The Sock of Poskett
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- Jun 12, 2009
- 2,836
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Big cat sightings in Sussex
- Thread starter Buzzer
- Start date
blue'n'white
Well-known member
I remember going to Dartmoor Zoo several years ago where there was a puma in a cage. The keeper there told us that they often saw paw marks outside the cage in the morning as if a free puma came to look at the caged one at night.
It is certainly not beyond possibility that there are large wild animals living in the English countryside - i know people will say that we don't have the climate to sustain big cats but the swarms of parakeets we get round here seem to survive pretty well !
It is certainly not beyond possibility that there are large wild animals living in the English countryside - i know people will say that we don't have the climate to sustain big cats but the swarms of parakeets we get round here seem to survive pretty well !
Strange you should mention Ringmer, I was working late somewhere and had to tow my mini digger back to the yard in Laughton road, as i had to pass the guy i work with's home i had dropped him off so was alone, i parked the machine up i unloaded some crap to put in the skip and as i walked toward the said skip this effing great cat leaped out and bounded off away from me then clambered up the bank and over a 6 foot fence and disappeared, big beige thing it was, about the size of a large dog needless to say i don't drop him off when late anymore.This really happened so when i hear of big cats roaming loose i definitely believe it.
forrest
New member
Funny enough they're talking about big cats in the UK now on ITV on Nature's newborns.
Still they are here in the UK. This taken from Wikipedia.
Captures and remains
This Puma was captured in the wild, in Inverness-shire, Scotland in 1980. It is believed to have been an abandoned pet. It lived the rest of its life in a zoo. After it died it was stuffed and placed in Inverness Museum
A Canadian lynx shot in Devon in 1903 is now in the collection of the Bristol Museum.[6] Analysis of its teeth suggest that prior to its death it has spent a significant amount of time in captivity.[6]
In 1980 a puma (pictured right) was captured in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The capture followed several years of sightings in the area of a big cat matching the description of the one captured. However it is believed that the captured puma was in fact an abandoned pet. The puma was subsequently put into a zoo and given the name "Felicity". When it died it was stuffed and was placed in Inverness Museum.[7]
In 1989 a jungle cat was found on the roadside in Shropshire that had been hit by a car.[8]
In 1991 a Eurasian lynx was shot near Norwich, Norfolk. It had killed around 15 sheep within two weeks. The story was only reported in 2003, and the stuffed body of the lynx is allegedly now in the possession of a collector in Suffolk. For many years this incident was considered to have been a hoax, particularly by the hunting community, but in March 2006 a police report confirmed that the case was true. It was probably an escapee from a facility in the area that bred animals, including Eurasian lynxes.[9]
In 1993 a leopard was shot on the Isle of Wight after feasting on chickens and ducks.[8]
There have been reports that in 1993 yet another puma was captured in Scotland, this time in the Aviemore area.[7][10]
In 2001 another lynx was captured alive in Cricklewood, north-London. The lynx was considerably larger than an average domestic cat. The lynx was placed in London Zoo and was given the name "Lara".[11] The captured lynx was found to be only 18 months old.[12]
Still they are here in the UK. This taken from Wikipedia.
Captures and remains
This Puma was captured in the wild, in Inverness-shire, Scotland in 1980. It is believed to have been an abandoned pet. It lived the rest of its life in a zoo. After it died it was stuffed and placed in Inverness Museum
A Canadian lynx shot in Devon in 1903 is now in the collection of the Bristol Museum.[6] Analysis of its teeth suggest that prior to its death it has spent a significant amount of time in captivity.[6]
In 1980 a puma (pictured right) was captured in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The capture followed several years of sightings in the area of a big cat matching the description of the one captured. However it is believed that the captured puma was in fact an abandoned pet. The puma was subsequently put into a zoo and given the name "Felicity". When it died it was stuffed and was placed in Inverness Museum.[7]
In 1989 a jungle cat was found on the roadside in Shropshire that had been hit by a car.[8]
In 1991 a Eurasian lynx was shot near Norwich, Norfolk. It had killed around 15 sheep within two weeks. The story was only reported in 2003, and the stuffed body of the lynx is allegedly now in the possession of a collector in Suffolk. For many years this incident was considered to have been a hoax, particularly by the hunting community, but in March 2006 a police report confirmed that the case was true. It was probably an escapee from a facility in the area that bred animals, including Eurasian lynxes.[9]
In 1993 a leopard was shot on the Isle of Wight after feasting on chickens and ducks.[8]
There have been reports that in 1993 yet another puma was captured in Scotland, this time in the Aviemore area.[7][10]
In 2001 another lynx was captured alive in Cricklewood, north-London. The lynx was considerably larger than an average domestic cat. The lynx was placed in London Zoo and was given the name "Lara".[11] The captured lynx was found to be only 18 months old.[12]
Bevendean Hillbilly
New member
I've seen the same thing I believe.
