Essex Lion... Oh Dear.

Hello Dear Constant Reader! It's been a while, there is only so many fantastic stories one can take I suppose. But something has awoken me from my slumber and that was my hand hitting my face in a particularly aggressive facepalm. So here I am again...

The UK, more precisely Essex, is in the grip of a big cat scare. This is hardly surprising as we in this country aren't strangers to big cat sightings, as we've seen before, but this time it's a lion!

Being the sceptical sort, I expected this to be yet another case of mistaken identity or a hoax. How wrong could I be? There are pictures!

Firstly, this may not be the "real" photo shown to the police. Well I hope it wasn't. 

Secondly. Can you see that photo? Does it look even remotely like a genuine photo? Not to me. The lighting is just totally wrong. Maybe it is genuine but if so... it's the worst genuine picture of animal seen since my dog attacked me while trying to photograph him. 

I have a strong whiff of bullshit in my nostrils.... 

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The Beast Of Bray Road

Werewolves have been part of the myths and legends of our ancestors for centuries, leading to a great deal of fear (and no doubt a great deal of mob "justice" on misidentified "werewolves"). But for all the terror movies can add to a subject (just see our reactions to sharks after Jaws came out) in the case of werewolves they have served only to make them an ever more distant, fantasy concept. But perhaps, just perhaps, there is more to the legends than meets the eye... 


Werewolves??, I hear you cry with derision. Well maybe that's not the best word for it as it comes attached with all sorts of transformational baggage. Instead think of bipedal wolves, the canine equivalent of bigfoot perhaps, or a "wolfman". Whatever gets you in the mood. 


Today we shall be concentrating on a particular example, a creature known as the Beast of Bray Road (pretty damn awesome name if you ask me!), but in case you think tales of wolfpeople are somehow isolated incidents then please take a look here and here.


Sightings of the Beast started in earnest relatively recently in the late 1980s, although there are some older reports. Bray Road is near Delavan, Wisconsin and is the location of the first few sightings, hence the name of the Beast, although sightings have been reported across Wisconsin, northern Illinois and Michigan. 


In 1989 Lorianne Endrizzi was driving along Bray Road when she thought she saw a person hunched over by the roadside. She slowed down to take a closer look. She was no more than six feet away from it. Endrizzi clearly saw a beast with grayish brown hair, fangs, pointed ears and glowing yellow eyes (which is what you'd expect a canine's eyes to look like when reflecting headlights). "His face was … long and snouty, like a wolf" she said. Unusually she reported that this muscular creature was crouched on it's rear legs whilst holding a prey animal in it's human like hands (sketch can be found at top of this page)


She had been prompted to report her story only after hearing rumours of a more recent encounter (the year then being 1999) from a lady named Doristine Gipson. On 31st October 1999 Doristine was on Bray Road, about half a mile from where Lorianne had had her own encounter a decade before, when she felt her right front tire leave the ground as if she had hit something. She stopped the car and had a look on the road but could see nothing. But as she looked around, peering into the darkness, she saw a form race towards her. She managed to throw herself back into the car but as she tried to pull away the creature jumped onto the bonnet. Thankfully it had been raining and the wetness of the car and the movement meant it slid straight back off and she was able to escape. Later that evening she was taking a girl trick or treating and had to drive past the spot. She again saw a form lying on the side of the road where she had left it but quickly rushed away as the form began to move again.


There are older reports:  

"It all started one night in 1936 when a lone man driving down a dark stretch of US 18, just east of Jefferson City, saw a strange, hairy creature that stood at least six feet high and had a canine muzzle and strange three-fingered hands.

The beast was digging up one of the many Native American burial mounds that dapple Wisconsin’s countryside. The witness, a local named Mark Schackelman, drove on, but returned the next night to see if he could find evidence of the creature. Schackelman reports walking over to the mound, only to find the man-wolf standing there, stinking of decaying meat and growling a strange, three-syllable word that sounded like “Gadara.” The witness goes on to report that, understanding the creature to be some agent of evil, he began praying and slowly backing away until he reached his car and was able to escape." Source

And then:

Year: 1964

Location: Jefferson County, Wisconsin

Dennis Fewless was driving along Highway 89 around midnight when he saw a figure running across the road. When his headlights caught sight of the creature, it was eerily similar to werewolf seen in 1936 just a couple of miles away. Large and muscular, it stood around seven feet tall, covered in dark brown hair, with a dog-like face.

