View Full Version : Big Cat Sightings
got such a giggle reading the paper today!
i read the other night on the northern constubarly website about the big cat sightings.. and asking people to be careful, keep a look out and to report any thing that they saw..
i was like wow.. so there is something to the big cats being here.. as the sightings are at dornoch... ok hubby handed me the news of the world today.. and i almost peed myself laughing.. really... you would think that some vicious monster were out stalking our children at night for their evening meal!the first line reads.. a shaken ex-sherrif has told how he came face to face with a sinister wild beast terrorising a quaint hughland town... (now lest not forget the thick scottish accent for this)police have waened worried locals near Dornoch Sutherland to be on their guard after a string of chilling big cat sightings.
im sure the good people of dornoch are shaking in their boots right now.. hiding behind locked doors.
more like the farmers are checking their stock.. and idjits are out with thier cameras looking for the cats now.
so, what do you think.. are their big cats and what should be done?
I personally think there have been far too many sightings of strange things to say no.
How can so many people be wrong?
I think there should be some research done and it should be honest and available to the public as either a yay or nay.
It is known that many big cats were released into the wild when the Dangerous wild animals act if 1976 was put in force, If there are still big cats around they have adapted and must be breeding.
There is plenty of natural food for then with the abundance of deer so I don't think we have much to fear but I do honestly think the public should be given an honest answer by those who have the means to prove or disprove it.
Link to the article http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/scottish/scottish_news/943589/Ex-Sheriff-Donald-Booker-Milburn-reveals-panther-terror.html
We've seen what we believe to be a large hybrid Scottish Wild Cat in Caithness, (I won't be more specific than that.) He/she was a big chunky thing but didn't hang about. By the time I reached for the camera he/she had gone. For anyone who has never seen one before they are quite startling and not like any other moggie they're likely to have seen.
Tubthumper
05-Sep-10, 14:25
I actually saw one a few years ago, 2am moonlit night, at the side of the road between Wick & Castletown just after the Lyth turnoff. Black, size of a Labrador but definitely a cat. It had catty eyes in my headlights as well, that's how I first noticed it.
redeyedtreefrog
05-Sep-10, 14:38
Yeah the News of the World is a very reliable source.
Scarybiscuits03
05-Sep-10, 14:51
Only about 2 months ago I saw a wildcat walking up the road past my house. It was about 11.30 at night and slightly misty. It was larger than a cat with a sturdier build but not as big as a labrador. Great to see.....
oldmarine
05-Sep-10, 14:59
There are no answers for me to select on this poll. I believe it is possible that there is a domesticated cat gone wild, but a cat as large as a labrador goes beyound my imaginination for Caithness.
found two dif. reports from teh police.. both this year..
first is follows
Police issue advice to walkers following possible sighting of a large cat in woods near Kincraig
Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:23:17 GMT
Police are advising walkers to report any sightings of large cats in the woods near Kincraig after a member of the public contacted the station in Aviemore.
A member of the public reported to Police that they had seen what they believed was a very large, black cat in the woods at Inshriach, near Kincraig at around 11.15am this morning.
The person who reported the sighting was certain the animal was a cat and was the size of a German shepherd dog. The report is unconfirmed.
Police advise members of the public to contact them at Aviemore Police station, if they witness anything similar on 01479 810222.
and then the latest one...
Police receive two separate reports of big cat sightings in Dornoch and Tain in the past week
Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:29:15 GMT
Police are urging members of the public to report any sightings after a large panther type cat was spotted in Dornoch at the weekend.
The animal was seen by a member of the public walking between Dornoch Caravan Park and the greenkeeper's shed at Dornoch Golf Club on Saturday at 0800.
Police are advising members of the public not to approach the animal if they come across it and report any sightings to their nearest Police station.
The sighting is the second in the East Ross and Sutherland areas in the past week. Another member of the public spotted what they described as a "very large, muscular black cat with a square head," in the Fendon area of Tain area on 26 August 2010. The animal was described as being around 4ft in length, with a 2-3 foot long tail.
Anyone who sees such an animal is urged to contact Police in Dornoch on 01862 862222.
ends.
DeHaviLand
05-Sep-10, 15:37
I've been fortunate enough to see 2 big cats. The first about 8 years ago near Dunkeld as it crossed the A9 in front of me, at about 4.00am on a midsummers morning. The second was about 4 years ago on the banks of the Blackwater. I had been fishing and stopped to sit in quiet contemplation for half an hour when it appeared about 70 yards from me. Quite un-nerving.