Same part of the world. I was looking for bits of Canadian shrapnel in the field behind there ( used to be a firing range during WW2) and saw something in the tree line that looked for all the world like a cougar...behaved just like my domestic muggy stalking a mouse...it suddenly looked up at me then bolted. Definitely a large cat about the size of a collie dog with distinctive black markings on its face.
Not told of it before because too weird.
Tricky Dicky
New member
I'm not sure climate is an issue, cats can live in a wide range of temperatures, but in order to sustain anything more than about 10 years, you need at least one breeding pair, and then it starts to get less likely, I would think. The odd exotic let loose would only live about 7 years max (average panther age anyway).
Monkey Man
Your support is not that great
When I was a local reporter I heard stories about a big cat in the Plumpton area. I had to do a bit of door-knocking and calling at shops etc before I was directed to the home of a woman who kept a lot of animals in her garden, which backed onto open countryside.
She wasn't overly keen to talk to me, and in fact demanded that I kept her name out of the paper, because she knew she'd be called crazy. But she gave me a very credible report about a big cat that had perched on a branch at the end of the garden for long enough for her to get a very good look at it before it slunk away. She'd been alerted by all the noise from the birds and other pets that were in the cages in the garden.
Now, if she'd been calling up the local papers and looking to get some publicity, I would have been far more sceptical. But she struck me as someone who was sane, knowledgeable about animals, and not willing to be quoted or photographed after being doorstepped by a young hack.
There were several sitings of a big cat on Seaford Head a couple of years ago, near my home. I said to my wife that if there was something prowling about, you'd expect to find a sheep carcass that had been mauled by something bigger than a fox or dog. That's exactly what she found the next day.
She wasn't overly keen to talk to me, and in fact demanded that I kept her name out of the paper, because she knew she'd be called crazy. But she gave me a very credible report about a big cat that had perched on a branch at the end of the garden for long enough for her to get a very good look at it before it slunk away. She'd been alerted by all the noise from the birds and other pets that were in the cages in the garden.
Now, if she'd been calling up the local papers and looking to get some publicity, I would have been far more sceptical. But she struck me as someone who was sane, knowledgeable about animals, and not willing to be quoted or photographed after being doorstepped by a young hack.
There were several sitings of a big cat on Seaford Head a couple of years ago, near my home. I said to my wife that if there was something prowling about, you'd expect to find a sheep carcass that had been mauled by something bigger than a fox or dog. That's exactly what she found the next day.
willyfantastic
New member
- Mar 1, 2009
- 2,368
cannot believe that made the newspaper - couldn't look more like a domestic cat if it tried - it may have been big, but it's head shape is nothing like that of a panther/jaguar
personally dont believe there are any knocking about - far more likely to be feral cats - and to whomever said there wasn't enough space in sussex for a big cat, there definitely is.....
There is enough about Balcombe on here at the moment but the fracking protests weren't the first time we hit the headlines, if you count a short story in the Mid Sussex Times as headlines. http://www.midsussextimes.co.uk/news/local/school-children-see-big-cat-in-balcombe-1-684166
The Kid Frankie
New member
- Sep 5, 2012
- 2,082
The account I got was a long time ago, but the jist of it was that 'The Ringmer Puma' (exact words of the farmer) had well and truly spooked one of his cattle, to the point it had to be segregated in isolation. He was quite nonchalant about it as well, as if this wasn't even the first time it had happened.
Leighgull
New member
- Dec 27, 2012
- 2,377
Christ. That's given me a shiver.
Algernon
Well-known member
Other than it was a bit too far east this could quite easily have been Dwight Yorke.
Arthritic Toe
Well-known member
There was a story from around here last week - 'the beast of Trowbridge'. Although the photograph proves nothing - there's no scale.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/422541/Beware-the-Beast-of-Trowbridge-Big-cat-spotted-in-Wiltshire-countryside
Big cat sightings though are really not up there with ghosts and aliens - its perfectly reasonable that various animals have escaped from captivity over the years. There are wallabies in Derbyshire, parrots in Brussels, mink all over the bloody place and plenty of other examples of escapees now breeding in the wild, that are now commonplace sightings.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/422541/Beware-the-Beast-of-Trowbridge-Big-cat-spotted-in-Wiltshire-countryside
Big cat sightings though are really not up there with ghosts and aliens - its perfectly reasonable that various animals have escaped from captivity over the years. There are wallabies in Derbyshire, parrots in Brussels, mink all over the bloody place and plenty of other examples of escapees now breeding in the wild, that are now commonplace sightings.
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Uncle Buck
Ghost Writer
- Jul 7, 2003
- 28,075
How do you stop one of these 'big cats' from sh1tting in your garden?
Tyrone Biggums
Well-known member
3 Wolfhounds.
Uncle Buck
Ghost Writer
- Jul 7, 2003
- 28,075
I cannot ask myself a question...
On the radio a couple of years back they said Sussex has the second highest number of trees per county in England. Difficult to prove with the East/West split, but more wooded than you would imagine.