Fewless saw the creature run across the road, jump over a barbed-wire fence, and disappear into a corn field.

Fewless waited until the sun was up the next day to return to the scene of the werewolf sighting. He had hoped to find tracks to prove the size of the beast, but the ground was too hard. He was able to find the place in the cornfield where the werewolf had entered. The stalks of corn were broken and askew in such a way that supported the theory that a man-beast of massive size had been there. Source

There are further sightings listed here. Plus a few theories as to what the creature might be (in brief: a wolf, a coyote, a dog, a shunka warak’in, or a hoax). Personally? The sightings last for extremely short periods of time, usually in poor visibility and in the sort of lonely places one might start to let their imagination wander. I know, I know, this is all very dismissive and every paranormal researcher out there is preparing to hit me over the head with a piece of electronic equipment but... I've seen things myself. I know the human mind can see all sorts of things. There are plenty of brilliant and interesting stories here. But are there any wolfpeople in Wisconsin? I don't think so. But hey, I would say that! Linda S. Godfrey is the resident expert over there, and I'd suggest you check out her books to see what you think.  

Further Reading

Hunting the American Werewolf Linda S. Godfrey (UK Amazon Link)

The Beast of Bray Road: Tailing Wisconsin's Werewolf Linda S. Godfrey (UK Amazon Link)

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The Flannan Isles Mystery

The Flannan Isles lie to the west of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. They have been uninhabited since the lighthouse on Eilean Mór was automated in 1971, having operated since December 1899. Just a little over a year after it first opened something rather unsettling occurred.

In Mid-December 1900, three lighthouse keepers, Thomas Marshal, James Ducat and Donald Macarthur, were stationed there. Macarthur was standing in for a, soon to be rather lucky, assistant keeper who was on long term sick leave. There were actually four keepers, Joseph Moore being the fourth, each one taking it in turns to have a fortnight's break and then coming back to relieve one of the others. Moore had left the island on the 7th December. It would turn out that he was to be the last person to see the others ever again.

The first sign of anything amiss occurred on the night of the 15th December. Sometime around midnight the American steamer, Archtor, passed by. Thankfully the look out spotted the land, for the lighthouse was dark. Captain Holman reported this upon reaching port but his report does not seem to have reached the Northern Lighthouse Board.

However it was soon noticed from the Isle of Lewis. Moore was due to return on the 20th December but bad weather meant he and the tender Hesperus weren't able to reach the island until Boxing Day. Moore's report upon landing is as follows.

Captain Harvie deemed it prudent to lower a boat and land a man if it was possible. I was the first to land, leaving Mr McCormick, the Buoymaster, and the men in the boat till I could return. I went up to the lighthouse and on coming to the entrance gate I found it closed. I made for the entrance door leading to the kitchen and storeroom and found it also closed, and the door inside that. But the kitchen door itself was open. On entering I looked at the fireplace and saw that the fire was not lighted for some days. I entered the rooms in succession and found the beds empty, just as they left them in the early morning.

I did not take time to search further, for I naturally well knew that something serious had occurred.

I darted outside and made for the landing. I informed Mr McCormick that the place was deserted. He with some men came up so as to make sure, but unfortunately the first impression was only too true. Mr McCormick and myself proceeded to the light room, where everything was in proper order. The lamp was clean, the foundation full, blinds on the windows, etc.

He proceeded down to the western landing place (not where he had landed) and found signs of a great deal of storm damage with a box of landing ropes that had been shoved into a deep crevasse missing.

What could have happened to the three lighthouse men? These dedicated men would not have left the lighthouse willingly for to do so would put the lives of many seafarers in danger. Well, of course, there is the ever present alien abduction scenario, plus the more localised stories of paranormal activities on the island (such as the idea some form of fairy folk turned the keepers into giant birds), but more concerning were rumours of murder. Often quoted are these log entries:

Dec. 12: Gale, north by north-west. Sea lashed to fury. Stormbound 9pm. Never seen such a storm. Everything shipshape. Ducat irritable. 12pm. Storm still raging. Wind steady. Stormbound. Cannot go out. Ship passed sounding foghorn. Could see lights of cabins. Ducat quiet. McArthur crying.

