search for the Durham puma (big cats) (2 Viewers)

[salty]

did any other members watch this programme tonight - ITV 7:30-8:00pm

very interesting show on the, are they/arent they theory that big cats are patrolling the north east country side.

i for one believe they most probaly are, even the wildlife officer - sgt Eddie Bell saw one! - the evidence has been there, albeit a bit thin in places for decades now. footprints, dead sheep, video footage, photographs not to mention the many eye witness storys and sometimes INJURIES, that some people have encountered.

makes you wonder.

lets hear more storys of big cats please - i already wrote mine last november (hexham black panther) :eek!:

 

[Gill Osborne]

Yes, I watched it......and as soon as my Micra is back on the road I wonder where I'll be going!!! LOL
Seriously though...I've always believed that there ARE big cats roaming our countryside...just Sooooo annoying that I've not yet seen one!
Used to have some right arguments with my last boss...he was adamant that we knew every INCH of the British Isles so there was no way there could be such big beasties roaming around!
WILL be interesting to see how many of our BF members, from anywhere in the UK, have seen big cats!

 

[David Nicholson]

It was interesting that some people saw what they described as pumas, and some said they saw a black cat, which as you know, pumas arent. Maybe several species out there? I have had more than one argument on this topic over the years, and people who are sceptics always say that it would be impossible to miss such a large creature roaming around. Well, I have never seen a badger, but I'm sure they are there.
About ten years ago I saw a large (boxer dog size) and very muscular black cat through my car window. It was sitting by a hedge watching a woman walking her dog. This was near Bishop Auckland in County Durham. As far as I know the woman and her dog were unaware of it.

 

[Gill Osborne]

Don't think she would have been WALKING if she had!!! LOL

Wonder if any have been seen in Northumberland...so much open space for miles and I'm sure it would easy enough for them to stay hidden in the valleys around here! Think I need to get out at the crack of dawn and see what I can find...and keep my fingers crossed!

GILL

 

[Nutcracker]

A birder claimed to see one (with a fairly decent description too, given the inevitable brevity of the view) in Dipton Woods (south of Riding Mill) a few years back

 

[salty]

A birder claimed to see one (with a fairly decent description too, given the inevitable brevity of the view) in Dipton Woods (south of Riding Mill) a few years back

my friend at work lives in Dipton, and the surrounding area could easily sustain a big cat. everywhere for miles around is linked with wood, country side, valleys etc.

as i mentioned in a thread last year, i saw a black panther type cat in Hexham and a work mate also said he and others saw a black panther in the Corbridge area. so if they are in northumberland, they could and probaly are in the Durham area too.

it's just finding regular evidence to keep the big cats in the public eye, and to prove without a doubt that big cats are among us, wich is the tricky part.

 

[RobF]

I would like to belive there are puma sized cats living wild in the UK but I can't understand why there are lots of sightings but very little hard evidence (pug marks, scats, fur caught on barbed wire or dead individuals).

There was an excellent documentary on the National Geographic channel recently called Alien big Cats. They brought a fur trapper over from Alaska to check out the evidence, he wasn't sceptical at the beginning and thought the habitat and amount of deer/game could support them. He then went out with a gamekeeper who had seen the cats many times (but obviously didn't own a camera!) all the pug marks he was shown were from domestic dogs. He was also shown photo's of attacks on people and carcasses of sheep supposedly killed by cats, he was definite that they were all dog related.

I think his analysis might have been useful on the Tyne Tees program. The sheep carcass looked like one of many I've seen on the moors, foxes and badgers make a real mess of them. The woman with scratches on her side would have been torn to shreds if a cat had clawed her. The pug mark was from a cat but they admitted that it wasn't very large. The actual sighting by the PC could well have been true, or equally he had just finished a night shift, was likely tired and obviously very keen on seeing a big cat - a tad stringy perhaps! The photo taken by the guy at Ireshope burn looked like a cat, and compared to the size of the rabbit (even if it was a full grown rabbit) it was probably the size of a large feral tom.

