The legend of the 'beast of Blue Bell Hill' continues...

On the 27th August 2013 at approximately 7pm a woman, accompanied by her two young children and their friend, were visiting a part of rural Maidstone. Her son had been running alongside a hedge when he appeared to spook a large black cat which suddenly bounded along the tree-line to the top of a field. The area in question is one we've looked at for many years. The witness in question was extremely unnerved by the sighting, stating: "It was massive, bigger than an Alsatian, jet black, muscular, very long tail - at first we considered walking near to where it was mooching about but it then came towards us so we hurriedly got back into the car."

Black leopard/domestic cat comparison

One theory often put forward by sceptics in their argument regarding the possibility of 'big cats' in the wilds of the UK, is that such animals are more likely to be domestic cats. Despite the similarities it must be made clear that there is a HUGE difference between a black leopard and a domestic cat, and yet, whilst worryingly some witnesses clearly do not know what they are seeing, please click on the link HERE for a comparison and you'll see a vast difference. The head, ears, and tail of a domestic cat are far different to a black leopard, let alone the eyes, size, and general gait. If you're still not sure what you've seen then take a look at the website.

Is the Surrey 'puma' still on the prowl?

For more info read HERE

Strange occurrence at Southfleet

"At 11.50 pm last night (14/8/2013)I was woken by a strange sound , I didn't know what it was , I lay there in the dark and heard the same sound again about a minute later ,( coming from outside , all my bedroom windows were open) I can only describe the sound as a deep purr or growl, I heard my father in the bedroom next to me get up , he had obviously been woken up by the sound also , whist i was frozen in my bed, my father got out of his and looked out of the window and at the end of the roof below him he could clearly see a big black cat with broad shoulders  with a long thick tail coiled around him, the cat sat there for a few moments, then  got up pounced off the roof and swaggered off into the darkness.The sound it made which woke me was very disturbing , I have never heard anything like it in my  life."

Herne Common sighting covered by Canterbury Times

http://www.canterburytimes.co.uk/seen-Beast-Bay/story-19625504-detail/story.html

Puma sighting at Ashford

A puma has been spotted at Ashford - the sighting took place on the 9th August 2013 at 9:40 pm by a female resident who whilst upstairs noticed a large cat sitting under the tree opposite her home. The woman fled downstairs, slowly opened her front door and saw the cat nonchalantly walk off. She described the cat as "caramel coloured" with a paler belly and along tail. In the past few days there have also been sightings - of black leopard - had Sidcup, Maidstone and Sevenoaks.

Puma sighted three times

In an area of rural Maidstone, currently under investigation, several witnesses have reported seeing a puma on three occasions over the last few months. The witnesses - all male - were working for a farmer when they observed a large cat through night vision binoculars, and then during daylight as the animal sped across a field as they turned into the area in a vehicle. So intrigued were they by the animal that they decided to leave a selection of dead rabbits and visits out and returned a few hours later to find them gone. This isn't the first time a puma has been seen in the area, and there were rumours that in 1987 four pumas were released not far from the location. These of course would be dead by now, but it leaves us wondering just how many of these animals are around.

Sightings updates...

Despite the lack of activity on this blog there have still been a number of reputed 'big cat' sightings over the last month. One of the more recent comes from the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells, as follows: "I thought you may be interested to know of what I believe to be a big cat sighting. I am a regular cross country runner, and yesterday morning at 06.30, I was running to work when having just passed through a farmyard, I glanced to my left up a short track that leads to some stables, and standing facing me at about 40 metres distance was what very much appeared to be a very large ( 3 feet tall ? ) cat - ginger coloured, with white "beard like" facial colouring. By the time I had stopped running and retraced the few yards to go back to the track to look again, a matter of no more than 3 or 4 seconds, it was gone. I jogged up the track to try to see it again, but it was nowhere to be seen."
After a quick search on Google the witness stated that the animal he'd seen was a lynx.

The area in question is an intriguing one as over the years black leopard, puma and lynx have been seen there. Vegetation is dense this time of the year so any large cat could remain in the area undetected. There have also been sightings recently at Sheppey (under investigation), rural Maidstone, Gravesend, and Sevenoaks, a majority of these reports concerning melanistic leopard. The above mentioned sighting also confirms the elusive nature of such animals. A lot of people sceptical to the possibility of such animals roaming the UK often ask "why haven't I seen one?" as if people have a right to loiter in the woods for a few minutes and then stumble across a shy, elusive puma. Even domestic cats when in the mood can prove to be elusive characters, so for an animal with a vast territory - which mainly hunts at night - to be sighted, takes a lot of patience or in most cases luck. The strangest however are the persistent yet sceptical queries regarding "lack of evidence" despite the fact that paw prints, scat, and sheep-/deer kills are regularly found across the UK, but the sad fact is, a lot of people are unsure as to what to look for.