Dec. 13: Storm continued through night. Wind shifted west by north. Ducat quiet. McArthur praying. 12 noon. Grey daylight. Me, Ducat, and McArthur prayed.

Dec. 15: 1pm. Storm ended. Sea calm. God is over all.

One, these log entries would, if true, but rather disturbing. But secondly I think we can all agree that they seem highly suspect. Other details often included are that the kitchen was left in quite a state with a breakfast half eaten (hello Mary Celeste rumours!) and a chair overturned suggesting some sort of flight or rush had occurred. Finally, mentioned often, are the three sets of oilskins. Two were found missing with one left on the peg suggesting that the last member of the three had left the lighthouse in a great rush, as who would go out into the December air on an isolated Scottish island in just their shirt??

Well the log is almost certainly a forgery (investigations at the time state the log was only completed up to the 13th with a final two entries written up on a chalk board ready to be transcribed. Nothing unusual was reported about those entries.

The kitchen and living areas were, as was policy, found to have been kept (and left) in the proper tidy condition by Robert Muirhead who had arrived by the end of December to begin a proper investigation into the disappearance. His report is as follows:

On the Thursday and Friday the men made a thorough search over and round the island and I went over the ground with them on the Saturday. Everything at the East landing place was in order... and the lighthouse buildings and everything at the Station was in order. Owing to the amount of sea, I could not get down to the [west] landing place, but I got down to the crane platform about 70 feet above the sea level... The crane... was found to be unharmed, the jib lowered and secured to the rock, and the canvas covering the wire rope on the barrel securely lashed around it, and there was no evidence that the men had been doing anything at the crane. The mooring ropes, landing ropes, derrick landing ropes and crane handles, and also a wooden box in which they were kept and which was secured in a crevice in the rooks 70 feet up the tramway... were displaced and twisted. A large block of stone, weighing upwards of 20 cwt., had been dislodged from its position higher up and carried down and left on the concrete path leading from the terminus of the railway to the top of the steps. A life buoy fastened to the railing along this path, to be used in case of emergency, had disappeared, and I thought at first it had been removed for the purpose of being used but, on examining the ropes by which it was fastened, I found that they had not been touched, and as pieces of canvas were adhering to the ropes, it was evident that the force of the sea pouring through the railings had, even at this great height (110 feet above sea level), torn the life buoy off the ropes.

So perhaps murder could be ruled out. The final decision of the investigation was that Thomas Marshal and James Ducat had gone out in a storm on the 15th of December 1900 in a heroic effort to save the mooring ropes on the western dock. Donald Macarthur, whose coat had been the one left on the peg, must have gone to their aid in a hurry after they got into trouble and all three of them were washed out to sea.

Of course the report was met with disbelief especially considering the extremely large height given for tidal damage. 110 feet tall waves?? Well, as we now know, such large waves are rare but quite possible. And the lay of the land on the island was such that a later keeper investigating the disappearances was nearly washed off a cliff at 200 feet! There is a great article here specifying more details of what happened, and what didn't, here.

Further Reading

Some Strange Scent of Death ~ Angela J. Elliott (US Amazon, UK Amazon)

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The Day The Devil Left His Mark In The Snow

In early February 1855, especially on night of the 8th, there was some light snowfall in Devon and other parts of the country. Not unlike, I suspect, the situation we find ourselves with right now.

So not all that interesting, except when people woke up in the morning back then they didn't have train websites to check or BBC News 24 hours coverage to watch and instead went outside and took a look around at the winter wonderland. That's when they found something a little... disturbing.

Early risers in Devon, and across the south of the country, discovered sets of prints set out in straight line. Not only that but moving in ways no normal creature would seem to be able. Walls didn't seem to stop them, neither did downpipes nor it would seem did the River Exe. Sometimes the prints would stop and then, after some distance, resume. They were vaguely horseshoe shaped but did not appear to be made by a four hoofed animal.