I think there are cats out there but they are just smaller than people think, or want them to be. Di Francis in her book 'Beast of Exmoor' refers to Kella's Cats, for which she has photo's, carcasses and even captive bred kittens. I think these, or something like them are what people are seeing, I've even seen one similar in Kielder forest. It was the size of a large domestic cat and had a very thick tail and small head, it was certainly a lot wilder than even the feral cats I've seen.

Until someone runs one over, or takes a decent photo of a puma sized cat I won't be worried about where I walk.

Rob

 

[Gill Osborne]

Oh I'm certainly not worried about meeting a big cat LOL
As my husband says, if we were driving along and saw what looked like a big cat, I'd be the first one to slam the brakes on, grab my bins and scramble over all obstacles to get closer sightings!!!
I thought that woman's scratches were a bit iffy too....I had ones just like that when I used to handle feral kittens in the pet shop :eek!: ....LOL if I can handle those spitting little hellcats I'm not scared of no panther

GILL

 

[salty]

Rob: im with you, WHY are there not loads of pics etc? - everyone seems to own cameras thesedays, and with the likes of us birders on the prowl, you would think they (big cats) would have nowhere to hide in the country. i do think that there is a few knocking around, but i dont see there breeding abilities to be much good for there survival.

although there is no doubt huge amounts of food to be had for these animals, i still see them struggling to cope with day to day survival.

ps: Gill - i still think if you ever saw a panther on the loose in northumberland, give it some space! - they bite and scratch a wee bit more than the usual moggie, lol.

 

[Gill Osborne]

LOL Ritchie....you never met these feral kittens mate!!! :eek!:
Nah, I'd be fine. Don't want to cuddle it...just follow it! LOL

Thing is...IF you saw one and got photos WOULD you tell anybody? You know what the general public are like with their ridiculous mass hysteria and obsession with hunting anything dangerous down! I'm not really sure I would want anybody to know about 'my' cats :h?:
Why shouldn't there be a few big cats roaming around....or wolves for that matter? But not bears :eek!: ...I have nightmares about being chased by bears LOL Totally irrational or what!

GILL

 

[harry eales]

The 'Puma' allegedly turned up less than 4 miles from me a couple of weeks ago near Consett in North Durham. The chap who saw it spoke about it on local radio the following day. From his description it certainly was large, and it crossed the road (verge to verge) in front of him in three bounds, The road there is some 18' wide.

Bigger than the average moggie Boo Boo.

I have seen a photograph of an exceedingly large pug mark in mud on the edge of a pond in the Hamsterley Forest taken by a friend who actually lived in that forest at the time. He did put a 6" ruler beside the paw print before photographing it, and it was considerably larger than the paw print of his Labrador which could be seen next to it, and was not at all 'dog like.'

I spend several months each year, doing fieldwork, both by day and night in the forests and on the moorlands of Northumberland and Co. Durham, and have done for several decades, and have yet to see anything that I could not identify in the way of animal life. Very large, black coloured farm cats I have seen, but nothing larger.

Harry

 

[mothman]

I have already posted my experience but it got lost in the crash,so here goes.

About 5 years ago I was walking in snowy conditions in a field adjascent to the Savernake forest(E wilts)when I came across a set of cat prints 8cm wide by7.5cm long(big even allowing for melt)travelling in a straight line across the field.I have been studying tracks and sighns since I was a kid and consider myself pretty experienced(enough to tell a puss from a dog anyhow).I am ashamed to say that my nerve failed me (it was getting dusk)and I didn't follow the tracks, the snow was all too fleeting, and I lost my opportunity to go back in full daylight.Shortly after this I started to notice reports in our local rag about sightings of a labrador sized tan coloured cat,I probably would have poo pooed these before!

Colin.

 

[dampflippers]

...but did you take a photo of the footprints mothman?

