British Big Cat Stalked Railway Inspector

Peak District railway worker followed by 'black panther' for a mile

" . . . there was a black panther just sitting next to the back of a car. I could see the steam coming off its nose as it was breathing. And it was glaring at me. We must have been face to face for a good four or five minutes.

. . . I started saying ‘you will not believe what I saw’.

But before I could tell them anything they said ‘we don't know what it was, but when we met you at the bridge, we shone the light and we saw that about 20 feet behind you, there was a black animal looking like a large dog, following you.’ I didn’t see the cat behind me but at this moment I realised it crept along the railway or on the railway and stalked me for an entire mile”

www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk...

An old ex-railway worker here said "I've seen plenty, some close enough to touch." when his son told him about the one we'd seen. They like the railways and must frequently get close to the maintenance workers. I once asked an ex train driver if he'd ever seen a big cat. He answered, "Yes! But I never told anyone. If one of the other drivers wanted to make trouble for you they'd just have to say you imagined things."

From the article.

. . . he was not allowed to mention the panther due to the fears that travellers might panic . . .

I've been at the point of panic on one occasion very close to a big cat in the dark. Semi-paralysed with shock after getting snarled at from five yards on another occasion. And felt very threatened by an over-inquisitive big cat that woke me up by batting the top of my head almost playfully. I got over it each time. People should be 'allowed' to talk about their big cat experiences without censorship. At some point the cover-up is going to become too burdensome.

a reply to: Kester
SIghtings just keep on coming..There are some that still doubt that we have a wild big cat population in the UK,but I am not one.
I think I have mentioned before there have been more than a few sightings and even footprints in my area of North Wales over the years-the area around my village itself has had a handful over the years.
I know two people who have seen them first hand-and both share the same area where I live-on the edge of the village with woodland backing on to our gardens.

Im pretty sure the authorties know full well about these cats-DEFRA especially-and I am also pretty sure they use the "deny everything or be ambigious" system,possibly to prevent panic-although most of us wouldn't panic.

A lot of farmers get visits from defra whe they have livestock killed-I think a big part of the reason they do that is to check if big cats were responsible-yet they will never admit that.

Any animals that can live wild in a human infested land should be allowed to do so IMO-these cats don't cause us any problems,except for maybe eating the odd sheep.

Plus I quite like there being a bit of a mystery in life,the not quite knowing what is out there in the shadows.

a reply to: Kester
I'm totally with you on this as you know Kester, having told you of my personal experience with one.
Need another trip to your woods. Are you there next weekend?
Rainbows
Jane

a reply to: angelchemuel

I'll be there, hugging the trees.

a reply to: Kester
Yay! I'll txt you closer to the time.
Rainbows
Jane

Its interesting that these cats don't seem as aggressive as their counter parts in the US and they seem to get much closer

I hunt a lot up here in Idaho and I've been stalked a few times but they usually keep their distance

I had one follow us all weekend we caught sight of him about 400 yards away. He came into the camp that night as we slept but wondered off by morning

These guys are coming right up on these workers and other people but aren't seeming to get aggressive

It really makes me wonder what's going on....and why they seem to be so use to being in the vicinity of humans when most wild cats keep their distance unless they're hungry by then they're aggressive

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

My theory is that we know over the centuries many a wealthy monarch or other persons would have exotic pets

I wonder if enough of these didn't get out over the years to start a small but healthy population

a reply to: Kester

I posted last week about the possible sighting of a black panther in the peak district, I wasn't to sure about the vid but thought it was worth posting and getting people's opinions, and here we are again with another report.

We do get frequent sightings of big cats across Great Britain and even though I'm mostly on the fence, it does make one think.

a reply to: ManBehindTheMask

I think if they are roaming around Great Britain, they'd very quickly get used to living very close to humans even if they do avoid contact most of the time as we don't really have any vast open wilderness here anymore.

We do have a history of exotic animals used in circuses and keeping exotic pets wasn't banned till 70's.

Daily Post

Rumours of panthers, pumas, and leopards in the wild have long been rife in Britain, but officially the only confirmed big cat species in the UK is the European Wildcat. According to the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, it is similar to a domestic tabby cat – but is larger, has a stockier build and has a bushy, black-banded tail.

However, there have been hundreds of unconfirmed sightings of big cats across the UK over several years, including in North Wales. Puma Watch North Wales receives a number of reports of sightings of a variety of cats every month, but there is seldom any concrete evidence of the sightings.

In the 1970s, exotic pets were banned, and many owners were faced with no choice but to release their big cats into the wild to avoid expensive rehoming costs, which was completely legal at the time. Therefore, it is entirely plausible that several species of big cats call the UK home, but which ones?

originally posted by: Kurokage
a reply to: ManBehindTheMask

I think if they are roaming around Great Britain, they'd very quickly get used to living very close to humans even if they do avoid contact most of the time as we don't really have any vast open wilderness here anymore.

