Policeman takes 'big cat' photo

reply to post by EnlightenUp


I completely agree that the movement is very "fluid" like that of a feline. The (one and only) reason I'm leaning towards canine is because of the tail. It's pretty much in the "straight up/sickle" position the whole duration of the video.

Balancing acts in the dog family is not a strange sight at all. Friends of my family have a black lab that walks up and down their prefab concrete wall like it's its playground.

And here's another random example:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6dce2c1a842d.jpg[/atsimg]

There is no doubt in my mind that there are "big cats" (aka alien cats) in the UK. I'm just saying the animal in this video can't that easily identified as one.

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?

reply to post by Gemwolf


How cute with the dog on the balance beam there.

I didn't mean to imply it doesn't happen but was adding to the total weight of observations. I just haven't seen that with dogs with but perhaps a few exceptions but cats all the time, every day, especially with the narrowness of a rail.

A friend's poodle that grew up with cats, following them around from the time of being a newborn does strange cat-like balancing but her other poodles that didn't have the exposure do not crawl into the high, narrow-ish areas. Needless to say it just doesn't have the same appearance.

The tail seems to extern control by kinking the end of it, which is also seems more cat like.

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.

reply to post by EnlightenUp


Maine Coon cats are typically longhaired, brown, with black markings. They are never shorthaired and black.

mybombaycat.com...

It could be a male bombay cat, up to 11 lbs is standard and it could probably grow larger.

www.pictures-of-cats.org...

The table here is helpful for size, if anyone wants to take a peek.

[edit on 7/28/2009 by ravenshadow13]

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.

OK this is about as good as you're going to get in terms of big cat sightings in the UK :

Evidence:
Video (albeit shakey and poor quality) from an elevated point with easily verifiable scale references.

Outcome: Excellent

Source
Police dog handler. In terms of someone who could be termed as a professional both in their knowledge of dogs and providing trusted witness testimony; I dont think you could get any better.
This guy is also going publc with everything to loose such as mocking by colleagues and possibly a roasting by his bosses for highlighting a military installation in the course of the report.

Outcome: Excellent

Likelihood of Big Cat:

If this video cut out at 20 seconds I dont think there could be any arguement that this is at least a cat.
The trouble starts after 20 seconds when this supposed feline starts an ungainly waddle down the track looking or all intents and purposes like a black labrador.

After reviewing the video again I noticed how the poor picture quality and the blackness of the animal seemed to combne to produce artifcating on the video which in turn exagertes this movement.

I then questioned whether I actually knew what a large black cat, such as a leopard looks like when it moves and after watching this video of a Leopard I'm now convinced that this is a leopard.



During the video you'll notice the leopard does seem to waddle with its tail up on several occasions ( I guess it's adapted for climbing in trees/moutainous areas so efficency of movement on flat is sacrificed...)
Because the video is poor ( like the OP's link) you can sometimes look at the leopard and think; yes that could be a labrador....


So; size, source and evidence are all believeable; with this vid; I'd be happy (as a sceptic) to say this is a big cat; probably a leopard

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.

Sigh

The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number.

Here is why that is relevant to scotland.

Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US Railroads.

Source

Anyone who has ever seen a cat knows that is a freaking cat. Just look at it! If you watch the video there is a point in the near beginning that you can tell it is obviously a cat.

The question is if the tracks are 4 1/2 feet across how big is that cat? Answer: About the size of a Black Jaguar

[edit on 29-7-2009 by DaMod]

Originally posted by Gemwolf
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/9dc1e5c47ba1.jpg[/atsimg]

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.

reply to post by skyeyes


Having an erect tail is very normal for cats, even during normal activity.

www.xmission.com...

If the tail is erect, but tip is tilted over, either forward or back:
The cat is very interested and feeling friendly.

If the tail is fully erect and tip is vertical:
The cat is offering a friendly, cheerful greeting.

If the tail is straight up and fully bristled:
The cat is showing aggression.

There are many more resources on how felines can display emotion through tail position and movement.

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.

reply to post by DaMod


Uhm ... Did you read my entire post? Or perhaps I should ask if you understood it? Perhaps I miscommunicated my thoughts? I said pretty much what you said - only in more detail.

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.

A better quality video is available on YouTube.



Visit Youtube to view full screen.

reply to post by Gemwolf


Hmm that vids sorta clearer, looking at that better one id say its definitely a cat (head shape seems alot clearer), even with the slightly odd gait. The one thing that makes me question the size though is the fence in the foreground. It looks quite small (just above waist hight? maybe bellow chest) and while it is closer to the camera man than the rails its still close enough to the tracks to make that cat large but not abnormally (im trying to picture the cat next to it and jumping up) pitty we cant get someone to go to the local and get some measurments, since thats all this would take to say 'yep he/she's a Big cat'. Heck it would be neat to find out how far along the track the cat made it during filming to work out the length of its strides (seems to travel a good distance).

Oh and about using the track as a territorial boundry I agree, i just think a large panther like feline would be a little more secretive in its wanderings, hes quite a confident little beastie (which a Dog would be as opposed a cat).



[edit on 30-7-2009 by BigfootNZ]