big cats in scotland

[skydivvy]

When we were driving from inverness to wick about a month ago, just south of Brora, what looked like a large black panther slunk across the road. We stopped but it had vanished. We both saw it so I wasn't dreaming. At first i thought it was a dog, but very quickly realised it was no dog! I have heard of other sightings, and now I know they are true, but am met with scepticism everywhere.
Anyone else seen anything?

[Riffman]

A black cat walked through my garden yesterday...it was only 6" tall though, not exactly big!!

I believe you, there is no reason to think that there is no big cats. Europe has them, why don't we?

Keep Lookin!!!

Riffman

[©Amethyst]

Apparently these panther like cats do exist in Scotland, but they're not black panthers... leopards. Black leopards. Have read articles on them in the past few years as I love 'big cats'. Not sure how accurate it is, though.

[kas]

You know what you both saw. Don't take any heed of what others think.
I know 2 people who think they have seen a big cat.
One was about that same area where you were. You should look on the internet for info on other sightings in that area. If I remember right there was sightings on the mound by a lorry driver a few years back, one on the outskirts of Brora and one sighting by a policeman.
Did you see the Courier or Groat last year when a couple reported one in the Burnside area of Thurso. Surely people don't dream these things up, and I'm sure there is alot of people who think they have seen big cats but are scared of being laughed at.
Hope you get some answers.

[Naefearjustbeer]

http://www.scottishbigcats.co.uk/

I think this site logs sightings let them know the details.

[fred]

When we were driving from inverness to wick about a month ago, just south of Brora, what looked like a large black panther slunk across the road. We stopped but it had vanished. We both saw it so I wasn't dreaming. At first i thought it was a dog, but very quickly realised it was no dog! I have heard of other sightings, and now I know they are true, but am met with scepticism everywhere.
Anyone else seen anything?

The big cats do exist, I've seen the damage one did to a dogs face myself and it wasn't
pretty.

The most credible theory I've seen is that these cats are the product of a domestic
cat and a wild cat. Although they look very similar the domestic cat and the wild cat
are quite different genetically. When you cross-breed two animals with relatively
wide genetic differences the offspring are often quite a bit bigger than either parent
and due to what they call hybrid vigour they tend to grow big and strong.

[katarina]

Quote
Overall there were 2052 sightings reported to the BBCS throughout Britain (that’s over 4 per day!) – The top 10 in the ‘league table of big cat sightings are; Scotland (231) Kent (141) Yorkshire (127) Wales (102) Devon (100) Cornwall (96) Lancashire (86) Ireland (82) Lincolnshire (80) Somerset (69). This year the BBCS was able to break down the data in several areas – and this produced some interesting facts and figures. For instance regionally the percentages of sightings were as follows; south West 21%, South East 16%, East Anglia 12%, Scotland 11%, and West Midlands 9%.

[George Brims]

Fred, I have seen the product of a cross between a domestic cat and a Scottish wildcat, and it wasn't any bigger than the wildcat. It was definitely in the upper end of the size range of domestic cats I've known though. It had to be put down after going on a killing spree in a hen house.

As far as the other sighting go, thiey are probably released (or more accurately, dumped) exotic pets. About 25 years ago there were sightings of what appeared to be a mountain lion in the Strathglass area north of Drumnadrochit. One of the local worthies, Ted Noble, constructed a cage trap for it. People thought he was daft, but the snickering stopped when he did indeed capture a female mountain lion! She was obviously a former pet as she appeared quite used to human company. I think she ended up in a safari park somewhere.

Going further back, does anyone recall the huge dog that was roaming loose in the Camster area in Caithness back in the 1960s? It was killing cattle. Eventually a hunt was organised, and Charlie Simpson, who was the village bobby in Watten at the time, shot it from a helicopter. Again, probably a pet that was too much for somebody, and was simply dumped in the countryside.

The same stuff goes on elsewhere. Yesterday morning, the rangers shot and killed a Bengal tiger that was roaming around Moorpark and Simi Valley in California, about ten miles from my house.

[gleeber]

The same stuff goes on elsewhere. Yesterday morning, the rangers shot and killed a Bengal tiger that was roaming around Moorpark and Simi Valley in California, about ten miles from my house.
Wow! Thats really scary George. I dont remember the big dog story but there was a report in the Courier last year that a local couple in Thurso saw some Big cat down at the Burnside. I dunno what they saw but I took a re-route on my usual walk for a few weeks choost in case :D
My young daughter said she and her friend saw a beeg black cat up on the moors last year and she said it so matter of factly that if it wasnt a black lab it may have been a puma :D

[George Brims]

A lot of people have been making a fuss about the fact they shot the tiger instead of using a tranquiliser dart to knock it out, but the thing was pretty big - about 500 pounds - so they decided it was too risky. A shame but not as bad as if it had killed someone. They had been looking for it for about a week, but the weather has been horrible so they took a while tracking it down.

My own close encounter was a few years ago at Lick Observatory, which is in a nature reserve. I was walking back to the dorm from the telescope about 1am. I could hear something moving in the bushes near me so I stopped to listen. As soon as I stopped, it stopped. When I moved again, it moved too. I tried it a couple of times, then thought it best to just keep going. At this point I am still thinking "dog" as there are a few up there and sometimes people from San Jose area dump unwanted pets. The bushes ended when the road I was on merged into a bigger one, and whatever it was stayed in cover. Then (and only then) did I spot the large notice on an electricity pole saying "Danger! Mountain lion in area". The Observatory staff, who all live on the mountain, had been keeping their pets indoors for a while. Fortunately there are plenty deer for it to eat, so it hasn't munched on any astronomers.

To give you an idea what those things can do, the university has a vet research place at the Davis campus near Sacramento, and a mountain lion stole one of their deer out of a pen, and climbed a ten foot chain link fence carrying the 180 pound deer in its jaws. You think your moggy's tongue is rough? A mountain lion will lick the hair off a deer before eating it!

[Fran]

:o) Some years ago, my aunt in Bettyhill had befriended a huge wild striped cat who would come for food at her back door but would run off if she went near it. this went on for some years. It was a huge cat and later shot by mistake by a farmer who thoght it was a large dog worrying his sheep.
Prior to this, my aunts pet cat had kittens to the huge wild cat. the kitten grew into a lovely striped friendly cat with a very long body and fat legs and very fluffy. I had the cat for 15 years. these cats grow to quite a size and are in the wild, but i have never seen a big black cat.
The articles on this subject here are very interesting, and i have enjoyed reading them.

[stixie]

Wildcats crossed with domestic cats are quite common up here in bettyhill but they do not come close to the cats mentioned in the beginning of these posts. We had several sightings of the 'big black cats' and they are well documented, google showed up a few answers when i searched. It is definately a panther/puma type. We were always led to believe it was a Puma and its origins were people trying to keep them as pets but failing and coming to the remote north to 'dispose' of them , I have seen pictures of the incredible damage these cats have caused to sheep in the area. I have no doubt they exist, but are without question not a product of domestic cats crossed with wildcasts.

[katarina]

What I saw was definately not a wild cat crossed with a house cat! the theory of exotic pets escaping or being dumped is the most likely.

[Rubha_an_Tuir]

I remember about 20/25 year ago there were big cat sightings in Melvich and Strathy. Apparently a Puma!! I reckon it was caught and mounted in the bar.