Of course the local fundies announced immediately that the devil was wandering the villages searching for sinners, whilst others blamed some recently escaped kangaroos near Sidmouth. My favourite explanation is that an experimental balloon of some sort had been set free and trailed rope from the side. As it bounced up and down in the air on it's way the rope would touch down and leave the horseshoe shape (which does appear from sketches to have changed slightly each time). Of course that would lead to an even greater mystery: how would these ropes avoid becoming tangled in trees??

The mystery was never solved.... but reared it's head again last year Woolsery. Alas it would seem our favourite mystery investigators, the Centre for Fortean Zoology, think it was probably a deer.

Further Reading

The Book of the Damned - Charles Fort (US Amazon, UK Amazon)

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Romney Marsh Myths and Legends

The Romney Marsh Times has a piece on the myths and legends of Romney Marsh, a place close to my home town (which is very much in my thoughts at the moment as I make plans to return to live there). Check it out!

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Big Cat In Helensburgh, Argyll? Me Thinks Not.

As you should know, Dear Constant Reader, I am convinced by the evidence available (i.e. the big cats that have actually been caught/killed!!) that there are exotic big cats roaming our countryside. If you don't believe that, I honestly don't know what to say. We've caught them. We've killed them. They are there. They might not be breeding in great numbers, and may not establish a permanent population. But they are there.

Even so, having watched this latest video which purports to be an exotic big cat in Helensburgh, Argyll, I have to say I'm very unconvinced.



Look at the way it walks! Look at the way it's legs and tail look fluffy. The most convincing moment is as the cat walks from the bushes to the train tracks where it would appear to have a very "panther" like body. But the picture seems very distorted and I'm not actually sure that affect is not partly caused by the angle the cat is in relation to the camera and the poor camera quality.

No, I'm sorry, but I feel it's nothing more than a well fed and oversized domestic cat. And if you don't think cats get that big, then really you're missing out as my favourite breed is the awesomely gigantic Maine Coon (I want SEVERAL ;) )

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Red Eyed Beasts

I'll never forget my encounter with the Shadow Man. I will admit that I can now, rarely, sleep with the door open which is a vast improvement on the past and owes much to the gentle coxing of my ever patient other half, but most nights I just stare into the darkness around my closed bedroom door and wonder what might be behind it. My major issue has always been those red eyes. And I'm disturbed by how often these red eyed monsters appear in the world of the paranormal.

Bigfoot for instance. Here are just a few reports:

Red Eyes At The Window

8 Foot Tall And More Red Eyes

More Red Eyes At The Window (I have a phobia of exposed windows at night as well as open doors and yes... that is a proper phobia not a "oh that slightly worries me" sort of fear so maybe I should stop right now...)

The British Man Monkey is even more consistently described with red eyes.

Our old friends, the Ghostly Black Dogs, are regularly described as having red eyes. And our new friends the Alien Big Cats... RED EYES

More information and analysis can be found here with mentions of other cryptids with red eyes and some rather wonderful theories to explain this phenomenon (including science... ooo...)

So there we have a theme. A rather worrying and concerning theme, especially for someone like me who deeply dislikes 1) glowing red eyes and 2) silly non-scientific theories to explain things. I can reason away bigfoot sightings as being of an unknown great ape, I can explain Alien Big Cats as an introduced species. But how can we explain away all these red eyes? I still think Three Men Seeking Monsters by Nick Redfern puts forward the most interesting theory. Could it be all these creatures are one and the same entity? Or at least entities. The Cormons, a group of monsters from another dimension who feed off our emotional reaction to them and take many forms to encourage different emotions... angels, fairies, monsters, aliens, UFOs. Could all our favourite fortean creatures simply be disguises for emotional vampires, and are we, by way of simply talking about them, perpetuating a never ending feeding cycle?? Makes my head hurt, especially at this time of night.

Rabbits: Not As Cute As You Thought!

But I thought I'd just point out... red eyes are everywhere. And they might be watching you!! Night night, sleep well ;)

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The Monster Of Glamis

Thomas George Bowes-Lyon and Charlotte Grimstead, Lord and Lady of Glamis and heirs to the Earldom of Strathmore, are the great, great grandparents of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. On October the 21st 1821, Lady Glamis gave birth to her second child and her first son. His name was Thomas Bowes-Lyon, and sadly for all involved he is recorded as passing away that very same day. But was that really the end of the story?

