Just asking for a little net-search help here. I was just told that in the last few days, a Big Cat was seen 1 mile from where I am, and it was on the front page of the Coventry Evening Telegraph, the city paper. However, initially I've not found it online.
It's the second time one has been seen, called "a puma" in the woods here.
I'm interested in the subject for one reason since it all used to be poo-poohed as "nonesense" that there were big cats in Britain, even when police and counsellors had seen them, and armed police were called out. But now big cats in Britain is an accepted fact by the authorities - they are thought to be a breeding stock left over from when in 1976 when a new rule forbade people to keep them - so many just let them loose.
Point being that just like the thread on UFOs, people and the media once mocked the fact - but now it is accepted that there are pumas/panthers in the British countryside. One lady actually stepped on one in the dark as it slept, but escaped with bad scratches. Another was attacked from behind at night, but her dog protected her while she was unconcious. It is now official that they have been seen in every single English county.
Anyhow, can anybody find a link to the incident by Coventry (Brandon Woods) a few days ago?
Thanks!
V
Chicken!
Where was the investigative spirit?
V
I think self preservation was my priority :D! I will take my camera the next time I'm out that way, but I can't see me being 'lucky' enough to spot it again!
Is it not interesting how the media are dealing with this? Local sightings are reported in most local rags. But the national media avoid the subject, even though the presence of big cats in our counties is official. I think it's a bit like UFOs, though the cats are now not really controversial. But it gives insight into how the media works. I think they are afraid of looking foolish by covering the topic, maybe.
As I posted earlier, God-forbid, but as soon as we have any first human fatality, it'll switch from being an avoided subject to an hysterical one. I can see the headlines now, about the dangers of going for a walk at night, etc, etc. Puns in the Sun of course.
V
Slightly off topic - we had a frantic phone call one day from the next-door farm to say we had a bear loose in our fields! On checking which field, we went and looked - to see our rottweiller having a nosey round following a rabbit trail! So we rang back and explained the situation. From a distance it is easy to make a mistake - not that I think you did Sernwen! - but other 'sightings' may not actually be so, but some obviously are.
Slightly off topic - we had a frantic phone call one day from the next-door farm to say we had a bear loose in our fields! On checking which field, we went and looked - to see our rottweiller having a nosey round following a rabbit trail! So we rang back and explained the situation. From a distance it is easy to make a mistake - not that I think you did Sernwen! - but other 'sightings' may not actually be so, but some obviously are.
Whilst I don't claim it was a leopard or any particular type of big cat it certainly wasn't a cat/dog/fox etc. It was daylight, about 200yds or so walking away from me. As soon as I saw it I knew it was out of the ordinary. It did stop me in my tracks and I continued watching as it walked away and then went off on a path I had intended taking. I'm always out walking and am used to catching glimpses of various animals, deer etc, and you do know what they are. This though was most certainly not the usual creature I would expect to encounter on my walks. I hadn't mentioned it to many people as they think you're nuts or seeing things!
LOL - I've just remembered driving slowly through Ambleside in the Lake District in a tour coach with a bunch of American tourists. Suddenly a woman started shrieking that she had seen a bear! We all strained to look backwards and certainly there was a big hairy animal ambling along. So I quickly phoned the hotel we'd just left and asked the receptionist to run out and take a look. Turned out to be a Bernese Mountain Dog, the size of a Shetland pony! Oh how we laughed!
xxx
Britain isn't the only country with mysterous big cats.
Here is a German sighting:
RP
High Drama: Tiger causes major disruption
The stories keep coming. Now a tiger-sighting has had helicopters out with thermal-imaging, play at the Rose Bowl was disrupted, and golfers were advised by police to all go indoors.
[url]BBC News - Hampshire 'tiger sighting' causes major alert[/url]
The alarm was first raised by a concerned member of the public who believed there was an escaped white tiger hiding in a field near Hedge End.
Officers were sent to the scene along with a helicopter and thermal imaging cameras, at about 1600 BST on Saturday.
When no body heat was detected police moved in and found a cuddly toy tiger.
A police spokeswoman said officers had responded as if it was a real incident, close to junction seven of the M27.
"We sent some local officers and they confirmed they were looking at it and it was was looking at them”
[COLOR="Red"]I love that bit - V
Hampshire police Contingency plans were even put in place to close the motorway, but that proved unnecessary.Police enlisted the help from animal experts at nearby Marwell Zoo, who offered advice and were prepared to send a team with tranquiliser darts to overcome the tiger.
The Rose Bowl said a game between South Wiltshire and Hampshire Academy was stopped for about 20 minutes before they were given the all clear to continue.
Golfers at a nearby golf course were also told to go indoors.
A police spokeswoman said: "After a brief stalk through the Hedge End savannah, the officer realised the tiger was not moving and the air support using their cameras realised there was a lack of heat source.
"The tiger then rolled over in the down draft and it was at that point it became obvious it was a stuffed life-size toy.
"This incident will definitely be the highlight of our day. The CCTV footage convinced us all we were dealing with a real tiger.
"It's not often an incident leaves our staff with a smile on their face and it just goes to show the diverse type of incident we are called to deal with."
V 
It is a funny story V
[url]Toy tiger sparks armed police alert - Yahoo! News[/url]
RP
big cats oop north in the hills V..
there have been SO many sightings over the years of a big black cat in various parts of northumberland and the local paper regularly run stories..
you might also find this link interesting.. it's a website set up by a group of researchers who work in this area and across the country too, who are dedicated to solving the mystery by setting up cameras, following tracks etc.. you can even subscribe to their magazine.. 
x x x x x
[DLMURL="http://www.bigcatsinbritain.org/bcib_magazine_3.html"]BCIB Magazine[/DLMURL]
ian has also written a book about big cat sightings across the north east.. might be worth a look if you're interested in the topic..
[url]BIG CATS IN BRITAIN: The Path of the Panther[/url]
Hi InfiniteBliss,
Thanks for the links. I didn't know there was such organised research or data collection.
I'm not truly deeply "into" the subject and haven't been for years, since I no longer consider it a mystery. They certainly exist. I've lived elsewhere in the world where such cats are known to be in a more orthodox way, and you still never see them. They're very shy of contact (though actually here in the UK they seem to stroll around regardless).
Actually a mystery your link does bring up is the great range of different cats sighted including, if one trusts the witness-reports, descriptions of big cats that don't fit any known category. I suppose that could be bad witnessing, or can they cross-breed?
(Or do you folks up there just over-feed your moggies? The last cat I had became pretty humungous - me being naive as to the common moggie trick of taking up home in two different houses, and being fed fully in each! I was once away on business for a month when the people keeping "Jason" informed me he was actually female, and pregnant! Was I shocked! But they were wrong: he was just taking in daily twice his needed calories. :rolleyes: So if I were a sceptic I'd still go for an explanation like that.)
V