UK big black cats!

Ok,so over here in the cold cold UK we dont get "big foot" "dinosaurs" and what not,we get the big black cats,there have been multiple sightings,photos and even mutilations.

Heres what some people have to say
www.bbc.co.uk...
what do you all think, just cats going unoticed or being set free by people who had them as pets once upon a time.

I myself get alittle nervous as i enjoy going to the lake district and sitting on my car watching the sky,,,,never know if 1 of these will come and get me

Pff you brits can't handle the thought of having something bigger than a little yorkie roaming around. It's just a bobcat or a puma or whatever...They just live in the woods...nothing unnatural or scary...

There not meant to be over here though. I myself have seen them at a woods very close to home (Plym bridge if any of you know the area!) To be honest, i'm not all that scared.

I know the area..

I live just outside launceston, cornwall. About 25miles from plymouth. I used to live further out in the country. Never seen anything but heard a few stories, nothing to worry about really just a big black cat, im sure if you upset one they'd attack you but doesn't bother me at all. We lived close to a farm and on some rare occasions you would hear sheep going crazy. And some farmers had claimed to of seen them, i guess its all down to hard facts in the end.

Vorta

I honestly think the story with the cats is that they are abandoned or escaped zoo/show/test jaguars or pumas etc... nothing special just a species brought by man to england and accidently released into the wild.

www.ukbigcats.co.uk...

More info on the big cats uk

sounds like a panther -.-

Interesting...

Wonder how long they have been appearing and if there is any correlation between when they appeared and say a major conflict such as WWII. (zoo getting bombed?)

Then again exotic pets get released by owners all the time.

its like the loch ness monster, we really havent seen anything, just myths/stories, we will never be able to prove anything as they never exisited, its just folk lore/stories to scare us

During the stylish 1960's and 70's it was very fashionable and perfectly legal in the UK to keep exotic animals as household pets.

Then In 1976 the Government introduced the Dangerous Wild Animals Act to protect the public and ensure the animals we're looked after properly.

When the bill came into force exotic pet owners we're only really faced with 3 choices.

1.Get a licence and improve the facilities for looking after the animals incurring great expense.

2.Give their pet to a zoo or authorized keeper of such animals.

3.Have their pet put down.

Many people choose number 2 but the Zoos couldnt cope with the number of animals. Many people didnt want to put down their beloved pets so they set them free.

Due to a loop hole in the law, it was not illegal until 1981 to release a big cat into the UK countryside. So they were not breaking any law by doing this.

What I find interesting is there is still sightings to this day which suggest these cats are breeding in the wild.

www.ukbigcats.co.uk...

why are they only seen in the countryside ? is there a certain law pertaining to big black cats to be let loose in the country side ? hoax/rumours - and what is the agenda to have these cats running wild ?

why are they only seen in the countryside? Wild cats do not like humans its only natural for them to avoid humans. Also I doubt people are going to release them in London if they didnt want them put down. Just drive out to the country side where they might have a fighting chance.

I dont see any agenda other then pet owners that didnt have enough money to build them correct facilities and buy licences didnt want to put them down.

Nothing to worry about attacks by wild big cats are very very rare in the UK, the most publicized one being on Saturday August 26th 2000, when 11 year old Josh Hopkins was clawed across the face in Trelleck, South Wales.He tried to pet it thinking it was his pet cat.

The cat was never found or even proven to be a exotic cat

Whats the point of even raising them in this country, there is no real benefit, except for us to talk about them on here, i do see there is a fascination about them but it is pointless in researching them there is no conclusion to their exisitence, if their exotic, trying to raise them here in the most crappiest conditions, whats the point, raise them in a warmer climate, they might like it there

Who really cares? I mean how hard is it to catch an animal? Especially when they are said to a puma. One killed a whippet and no one still knows how to catch this thing. Let's stick to Bigfoot and Aliens. Atleast an escuse from a sighter of on of these animals may have an exscuse.

but does anyone remember when this 'big black cat' attacked a young boy or someting and was left with scars over his face.
Also i disagree with most of the people here who say that it cant be that hard to catch.Its like trying to find a needle in a hay stack.One cat and it could be anywhere.It has been seen many of times around my area.But most of the time its sited by men walkin home from the pub hahahaha so im not really sure what to believe.

Originally posted by mcleod
but does anyone remember when this 'big black cat' attacked a young boy or someting and was left with scars over his face.
Also i disagree with most of the people here who say that it cant be that hard to catch.Its like trying to find a needle in a hay stack.One cat and it could be anywhere.It has been seen many of times around my area.But most of the time its sited by men walkin home from the pub hahahaha so im not really sure what to believe.

It's the Josh Hopkins case. BBC ran a couple of services on it. It has been debunked as inconsistent with a big cat attack and has since sunk into darkness. The only officially recognized attack I can think of right now happened in 1999 and involved a mare in Wales (who survived, despite the heavy wounds). Biologists enquired by the local constabulary confirmed that only a big cat, "most probably a puma", could have done that.
If you think that no ABC has ever been caught, you are wrong: here is some hard evidence. I remember the Felicity (or Scottish couguar) case very well: while she was clearly an "escaped" or "freed" animal (well groomed, well fed, not aggressive, etc) her feces showed that she had been feeding on deer and rabbits for a while. Another very interesting case is the Kellas Cats, since nobody has still been able to determine if they are a Scottish wildcat (Felis silvestris grampia) + domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) hybrid, an exotic cat hybrid, or something else: you can leran more about them here.

Newquay in Cornwall gets a fair few sightings, I was there once on holiday and I swear I saw a big cat on the top of some dunes on a beach called Crantock.

You people in Britain need to get it together. Seriously, the big cats in the UK is the most uninteresting ridiculous subject in Cryptozoology and unsolved mysteries in general. Get them foxhounds and find it if it worries you that much. There was a case that the UK put laws in place regarding wild animals as pets. Many people released Lions, Tigers, leopards and Jaguars. Most of these were found but two. One was a tiger and I forgot the other one. The point is you ought to feel embarrassed about something one could easily hunt down and find. No bigfoot, no Lochness monster, no ancient dinosaurs in the Congo. The people of Africa have even made known clearly to the scientific community the Giant Chimpanzees that live in the Congos of Africa and you people in Britain still ain't got it together? Just get over it!

My sister keeps her horse on a farm way out in the country. One night when my sisters car was not working my mother was off to pick her up from there.

Anyhow by the time she arrived at the farm, being winter the night had drawn in quickly making it almost pitch black outside. She couldn't see my sister so left the car and called for her. She approached a field where the horse was sometimes kept and called again. She thought she heard something and was getting worried so went back to the car to position it toward the field and turn the lights on.

She did this then went up to the gate again. Apparently, as she did so, she heard the same noise again upon which she looked to the field straight into "..a pair of catlike eyes shining back out of the dark." From what she could make out it was a "coughing huge" creature too.

Very spooked indeed she retreated to the car and sat pressing the horn, to which my sister emerged from the other side of the stables and proceeded to remonstrate about her 'spooking the horses' to which the reply was.... well, as you might imagine, curt indeed!

Jack

[edit on 7/2/05 by JAK]

Originally posted by Vulcha
There not meant to be over here though. I myself have seen them at a woods very close to home (Plym bridge if any of you know the area!) To be honest, i'm not all that scared.

Your very post shows that you are scared!