'Big cat' spotted near decapitated body of lamb near Exeter
"You could tell it was a large cat from the way it ran through the long grass."
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Big Cat News
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I remember as a child a big cat being sighted several times around the countryside where I live in Powys. They never caught it and then sightings started to get less and less.
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Be careful what you wish for. They kill deer in the village not blocks from my house.
They could easily kill your children 12 months of the year.
Nobody here allows their kids to walk to school on dark winter mornings.
If you're not on a school bus to connect with your farm family,
a parent or caregiver will pick you up and drive you home. Sunset on the winter solstice at my house is 1:52 PM
Some poor Grizzlies have been hit at school bus country stops, was a .338 LaPua logging truck.
They could easily kill your children 12 months of the year.
Nobody here allows their kids to walk to school on dark winter mornings.
If you're not on a school bus to connect with your farm family,
a parent or caregiver will pick you up and drive you home. Sunset on the winter solstice at my house is 1:52 PM
Some poor Grizzlies have been hit at school bus country stops, was a .338 LaPua logging truck.
Sorry but one of rude photographs looked more dog like to me. BTW not saying it's a border terrier but ours would move cat like when hunting and certainly from a distance. It plays with a ball like cats do too. Then if you watch it pounce it's certainly very cat like.
It's silly season. All photographs claiming to be of big cats in this country have no way to measure scale and size. They're always very unclear. If there's any breeding populations in the UK I would bet that someone who knows how to photograph nature will have taken a conclusive photograph by now.
Maybe once a few released ones when the law on ownership changed but that's 60s. I doubt they've formed breeding populations and none of the released ones will be alive now.
It's silly season. All photographs claiming to be of big cats in this country have no way to measure scale and size. They're always very unclear. If there's any breeding populations in the UK I would bet that someone who knows how to photograph nature will have taken a conclusive photograph by now.
Maybe once a few released ones when the law on ownership changed but that's 60s. I doubt they've formed breeding populations and none of the released ones will be alive now.
Have to disagree. I live on exmoor and have come almost face to face with one black puma. It was utterly terrifying and I know what petrified means!
Those eyes were those of a killer .
Luckily after snarling at me it slunk off but I was rooted to the spot for some while.
This is my one and only encounter, I'd like to see it again..... but at a safe distance this time!
Definatly a black panther or puma. No question. A cat or black lab does not have eyes like that and the snarly sound was definatly not that of a dog or normal moggie.
I know they are out there ....somewhere.
Incidently someone else saw it the same night on a Lane about six miles away from where I saw it. Coincidence? I think not!
Is there any evidence of bodies of dead big cats being found? Lacking this, the sightings will remain mythical.
The one that used to be around here was said to be a black one or panther also. Drippings were found many times and analysed by experts and that's what they identified it as.
There are black panthers (jaguars) but no black pumas. Lifted from Wiki: (emphasis mine)
Anatomy and appearance[edit]
Subspecies of the genus Puma include cats that are the fourth-largest in the cat family. Adult males can reach around 7.9 feet (2.4 m) from nose to tip of tail, and a body weight typically between 115 to 220 pounds (52 to 100 kg). Females can reach around 6.7 feet (2.0 m) from nose to tail, and a body weight between 64 to 141 pounds (29 to 64 kg). They also have tails ranging from 25 to 37 inches (0.6 to 0.9 m) long. The heads of these cats are round, with erect ears. They have powerful forequarters, necks, and jaws which help grasp and hold prey. They have four retractable claws on their fore paws, and also their hind paws.
The majority of pumas are found in more mountainous regions, so they have a thick fur coat to help retain body heat during freezing winters. Depending on subspecies and the location of their habitat, the puma's fur varies in color from brown-yellow to grey-red. Individuals that live in colder climates have coats that are more grey than individuals living in warmer climates with a more red color to their coat. Pumas are incredibly powerful predators with muscular hind legs, which are slightly longer and stronger than the front, that enable them to be great leapers. They are able to leap as high as 18 feet (5 m) into the air and as far as 40 to 45 feet (12 to 14 m) horizontally. They can reach speeds up to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h), but they are much better adapted for short and powerful sprints to catch their prey.[6]
Panther puma whatever! I didn't stop to have a look in my British wildlife guide! 
it was big black and definatly not a labrador or house moggie!
I never want to be that close again. I still shudder when I think of it.
I don't need any other proof. They realy are there in our countryside.
I don't care if others scoff. Untill you've been that close you may want a body or some other proof... I don't need it.
It affected me so much that I'm still almost 20 yrs later worried about camping alone on the moor, and I always have a big stick if I go up in the woods.
Perhaps it's silly as if they are aware of humans they will slink off before they are seen as a rule.
I do have a tendency to be as silent as possible when alone so that is probably why I got so close... about 15- 20 feet away.
it was big black and definatly not a labrador or house moggie!I never want to be that close again. I still shudder when I think of it.
I don't need any other proof. They realy are there in our countryside.
I don't care if others scoff. Untill you've been that close you may want a body or some other proof... I don't need it.
It affected me so much that I'm still almost 20 yrs later worried about camping alone on the moor, and I always have a big stick if I go up in the woods.
Perhaps it's silly as if they are aware of humans they will slink off before they are seen as a rule.
I do have a tendency to be as silent as possible when alone so that is probably why I got so close... about 15- 20 feet away.
They slink off, that is what I was told by people down the bottomof my village who saw one when it was around about 15 years back.
Cats are very discrete animals; how often do you see a Scottish Wildcat (or find a body)?
Cats are very discrete animals; how often do you see a Scottish Wildcat (or find a body)?
Indeed they are stealthy. Unless preying on humans but that’s relatively rare. Most legitimate photos are caught on remote game cameras at night with no humans around. BUT! Occasionally you get a good video like the one in this link https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwivvrvpmYnqAhUK7qwKHVpkDrwQFjAHegQIAhAB&url=https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/03/30/hikers-run-in-with-cougar-on-narrow-trail-caught-on-camera/&usg=AOvVaw3E83LYT_RknrYHwjPfYG-F
It was the eyes that scared me so much. We had eye to eye contact for some seconds. It seemed like a long time. They went right through me like a knife. Totaly transfixed me in place. I couldn't move. There was total malice in that glare and I seriously felt my time had come. I guess I woke it up or scared it in some way.
I'm so glad it decided not to attack as I would not have known what to do. I had nothing to defend myself with at all.
I'm so glad it decided not to attack as I would not have known what to do. I had nothing to defend myself with at all.
About ten or eleven years ago in Staffordshire woodland. It’s a juvenile too. Shot. So it strongly hints at breeding pair. There was a thread ion it at the time with footprints and other evidence. I still see deer carcass in trees. But not much else. Local people have seen them at the side of fields and even snoozing in plough furrows. A cracking picture too.