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother

Little Thomas was born in poor health and deformed in some unidentified ways. The midwife left soon after his birth but it would seem lacked the decency to keep his difficult birth a secret and spread word around the nearby village of Glamis. When his death was later announced few believed it, and when no gravestone was forthcoming to mark his passing these suspicions turned into wild rumour.

Glamis Castle, Angus, United Kingdom

The story goes that he did not die on the day of his birth but instead was brought up in a secret room of his parent's Glamis Castle where he would be kept alive but denied his right to the title of Lord Glamis.

The room was supposedly 10 ft by 15 ft and accessible only via the chapel, he was fed though a barred slot by the "factor" of the estate (basically the estate manager) who was, along with the Earl of Strathmore, the heir to the earldom (once they had reached 21) and the families lawyer , one of the few people to know of the existence of the monster.

Peter Underwood described the monster as being “an enormous flabby egg” with short arms, legs and an almost non-existent neck on a hairy round body. The short arms and legs suggest some form of limb deficiency, an extremely common deformity but the hairy round body seems less likely.

This story, like so many other "historical" stories here in Britain, has become embellished ad infinitum with a hundred different varieties. Trust me, once a castle or house is taken over by a trust and opened to the public these stories just run and run!! For instance some locals are said to have encountered the "monster" being taken for walks by two assistants, although he was extremely ungainly on land. However he is reported to have been able to swim like a fish when allowed to do so!

One very famous story is that some time in the 19th century the Earl of Strathmore had guests around. Whilst he was off out somewhere they bribed the butlers to allow them to open all the windows in the house. Once done they attached a handkerchief, towel or bed linen (delete as appropriate) to each and went outside. They found that despite having gone to every accessible room they could see four windows (or sometimes just the one) that were still dark and shut. At this point the Earl returned and angrily made them leave for their impertinence (no offense but I would have too! Disgustingly bad manners).

Another story is of a workman who happened upon the entrance to the monsters secret room and upon seeing what lay there promptly ceased work. He was only silenced with a large gift of money and a transport to Australia.

Perhaps a more detailed version of that event lies with the story of one of the factors of the estate, Andrew Ralston, being told the secret and from that moment forth refusing to spend a night in the castle and on one snowy evening even making the servants dig a path back to his residence some distance away!

Finally, the story goes, it is said the beast lived for many years well into the 20th century. When Her Majesty's grandmother enquired as to the mystery (how she would know given it was a SECRET I don't know) with the aforementioned Ralston she was supposedly rebuffed with:

“It is fortunate that you do not know it and can never know it, for if you did know you would not be a happy woman.”

Perhaps there is a kernel of truth to the story. It's possible that young Thomas did survive but was very disabled. Being loving, but Victorian, people his parents were too ashamed to tell anyone but continued to provide for him quietly. Perhaps trusted servants did take him for walks and even for a swim but the ignorant and backwards folk of Glamis saw not a disabled human being but a "monster" and embellished things from there. Could it be that this is not the tale of a monster but instead of some poorly understood disabled child?

Otherwise the ever changing details and the fact that the monster was meant to be a secret suggest to me this story is an early urban myth, a ghost story to keep adults amused and children thrillingly terrified. And really there's nothing wrong with that!

If you want sources and even more details then this article can't possibly be a better place to start

Further Reading

The A-Z of British Ghosts: An Illustrated Guide to 236 Haunted Sites - Peter Underwood (UK Amazon, US Amazon)

The Queen Mother's Family Story - James Wentworth-Day (UK Amazon, US Amazon)

Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits, and Haunted Places - Brad Steiger (UK Amaon, US Amazon)

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Black Triangle UFO off the coast of Kent?

Yes you heard me correctly, according to This Is Kent, a strange triangular object has been sighted on Google Maps about a mile east of (Planet) Thanet.


View Larger Map

Yoinked from Monsters of Kent

Dear Constant Reader, haven't you missed Kentish references? ;)

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Dowsing

So I was taking my normal walk home through the wonderful part of London known as Deptford when I was struck by a sight I really thought I'd never see. Not only were two Thames Water employees standing in the middle of a busy road with nothing more than some hi-vis vests (as if that's going to save them in Deptford), but one held two dowsing rods and every so often, as cars zoomed past, they would cross and his colleague would bend over and make chalk markings on the spot.

