I would say large domestic cat... The only thing to judge using scale is the railway lines and as alot of posters have said, its not that large..

The other possibility is a feral cat, dont know if feral cats are as bad as they are here in Australia. But i can tell you that some ferals get very large to the size of a medium sized dog.

Dont know where all these stories originate from.. But we have the same here in Australia. Panthers or whatever other large cat living and "breeding?" in the bush.

Let me guess, the story in the UK starts with US soldiers bringing them over during WWII as they were there unit mascots?

Originally posted by r3dman
I would say large domestic cat... The only thing to judge using scale is the railway lines and as alot of posters have said, its not that large..

Really looking at it properly and assuming that's a standard guage track, it's not a normal sized house cat. 2 feet is a gross underestimation when viewing the body length when aligned with the ties.

how interesting! i must say though, its movement reminded me of a dog the entire time. keep in mind that i'm a firm believer in ABCs in the UK, but i don't think this is one of them. i was so excited to see something better than a fuzzy old black and white of the Beast of Exmoor, but i don't think this is it.

Id go with the house cat myself, the thing that makes me query the dog explanation is the tail is just far to long and held like a cats (or at least how my cats hold their tails while walking).

Id also not rule it out being larger since we dont know how large the fence. Only way to be certain is get a person to stand near the same tracks in the vid. Pitty you cant really see the cats gait since cats share a specific gate thats only used by a few other types of animals (and dogs arent one of them).

Although I must say its got that Labrador waddle to it. meh now im not to sure argh.

Still believe there are big cats in the UK since enough credible people have seen em.

edit:- hmm looking at it again, thats not a cats walk, also what large cat would walk along a train track in plain sight, i could understand if it walked along near the bushs but not the track.

Originally posted by BigfootNZ

edit:- hmm looking at it again, thats not a cats walk, also what large cat would walk along a train track in plain sight, i could understand if it walked along near the bushs but not the track.

Predators often use a landmark as the perceived boundary of their territory.


If we are going on the thought it is a Big Cat, The railway track may be it's boundary, it's very edge of territory, or a track that by walking it's route simply leads more quickly to where it's going, a preferred route to what may be a more urban alternative.


It's not hunting, but walking clearly in the open, with a relaxed air, visable to prey. which suggests to me the animal was on the prowl, patrolling it's territory.


There is no bird alarm call, say by a Blackbird which usually sound the first alarm call of predators on the prowl, and the birds you hear sound normal, or perhaps they realise that the animal is not hunting, and not a threat.


Do you see near the beginning of the video, when the animal rubs itself in the foilage? That is typical of rubbing it's scent on the foilage. I grew excited at that point because I thought that perhaps the animal would do a urine spray like a cat - the cat backs up to something, lifts it's tail up, and sprays onto an object like a tree, and perhaps a clawing of some bark.


There needs to be a good look by experts now to see if there are signs of stool, claw marks on bark, and fur left on the foilage it rubbed against.


If this is a big cat, then the railway track is part of it's territory.


It may be worth there being a stake-out of the area if so.....if it is a big cat, it's bound to patrol the area again if it is it's territory.

Originally posted by Gemwolf

Sadly the video is quite fuzzy and the vantage point may give a deceptive size.

What do you mean? There is something right next to the cat we have exact measurements of... The TRACKS!!

See post above.......

Originally posted by Regensturm
There needs to be a good look by experts now to see if there are signs of stool, claw marks on bark, and fur left on the foilage it rubbed against.


If this is a big cat, then the railway track is part of it's territory.


It may be worth there being a stake-out of the area if so.....if it is a big cat, it's bound to patrol the area again if it is it's territory.

Excellent points. I agree with you there. If the policeman who filmed this really thinks it was unusual, he should have set up some sort of surveillance. I wouldn't go right into the area yet... sometimes if human scent ends up in an animal's territory, they are reluctant to return there.

I say black cat. That's an awfully long tail for a dog. This cat may have been marking territory, which may account with the tail being in the up position. It also seems to move like a feline.

I also say that if it were a dog, I think that you would see it with it's nose concentrated on the ground. But that's just me. I'll try to show one of my K-9 buddies the video and see what they think.

Watching video: Oooh it's a big cat; wait a minute it's a dog; noooo, it is a cat.

Certainly looks bigger than a house cat. We have a Maine Coon, calico mix and she has massive paws but the body length is nowhere near that size; very fluffy too.

Just from the shots taken of the profile it really looks like a larger than normal cat. The gait is a little confusing on the track though.

Originally posted by ravenshadow13

I wouldn't go right into the area yet... sometimes if human scent ends up in an animal's territory, they are reluctant to return there.

I agree, however, the time between the animal being spotted and for an investigation of the area to be carried out should not be left too long because of the risk of the weather and other natural elements erasing traces of evidence of the animal which could identify it.