No-one is going to convince me that these were merely Scottish wild cats. To my mind, they were much larger than that.
The most convincing video i've seen yet of a big cat in Scotland can be viewed here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8172064.stm)
Dog-eared
05-Sep-10, 19:30
There is a stuffed one in Inverness museum.
I saw a large cat on the road up to Strath last month. The markings were like a Scottish Wild cat however it seemed too big and muscular to be one.
We've seen what we believe to be a large hybrid Scottish Wild Cat in Caithness, (I won't be more specific than that.)
I think this is the same large cat we have seen feeding on Sandside Beach ;)
I've also heard rumours that they are breeding and have 3 atomic kittens, seen eating Glow-Cat
My brother and brother-in-law have both seen the panther-like cat down in Tain area, so there is definitely something around that area. Also heard quite a few different people say they've had sightings of a large cat similar to a wild cat but definitely bigger. There's definitely big cats living out there in Caithness/Ross-shire - plenty of sightings to prove it!
Male Wildcats can get very big. Highland Tiger website is worth a look:
http://www.highlandtiger.com/wildcat_facts.asp
There's definitely big cats living out there in Caithness/Ross-shire - plenty of sightings to prove it!
In that case Nessie must live :D
Every year reports of sightings, so must also be true NESSIE LIVES [lol]
Heres the proof http://www.lochness.co.uk/fan_club/thisyr.html#2009
Long live Nessie
Long live Mr Tiddles
It's one thing seeing "something" in the water and attributing it to Nessie and another seeing a clearly identifiable species of animal that appears out of place for its environment.
About 7 years ago, around halfway between Wick and Watten, at around 4:30am on a Thursday morning, i certainly saw something that resembled a large black wildcat, i was heading to Scrabster to catch the early Ferry, and something that looked like a wildcat ran across the road about 30 meters in front of my van...it scared the living bejebus out of me. I can't be 100% certain of what it was, but it was definately black, and it was definately not a dog.
highland red
06-Sep-10, 17:22
To be honest, I really hope that the "big cats" do really exist up here: it would make us unique. To think that The Highland people would be "cowering indoors" is an absolute joke, as I think Highland people cower for no one!!
There appears to have been a lot of "sightings", so perhaps we shouldn't be too sceptical.
I used to live on the doorstep of The Peak District National Park and there were Wallabies living and breeding there for a long time (documented), so I don't think it's too much of stretch of the imagination to believe that a big cat(s) could be living up here.
Amazingly (for someone as sceptical as me) I voted with the (large) majority that big cats exist and nothing should be done about them. Saw one 2 years ago on the the road from Halkirk to the Wick/Thurso road at dusk. Bigger than a lab but the giveaway was the tail (which was as long as the animal and therefore a big cat according to everything I googled). What I don't understand is what they're eating (if I can believe my eyes and they exist) because no sheep appear to be missing?
I also saw something(couldn't swear what it was) just passed hastigrow about 10 years ago
was driving from bower to wick about 5/6 oclock in the evening was just getting dark when something loped across the road about 50 yds in front of me to big for cat and the way it moved wasn't a dog,didn,t see its eyes but had a long tail and only saw it for maybe 10 seconds as it dissapeared over fence.
George Brims
07-Sep-10, 18:58
My wife is from Cannich (inland from Beauly), so I well remember when local worthy Ted Noble started telling people he had seen a big cat around his farm. They thought Ted had taken to the bottle (more than usual), especially when he decided to build a trap, but they had to eat their words when he caught the thing! It was pretty tame, so it was probably a pet someone had dumped.
oldmarine
08-Sep-10, 15:07
My wife is from Cannich (inland from Beauly), so I well remember when local worthy Ted Noble started telling people he had seen a big cat around his farm. They thought Ted had taken to the bottle (more than usual), especially when he decided to build a trap, but they had to eat their words when he caught the thing! It was pretty tame, so it was probably a pet someone had dumped.
Confirms what I believe. Check my earlier message.
2little2late
08-Sep-10, 16:44
If there are big cats in the Scottish country side they should be left well alone. They have probably been here longer than we have.
George Brims
08-Sep-10, 19:22
If there are big cats in the Scottish country side they should be left well alone. They have probably been here longer than we have.
No they haven't. They date from when a law was passed requiring licences for the keeping of certain large pets, such as big cats. The reason to leave them well alone is that they could potentially kill you, though most are probably at least partly used to humans.
Is this not just another Nesie tourist trap??
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