Now, self disclosure here, I used to work for the water board (Three Valleys Water rather than Thames) and I have NEVER heard of water engineers using dowsing to locate water. Hmm... plus... who uses dowsing any more??

Time for a sharp letter to Thames Water requesting their scientific data on dowsing me thinks.



Further Reading

Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions - James Randi (UK Amazon, US Amazon)

The Divining Hand: The 500 year-old Mystery of Dowsing - Christoper Bird (UK Amazon, US Amazon)

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The Rendlesham Forest Incident Revisited

Many moons ago I wrote a piece on the The Rendlesham Forest Incident but wrote it only from the viewpoint I was aware of. There are other viewpoints and I thought I'd just mention Larry Warren's version of the events which give a very different idea of what may have occurred in that forest. Check them out here.

Further Reading

Left at East Gate: A First-hand Account of the Rendlesham Forest Ufo Incident, Its Cover-up, and Investigation - Larry Warren and Peter Robbins (US Amazon,UK Amazon)

You Can't Tell the People: The Cover-up of Britain's Roswell - Georgina Bruni (US Amazon, UK Amazon)

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Alien Attack!!!

Aliens are all around us here in the United Kingdom. They walk, fly, slither and grow most any place you can imagine. Some are worried, but most don't seem to care.

Is David Icke's prediction finally becoming accepted fact? No. For we are talking about plain old, but not quite boring, ecological alien invasion.

Take me to your leader!

Copyright Jason Alexander 2005

Grey squirrels and Canada geese are so common and recognisable that they feel almost like natives. But there are other, more unusual creatures, which have also come to call our islands home.

Wallabies. Yes, wallabies, have managed to survive, if not thrive, here in Britain. In this 2006 article there were supposedly 51 sightings of wallabies over the preceding six years. (There were 5,931 sightings of big cats yet wallabies in Britain aren't controversial but big cats are... go figure!).

Once, beyond perhaps an occasional nip by a pike, a Brit could be assured that when stepping into lakes for a dip their digits and dangly bits were in little danger. But no longer as turtles and terrapins have begun to appear all over the place. Reports come from Kent, the Midlands and Cornwall among many other places. My favourite turtle story was of a rather aggressive snapping turtle which had alluded a park keeper for 17 years before finally being caught. Snapping turtles are no joke when they give you a quick "nip".

But could even more dangerous reptilians be stalking the unwary from our ponds, lakes and rivers? Some claim to have seen crocodiles in such places as Swansea, Staffordshire and an alligator in the Midlands. Perhaps we might need to keep an eye on more than just our toes when taking to the water.

Any suggestion that she had been replaced by a crocodilian alien was quickly denied by a spokesman for Her Majesty (pictured) last night

Most of the animals typically reported are obviously headline grabbing but some are slightly more worrying, well for arachnophobics anyway! Check this story for examples of alien spiders in Britain and for another growing trend: the prediction of future alien invasions. These days no story about an alien invasion can be complete without the end warning of the imminent approach of *insert ever more scary species here*.

A Chinese Mitten Crab attempting to take over a Natural England tactical command post

In our rivers foreign crabs and crayfish threaten our flora, fauna and even our river banks! As you can imagine this sends our press into a frenzy of ecological xenophobia. They are so used to this that when an extinct native species is returned, such as the beaver, they are torn between terror and jubilation. It's interesting to watch.

Personally I think it's time we reevaluated the way we deal with invasive species. Many species we consider perfectly acceptable in this country such as hares, rabbits and pheasants are in fact simply successful invaders. Invasion of new territory by more well adapted species is called progress. Yes things will change. Yes species will die. But perhaps we should spend more time worrying about keeping our planet healthy and less about keeping it "genetically pure".

Don't get me wrong, I think efforts to protect the red squirrel, our native crayfish and other species and habitats threatened by invaders are extremely well intentioned and very worthy. But perhaps we should try merely to keep them alive for their beauty and the joy they bring and not just because they are native and other animals aren't. Let's not let humanity's racist thoughts blind our policy towards the environment. A healthy environment free of plastic, toxins and other trash might enable native species to expand back to ranges lost which might ensure a longer term future for them whilst allowing space for change and evolution from the more exotic members of Britains ever changing family of flora and fauna.

