Big cat sightings in Sussex

[Hastings woody]

My mate who has a workshop down a lane near Broad oak brede reconds he has seen a big black cat in brede woods while walking his dog. he said even his dog was shaking with fear.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

They leave the arse every time?

I you've ever had the misfortune to taste kangaroo tail soup, you'd probably leave the the arse every time too

 

[Doc Lynam]

I you've ever had the misfortune to taste kangaroo tail soup, you'd probably leave the the arse every time too

 

[Biscuit]

 

[glasfryn]

all the ferals I have seen in the UK have been skinny items and most of the ferals here are ex domestic cats, dumped, lost ect.
I think if we had big cats roaming around there would be far more cattle sheep remains around than there are, and its in the nature of a cat whatever size to mark their territory and as yet I have not read anything about that + you would smell it for miles

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

all the ferals I have seen in the UK have been skinny items and most of the ferals here are ex domestic cats, dumped, lost ect.
I think if we had big cats roaming around there would be far more cattle sheep remains around than there are, and its in the nature of a cat whatever size to mark their territory and as yet I have not read anything about that + you would smell it for miles

To me that's why I'd think it's more likely to be big feral cats. They would scavange and take down smaller prey in squirels, birds etc

large enough to look big from a distance but not big enough to worry livestock.

 

[blue2]

Was in a car with three others a big car on the motorway loads of other cars around all ground to a halt as a big cat run across the road it was a very big cat lynx size light brown and a big tail

 

[Fignon's Ponytail]

Never seen one myself, but my dad claimed to have seen one a few times on Telscombe Tye.
To me it is a very strange phenomena, as you would expect with so many sightings that a corpse would have to show up at some stage.

I was out on my bike over the back of the Tye not so long ago and I went past a fairly fresh adult sheep's carcass that had literally been ripped to shreds. I naturally assumed it was foxes etc., but reading your post makes me wonder. Half the skull had gone / caved in - and there's no way a fox could do that surely? Would've needed something with a seriously big bite to do that sort of damage....and the rest of the body was a real mess too....what was left of it.

 

[glasfryn]

To me that's why I'd think it's more likely to be big feral cats. They would scavange and take down smaller prey in squirels, birds etc

large enough to look big from a distance but not big enough to worry livestock.

could be
but there is no evidence as yet other than scratchy video and blurred photo's
having said all that there was a pet shop at the bottom of boundary road hove that had a huge cat it was about 3 foot sitting
and we adopted a cat who was blind and had very short legs due to taurine deficiency
but I am sure if she had a good diet ect from birth would have been huge

 

[tomfitz12]

I was in the car once going through the new forest in dorset and swear I saw a black panther going through a corn field on the right of the road... was stuck in traffic aswell so had a good amount of time to make sure it was what I thought it was

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Another good image of a feral cat to show how big they can get.

View attachment 46282

That's not that big though. If I held the bigger of my two like that he'd nearly be that long.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

That's not that big though. If I held the bigger of my two like that he'd nearly be that long.

That's a kitten...

 

[mikeyjh]

I think this is a bit of a misconception, mainly due to people using only main roads to get around.

Get off the beaten track and you will find Sussex still has abundant untouched woodland and wilderness that an animal completely terrified of humans could keep themselves hidden away.

Not compared to many other parts of the country it doesn't - And that's why I think it's much more likely that something wild could be living somewhere in the west country, wales, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Cumbria, Scotland etc etc.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

If it were indead a "panther" a reason for not seeing it that often would be that if it's a leopard version of a panther they are nocturnal animals and extremely stealthy.
By far the best of the big cats at hiding their presence.

The less likely option would be the panther version of the jaguar. They wouldn't be suited to the climate and would leave a more obvious trail of live stock kills.

 

[Craig4004]

I used to work at Filching Manor Go-Kart track in Jevington near Polegate. In September 2008, on the large cliff top which is situated by the track, a punter spotted a large creature in the long grass, he alarmed us all and we all went for a closer look. I saw it with my own eyes and the punter who happened to have a good camera on him, got a good picture of it. It was at least 4-5 feet long and had a long tail. It made it into the Sun paper that week. Here's the link:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/1740734/Giant-cat-spotted-in-Sussex.html

With this and lots of other sightings in sussex, I'm convinced there is at least 1 or 2 big cats out there.

 

[The Auditor]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beast_of_Exmoor
I've stayed at drewstone farm and met eric ley mentioned in this article.... I recon there was a big cat loose on exmoor

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

This is the biggest one ever recorded.

View attachment 46285

Head shot obviously took it out, however it shows it could easily be confused with a panther like cat.

It could also easily be confused with a uni-cycle due to the wheel growing on its head.

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

There have been quite a few sightings in Sussex, for some reason the Cooksbridge area seems to have featured quite a bit. Not really ideal landscape I wouldn't have thought, as it's quite built up round there, what with Barcombe, Offham and the outskirts of Lewes close by, unless they raid dustbins. I suppose it is close to Chailey Common. I remember one wag after a sighting near Cooksbridge ringing Radio Sussex and claiming that it was him taking his dog for a walk. Another area there have been sightings is Ashdown Forest, which would be ideal country for them as it is largely heathland, and there is plenty of food, as the place is teeming with rabbits and deer. However there is a team of Rangers (ironically their uniform is green) looking after the forest and as far as I know, no sighting has been authenticated by them.

The West Country is far more likely. There was a bird garden at Bratton Fleming near Barnstaple in Devon, which was shut down in the late 1980s (I think it failed an inspection), which also had some big cats. I'm pretty certain I read that these were released and so some of them or their descendants may well be living wild.

 

[Leighgull]

About 10 years ago I was walking in the woods near stony clump at Stanmer with my ex wife and her dog. I need glasses for reading etc. but wasn't wearing them that evening. My ex wife, however, has 20 20 vision and is one of the most sensible women in the world. I heard a loud noise in the undergrowth ahead and assumed a dog was about to appear but what came out about 30 feet in front of us was, what looked to me, a puma or mountain lion! A light brown, short haired LION with black markings on its face...it looked straight at us then ran into the bushes on the other side of the path and away. Now I said "that looked like a puma...my eyes are playing tricks" she was just standing agog and she said "no, that was a lion, I saw it clearly" she was shitting bricks as was the very frightened dog who had run away!

This was clearly some sort if optical illusion because this is a piece of popular woodland that simply could not support a fully grown puma without several sightings. Strange nonetheless.

I read some fascinating ghost stories about those woods on here a while back. Perhaps it's just a very weird Fortean place that attracts all manner of high strangeness.

 

[glasfryn]

now she was big and vicious had paws like dinner plates and went missing never to be seen again