing about the article is the mention of aliens and 'big cats' together - as if the sceptics didn't have enough reason to disbelieve such claims of alleged exotic cats in the wilds of England.
Come on, let's face facts - if a wolf, elephant, bear, or bloody flying pig or any non-native animal larger than a dog was knocked down on roads in the UK it would be removed - we know of cases where raccoon have been removed after being struck by a vehicle - but there's never been a suggestion of some evil conspiracy regarding prowling raccoons!! 'Big cats' in the UK will never be admitted to by any authoritative body, simply due to money - money is always the key factor - and also, we're pretty sure that any authoritative body has the right to remove whatever they like from roads, especially if it's a danger to the public. We seem to forget that MOD stands for Ministry Of Defence - Defence is the key word, so is it any big deal that on the rare occasion a leopard or puma that gets run down and reported to police, it ends up in some laboratory in the bowels of the earth ? Who cares ? Surely it's their right to want to know where it came from and why on earth should they let anyone else know - especially the press and researchers who claim that finding such a body would be the 'Holy Grail'. Why would it be the 'Holy Grail' ? Or maybe it would only be the 'Holy Grail' to that specific individual.
Wasn't a lynx shot dead in Suffolk a few years ago ? Wasn't a lynx caught in a back garden in London in 2001 ? Haven't leopard cat and jungle cat been shot and run over from the Isle of Wight and Shropshire ? Who cares! It's newspaper fodder for a few weeks and then it fades. There is no big conspiracy, never has been - but if you were driving along a country road and knocked down a large, exotic cat and you reported it to the authorities, why on earth should they share this information with some bloke down the road who collects 'big cat' news clippings ? Large cats DO roam the UK countryside, but the MOD or whoever DO NOT have to admit to such things if they feel that the interest and the safety of the public is vital.
We doubt very much that hundreds of 'big cat' carcasses line the shelves of the MOD basements. However, as a governing body they have the right to surely stash whatever they like in their alleged secret bunkers - and the facts that most of these conspiracy stories are nothing more than hearsay gets the conspiracy theorists more and more excited. The officials must be chuckling away at such absurd suggestions.
UFO anoraks, for years, have been harping on about secret underground bases hiding alien craft and bodies - as if they have the right to know! Decades after the 1970s UFO craze nothing has changed. people still feed off mystery and conspiracy and can create conspiracy from the depths of nothing.
Considering the fact there aren't as many large, exotic cats in the wilds of the UK as most think, any that die in the woods would be scavenged at quite a rate - that's how nature works, hence the fact we don't find thousands of dead deer, foxes, badgers in the woods. For some odd reason big cat 'researchers' have been stumped for years as to how and why large cats such as puma, melanistic leopard and lynx roam Britain - but like all mysteries - and the fact that so many researchers think they are chasing ghosts instead of flesh and blood animals - it comes in waves, in flaps, and it brings with it the fright brigade armed with conspiracy theories, petty politics and camouflage gear. How the authorities must be laughing - giggling away as the conspiracy theorists cloud the water.
Thursday, 29 December 2011
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
5-ft long black cat seen at Sheppey
Over the last ten years or so there have been numerous reports of a large black cat on the Isle of Sheppey. Many people point to the fact the someone on the island once owned a large cat - but this was in a fact a puma. On 6th December 2011 at lunch-time a window cleaner spotted a 5-ft long black cat at a distance of just fifteen-feet away in the vicinity of Leysdown. Interestingly, the witness knew exactly what he'd seen as during the summer he'd seen a similar, albeit smaller cat in Ashford. The witness enquired at some of the local properties and was shocked to find that several people had previously seen the cat.
Monday, 12 December 2011
Leopard sighting on marshes
Kent Big Cat Research will be investigating an undisclosed area of East Kent marsh land where a black leopard has been sighted by a dog walker (11th December) and remains of several animals have been found. The sighting, which took place at 2:30 pm concerned a dog walker whose pet ran off into a reed bed and startled an enormous black cat which bounded away from the undergrowth with a hare in its mouth. Further investigation by the witness revealed several sheep carcasses and other animal bones. Although animals such as the leopard do not have fixed dens, such an elusive predator may lay up somewhere where it is comfortable and drag prey into such an area. Females also raise their cubs in secluded areas - this could be under a fallen tree or such. Like so many sightings received each year, details will not be posted here, as this is clearly an area where a large cat has been resting up for a while. The last thing we need are trigger happy lunatics and newspaper reporters visiting the area.
Friday, 9 December 2011
189 sightings for 2011 and a fox kill
In 2011 more than 180 reports of so-called 'big cats' were received by Kent Big Cat Research, the latest batch coming from Sevenoaks (lynx), Gravesend (black leopard), Maidstone (black leopard) and a fox kill found by witness James Mitson near Tunbridge Wells where previously deer kills and leopard scat had been found. The fox, which was found in a field during early December appeared fresh but when the witness returned to the carcass it had been stripped. This kill was not the work of a scavenging fox - the fur had been rasped, ribs chewed and occasional puncture marks were found on the flesh, there were no tufts of fur or mess around the carcass - the hallmark of a large cat. The area of the find is currently under investigation. In November 2011 a deer had been hit by a car in the Bromley area. A witness swerved to avoid the carcass but when he returned the next day the carcass had been stripped. Puma rarely eat prey they have not killed, but a leopard would most certainly feast on road kill.