Further Reading

Fauna Britannica - Duff Hart-Davies (UK Amazon, US Amazon)

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Big Cats In Britain Part Two: The Evidence

Big Cats In Britain Part One: The Surrey Puma

"Alien big cats" are reported throughout the country (and throughout the world). But all such reports should be treated critically as human perception can be flawed. So what other evidence is there that large big cats wander our woods, fields and sometimes towns? Let's take a look.

There's plenty of video "evidence" on Youtube and the following video is certainly intriguing but only if that fence is 12 foot high. If it's not then this would be the smallest big cat in history.



In 1991 an European Lynx was shot near Great Witchingham, Norfolk. See the picture below.



Many think this animal was an escapee from a zoo or private collection who preyed upon local livestock until it was killed. It does at least show big cats have survived in the wild in the UK before. Another lynx was captured in 2001 and earned the nickname "the Beast of Crinklewood". She's now called Lara and lives at London Zoo.

Across the country in Shropshire, Devon and even on the Isle of Wight Jungle cats and Leopard cats have been shot or run over (on more than a few occasions!) over the last couple of decades. Now these cats aren't "big cats" but they are large ecologically alien cats and it is very interesting to see that they can be found living wild in this country.

The Times carried a story headlined "Puma Cub Caught Near Hospital" on the 28th of October 1976. That same year the Dangerous Wild Animals Act went through Parliament. This act is often cited as a cause for the release of captive animals into the wild in an effort to avoid breaking the law (it wasn't illegal to release them until the eighties). Although my article on the Surrey Puma shows big cat sightings do predate this event, perhaps this is when a larger more widespread population was introduced. In 1980 Ted Noble caught a puma, later named Felicity at Cannich, Inverness-shire, Scotland. This however didn't stop sightings of a large cat that had preceded her capture and they carried on as she lived out her days as a tourist attraction at the Highland Wildlife Park, Kinguisse. Another incident happened in Greenwich Park (just a few minutes walk from where I sit typing this) in 1987 when police shot a puma near the famous Greenwich Observatory.

Big cats mark their territory in a number of ways including tree scratching. Check out some pictures from Surrey here.

Worrying footage can be found about 7 minutes into this video. Part one of this documentary can be found here. I'm not big on conspiracy theories (as you, Dear Constant Reader, know) but I'm at a loss to explain away that footage of firemen and men with guns turning up at this man's property after a big cat sighting. Either there is an established extermination programme or the authorities have reason to take such reports extremely seriously. Now if they were simply taking things seriously surely it would be uniformed firearms officers who attended? Not a ramshackle group of guys who look more like guns for hire than officers of the law? Really rather interesting footage which I will take with a big dose of "reality" but will still ponder for quite some time. The big dose of reality is simply that the "big cat" looks to be a large domestic cat in this instance. Can they really grow that big? YES! I myself am desperate to own a Maine Coon which is a very large (and beautiful!) breed of felis catus. So I'm wary of the rest of the story as the premise (as featured in the video beforehand) is faulty. Another similar sort of report of police involvement can be read here. Again I make no claims of belief in such a cover up but simply put it out there for consideration.

Neil Arnold has an interesting article (among many) on what sort of big cats could survive and remain relatively hidden in the wilds of Kent (and hence most of Great Britain).

Check out the Monster Quest episode The Black Beast Of Exmoor for some more supposed footage of big cats in Britain.

Don't get me wrong, I believe most reports of such cats are simply mistaken identity as most pictures are very clearly domestic cats or some just dogs (I really despair when I see a picture supposedly of a big cat and see instantly it's a dog). But there is too much evidence to dismiss the fact that somewhere out there, right now, a large cat is lurking. Whether it's a rogue or a member of a thriving breeding population... that is what we need to establish.

Further Reading

Big Cats Loose in Britain - Marcus Matthews (UK Amazon, US Amazon)

Mystery Big Cats - Merrily Harpur (UK Amazon, US Amazon)

The Surrey Puma: The Natural and Unnatural History of Britain's First Alien Big Cat - Roman Ilmar Golicz (UK Amazon)