Mystery animal sightings in Caithness

[ZFC]

I researching information for a new book that will detail reports of mystery animal sightings in the north of Scotland.

I would be interested in any information anyone has on out of place animals that is something that is wild and not known in Caithness, as well as any ghostly animals, sea serpent sightings or stranding’s. They can be first had instances or tales that you have heard of, all are of interest

[Dog-eared]

I saw something on the Lyth road one dark night. I stopped and 5m in front in my headlights was what looked like a Lynx . I asked my partner what it was and she said Lynx as well. It was bigger than a wildcat with black tipped tufty ears. It ambled over to a wall and dissapeared over it.
Is the big black cat still in Inverness museum ? It was shot in the Highlands.

[gmcborgie]

Something on the go here just now! 2 Hog carcases in the last couple of days and one 6 miles away just before Christmas! I saw a big cat about 10 or 11 years ago, in Sutherland though, not Caithness.

[starfish]

a few years ago we where travelling on the lyth to canisbay road at dusk and saw what we thought was a black collie laying in the road when we got closer we see it was a large cat just looked at us and sloped off .

[weeker2014]

a few years ago we where travelling on the lyth to canisbay road at dusk and saw what we thought was a black collie laying in the road when we got closer we see it was a large cat just looked at us and sloped off .

Naughty witches in Lyth overfeeding their cats

[sids]

Keep to the road.

[Haweswater]

The cat in Inverness Museum is actually a female North American Cougar which was caught in a cage trap in Cannich in 1980. Far from being ferocious she was quite a tame and friendly animal, clearly having been a 'pet' that had been released into the wild. Some allege that the 'trapping' was stage-managed. She lived out her final years at the Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig before dying of old age. Having served as a forest ranger and deerstalker in my early working life, later moving into wildlife protection work as part of another role, most of it in the Highlands and Islands together with wildlife observations in Cumbria, I remain sceptical as to the existence of 'big cats'. Numerous sightings, yes but other than visual/anecdotal evidence, no one has succeeded in trapping or shooting one yet. Neither have carcases/bones of any such animal been found. Even 'photographic evidence' is questionable - most I've seen tend to show domestic cats. There is, of course, the reality of the 'Kellas Cat' - hybrids of domestic and Scottish Wildcats, some of which have been found to be slightly larger than felis sylvestris grampia. I won't deny that following the passing of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 and the requirement for owners of big cats to hold licences, individual animals (such as Felicity the Cannich Puma) might well have been released into the wild. Again however, there is nothing to support evidence of breeding and given that such animals were pretty much domesticated one must question as to whether or not they would have possessed hunting skills that would enable their survival. It's an interesting topic though and I wish ZFC all the best for working to produce what could prove a very readable book.