In 2011 more than 80 reports were also received from Sussex (some of these may be included in a book, 'Mystery Animals Of...Sussex', which Neil Arnold is currently writing), and there were also 30 reports received from London and its outskirts, including 53 reports from Surrey. 57% of sightings received from the 189 Kent sightings concerned what appeared to be black leopard, 28% described puma, 11% lynx, the rest were Jungle Cat. Deer, fox, domestic cat and livestock kills were investigated throughout the county, paw print casts taken from varying sites, leopard scat found on eight occasions and also leopard hair found - two hairs were found on a sheep carcass near Rolvenden, a few miles from Ashford.
Sadly, the year was tainted by sightings of a 'white tiger' and 'lion' elsewhere in the country - the fact that these stories even made the news is a worrying factor. Such stories also make a mockery of decent research. Strangely, although exotic cats have been photographed, filmed, shot dead, and run over in the past, and all over the country, there is still an alarming amount of scepticism. Sceptics continually argue that there is no evidence such animals exist despite the already mentioned hair, scat, paw prints and kills.
What the future holds remains to be seen - some 'big cat' researchers, rather bizarrely, don't seem to want this so-called mystery solved - maybe they feel that if such a situation is resolved then they would no longer have a hobby to maintain. Worryingly, sightings of so-called 'big cats' are still relegated to folklore alongside ghosts and UFOs, and the Loch Ness 'monster'. This is down to the fact that despite some police, agricultural, zoological interest, on the whole the British 'big cat' situation is simply not accepted by authorities. This is quite understandable in the sense that if such an enigma is officially investigated then it would cost a lot of money - but all the while there are no attacks on humans (only a handful of alleged attacks have taken place and these are all open to debate) then the authorities may feel there's no need to create unwanted hysteria. The major issue is that farmers ARE losing sheep - but not at an alarming rate. Members of the public are losing domestic animals such as cats and dogs - many cases have been investigated where cats and dogs have been stripped clean - but there is no red alert - and when there is, it is usually press related.
Whilst it's important that sightings continue to be collated and evidence collected, 'big cats' in Britain are at a stalemate...until the next exaggerated story hits the local newspapers. A vicious circle indeed, as are the theories which continue to mention phantasmal animals, prehistoric survivors, unknown species, government cover ups etc. No wonder the existence for 'big cats' in Britain is continually scoffed at.
Photo's by James Mitson December 2011 showing fox before and after.
In 2011 more than 80 reports were also received from Sussex (some of these may be included in a book, 'Mystery Animals Of...Sussex', which Neil Arnold is currently writing), and there were also 30 reports received from London and its outskirts, including 53 reports from Surrey. 57% of sightings received from the 189 Kent sightings concerned what appeared to be black leopard, 28% described puma, 11% lynx, the rest were Jungle Cat. Deer, fox, domestic cat and livestock kills were investigated throughout the county, paw print casts taken from varying sites, leopard scat found on eight occasions and also leopard hair found - two hairs were found on a sheep carcass near Rolvenden, a few miles from Ashford.
Sadly, the year was tainted by sightings of a 'white tiger' and 'lion' elsewhere in the country - the fact that these stories even made the news is a worrying factor. Such stories also make a mockery of decent research. Strangely, although exotic cats have been photographed, filmed, shot dead, and run over in the past, and all over the country, there is still an alarming amount of scepticism. Sceptics continually argue that there is no evidence such animals exist despite the already mentioned hair, scat, paw prints and kills.
What the future holds remains to be seen - some 'big cat' researchers, rather bizarrely, don't seem to want this so-called mystery solved - maybe they feel that if such a situation is resolved then they would no longer have a hobby to maintain. Worryingly, sightings of so-called 'big cats' are still relegated to folklore alongside ghosts and UFOs, and the Loch Ness 'monster'. This is down to the fact that despite some police, agricultural, zoological interest, on the whole the British 'big cat' situation is simply not accepted by authorities. This is quite understandable in the sense that if such an enigma is officially investigated then it would cost a lot of money - but all the while there are no attacks on humans (only a handful of alleged attacks have taken place and these are all open to debate) then the authorities may feel there's no need to create unwanted hysteria. The major issue is that farmers ARE losing sheep - but not at an alarming rate. Members of the public are losing domestic animals such as cats and dogs - many cases have been investigated where cats and dogs have been stripped clean - but there is no red alert - and when there is, it is usually press related.
Whilst it's important that sightings continue to be collated and evidence collected, 'big cats' in Britain are at a stalemate...until the next exaggerated story hits the local newspapers. A vicious circle indeed, as are the theories which continue to mention phantasmal animals, prehistoric survivors, unknown species, government cover ups etc. No wonder the existence for 'big cats' in Britain is continually scoffed at.
Photo's by James Mitson December 2011 showing fox before and after.
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