 

[Marmot]

Just seen a news item on teletext about a "panther like" creature that has mauled a man in his garden at London during the night. According to Police who attended the scene they saw a "large cat that was the size of a Labrador".

Do you think "Our Puma" has had an away day.

 

[Gill Osborne]

And today there is an article on page 19 of the Daily Mail with two photos of a black cat. The first one, to me, DOES look big but the second I'm not so sure about...seems to have the flatter face of our domestic moggy! May just be the angle though.
Apparently there has been a big cat near the village of Burford, Oxfordshire, for a couple of months now...with a few folk seeing it.
Unfortunately there is also a £5,000 reward for it's capture as a few farmers have been complaining about stock being killed!
Personally, just my view, in the past couple of weeks since lambing started up here I have heard of loads of lambs being killed just because the ewe had triplets, could only feed two and rearing the third is more bother than it's worth! Surely it's a bit hypocritical for farmers to complain about foxes, crows and other predators taking the odd lamb when they themselves seem to be so quick to kill off perfectly healthy ones!!!

GILL

 

[mothman]

...but did you take a photo of the footprints mothman?

NO!!! I didn't have my camera at the time and the snow disappeared with overnight rain.

Colin.

 

[harry eales]

Just seen a news item on teletext about a "panther like" creature that has mauled a man in his garden at London during the night. According to Police who attended the scene they saw a "large cat that was the size of a Labrador".

Do you think "Our Puma" has had an away day.

These 'Puma's' certainly seem to get around. A few years ago I can remember reports a large scale Police search over Bodmin Moor. There was even some video film of it and a large kitten shown on Television. Unfortunately the video clip showed it walking through grass and there was nothing in the clip which gave a guide as to just how big this animal was.

Since then, I have not heard any more about the 'Beast of Bodmin Moor', as the Press dubbed it.

Harry

 

[CornishExile]

I'm fairly open-minded about the possibility of big cats being able to eke out a living in the British countryside; the relative lack of photos and sightings is perhaps understandable given the largely nocturnal activity of many cats. I've no first-hand experience of my own, but have a friend who tells the following story...

He and a work colleague were up a deer hide early one morning in a wood in the south of England, waiting for deer to cull. Colleague looks down a ride and notices something tawny some 15 feet up a tree... no, not a big cat - instead, a partly devoured deer carcass. Makes you think, doesn't it?

 

[harry eales]

I'm fairly open-minded about the possibility of big cats being able to eke out a living in the British countryside; the relative lack of photos and sightings is perhaps understandable given the largely nocturnal activity of many cats. I've no first-hand experience of my own, but have a friend who tells the following story...

He and a work colleague were up a deer hide early one morning in a wood in the south of England, waiting for deer to cull. Colleague looks down a ride and notices something tawny some 15 feet up a tree... no, not a big cat - instead, a partly devoured deer carcass. Makes you think, doesn't it?

An interesting story, but as far as I am aware there is only one big cat that takes it's prey up a tree, and that is a Leopard. The way these stories keep cropping up, I think it's only a matter of time before someone swears he has seen either a Lion or a Sabre-toothed Cat. lol.

Harry.

 

[James Lowther]

An interesting story, but as far as I am aware there is only one big cat that takes it's prey up a tree, and that is a Leopard. The way these stories keep cropping up, I think it's only a matter of time before someone swears he has seen either a Lion or a Sabre-toothed Cat. lol.

Harry.

From cryptozoology.com (my italics for emphasis)

"On April 7, 1974, at 3:30 a.m. Joan Gilbert was driving in the outskirts of Bournemouth, England, when a strange animal ran across her headlights. It was a, "strange striped creature, half cat and half dog. It was the most peculiar animal I have ever seen. It had stripes, a long thin tail, and seemed to be all gray, though it might have had some yellow in it. Its ears were set back like a member of the cat family, and it was as big as a medium-sized dog. It was thin, and it definitely was not a fox." She identified it as a thylacine when she found a picture of it in a reference book."

Pinch of salt anyone??