We do have a history of exotic animals used in circuses and keeping exotic pets wasn't banned till 70's.

Daily Post

Rumours of panthers, pumas, and leopards in the wild have long been rife in Britain, but officially the only confirmed big cat species in the UK is the European Wildcat. According to the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, it is similar to a domestic tabby cat – but is larger, has a stockier build and has a bushy, black-banded tail.

However, there have been hundreds of unconfirmed sightings of big cats across the UK over several years, including in North Wales. Puma Watch North Wales receives a number of reports of sightings of a variety of cats every month, but there is seldom any concrete evidence of the sightings.

In the 1970s, exotic pets were banned, and many owners were faced with no choice but to release their big cats into the wild to avoid expensive rehoming costs, which was completely legal at the time. Therefore, it is entirely plausible that several species of big cats call the UK home, but which ones?

Agreed

I think people tend to forget how small of an island relative to other parts of the world you guys are floating around on

Like I said having several runnins with big cats in the wild I find it fascinating how "docile " the ones there seem to be

Obviously I'm not downplaying how quickly that could turn dangerous but their lack of shyness is a stark contrast

I would LOVE to come "safari"!

a reply to: ManBehindTheMask

I think people tend to forget how small of an island relative to other parts of the world you guys are floating around on

The United States is about 40 times bigger, and Oregon is about the same size as Great Britain.

a reply to: Kurokage

Yessir and I'm right next door so idaho is actually bigger ita wild ..I..

One place I've never been is GB I really want to!

a reply to: ManBehindTheMask

It's possible that as Cat's are quite intelligent this one has encountered hunters before and was waiting for the usual trophy kill in which many hunters probably leave most of the animal behind after taking what they want.

Still, I have no doubt we do have a big cat population running wile, perhaps a growing population in the UK, these are probably descendants of released exotic pets as has already been pointed out by Kurokage.

My worry is that they will eventually try Human as this one very nearly did unless it was smelling his sandwiches or something.

A child or a woman or some lone person if it has not already happened and been covered up will be the shocker that may get the police and army to finally do something about the problem.

We killed off all our bears and wolves centuries ago and while game animals have been kept in check by hunting over much of that and been wiped out by farming and the spread of town's and city's a cunning and clever animal like a big cat could easily find a niche in our eco system to survive though it would be limited to domesticated livestock, deer and small prey like rabbit and hares for the most part and in urban settings they may also attack and eat people's pets until the day comes they eat a child or lone fell walker or workman walking along a railway line.

Now to my mind I say they need to be hunted down and removed BUT as long as they do NOT attack a human being (which I see as only a matter of time) and their population remains small and distant from human community's then I can understand.

But as for the Rewilders that want to release bear and elk and wolves back into the UK, well those deluded nasty minded anti human nut cases can eat my shorts to quote the all-time greatest philosopher Bart Simpson.

This to me has to be a dangerous encounter and I have to wonder with the spread of Rabies having finally reached the UK as it has how long before one of these animal's turns rabid.

It's money, the cost of hunting down what they may well have imagined to be only one or two released pets in the 70's and 80's that initially stopped the authority's from dealing with this issue.

But there is always the argument that as these animals may target sick prey, they may also keep disease from running rampant and if so, they could be attributed with saving lives rather than taking them.

But you know there is also always the paranormal element that some cases suggest.
en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: LABTECH767

Attacks are usually remarkably gentle. I've seen unpublished photos of scratches across a woman's abdomen. She walked straight into it in long grass, while laying out bait to try to get a photograph of it. It just scratched her then ran.

Here's a story about a young man who was knocked out by the impact of an attack.

. . . 'something hit him' as he walked home from a friend's house in the pitch black.

Thirty minutes later he woke up with a deep five-inch gouge on his left shoulder and what appears to be four claw marks on his forearm.

www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk...

Photographs at this link of injuries to a horse. www.herefordtimes.com...

The following happened very close to where I was snarled at. It could have been the same grumpy cat.

Seven people were stalked by a ‘growling’ big cat for more than a mile - and they are all adamant about what they saw.

www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk...

There are also stories of people learning to live peacefully alongside them, even forming such a bond that they will introduce their cubs to their human friends.

Keeping it in perspective there are much more dangerous things, like crackheads, and politicians, and crackhead politicians. I'll take my chances camping on the leopards hunting trail.

This year has seen the first 'official' announcements and warnings ahead of Glastonbury due to a family of big cats on Worthy Farm in recent months a huge rise in sightings and agression believe to be as a result of the drought in Moorland and Forrest areas - there's a lot of food out there for them due to massive explosion in deer and rabbit/hare populations recovering after poisonings.

a reply to: ManBehindTheMask

If you come here I'll give you a tour of the big cat hotspots.