Big cat on the prowl?

By Tim Seamans

THERE is new evidence to suggest a panther-like creature could be roaming the West Lancashire countryside.

Last week's report in the Advertiser about a sighting of a five-foot long beast off Coe Lane in Tarleton prompted reader Gordon Singleton to come forward about a similar close encounter in Burscough.

It happened around seven weeks ago when he was returning home from work at around 4.30am and he had an unforgettable experience.

Mr Singleton, an HGV driver, explained: "As I turned up Martin Lane it just leapt out of the field, dashed straight in front of me and looked right at the lights.

"It was jet black and had a long tail. Its body was a similar size to a labrador's but slimmer - it looked just like the picture in the Advertiser."

For several weeks he kept the details of the incident between himself and a small number of friends and family members, but admitted: "I couldn't stop thinking about it.

"I came home and told the wife, and later told a few other people, but until I saw the article I didn't think about going any further.

"Every time I turn down Martin Lane now I hope to see it again, but I suppose I never will."

There were more than 1,000 reported "alien big cat" sightings in Britain last year, and the British Big Cat Society describes the Preston and Bolton areas as being particular hotspots.

The Fortean Times says there has also been a steady flow of sightings in the Ainsdale sand dunes over the last decade.

However, one West Lancs ranger said he remained sceptical: "Scientifically for a big cat to sustain its own life it would need prey species.

"If they existed in our countryside we would find carcasses of sheep and perhaps the odd cow with specific prey patterns."
Ormskirk Advertiser: March 6th 2003.

-------------------------------------------------------------


English News Home. Will Big Cat Bring In Big Business?

By David Charters Daily Post Staff.
TELEPHONES have been trilling in West Lancashire with news of a big cat on the prowl.

The black creature, which is reported to be an astonishing three and a half feet tall and five feet long, has been spotted in Upholland, Tarleton, Burscough and Newburgh.

These reports have caused quite a stir, focusing media attention on people who generally prefer the gentle hum of rural life.

Of course, on a quiet day in the editorial office, there is nothing quite like the sudden appearances and disappearances of an unidentified animal, to unleash the newshounds on the trail of a story.

And now hopes are mounting that further sightings could bring tourists flocking to see this Lancashire cat.

Most famously, we have the persistent but coy Loch Ness monster, who cunningly chooses to break from her dark waters when nobody is about with a decent camera.

Nonetheless, blurred log-like images, purporting to be Nessie in frolic-some poses, have been quite sufficient to sustain a multi-million pound industry in Scotland.

The more sinister Beast of Bodmin, too, attracts flurries of media speculation followed by interested observers swinging their binoculars.

Colin Pickthall, MP for Lancashire West, inset, right, was quick to see the tourism potential: "We do not get our fair share of tourists," he said.

"So if rumours of a big cat, or for all we know the actual presence of a big cat, continue, I am sure a lot of people will come and start nosing about. Then they can try some of our wonderful pubs.

"Maybe West Lancashire would be a good place for such a creature, with all the rabbits and hares to eat. I have not seen it yet, but I hope there is an exotic animal roaming round Burscough, Altcar, Halsall and places like that. It would be exciting, as long as it didn't go round eating people."

So far the Lancashire cat has been unnamed. No photographic evidence has been produced to support its existence and the most recent witness said he saw the black cat after dark.

However, Danny Bamping , founder of the 800-member British Big Cat Society, is not so sceptical.

His Plymouth-based organisation receives reports of giant felines being seen all over the country.

A possibility he says is inter-breeding. For example, lions and tigers can mate producing off-spring called either tigrons or ligers: "The sightings could be one of three things basically."

"It could be a mistaken identity for a big domestic moggy. It could be a new type of hybrid feral cat. It could be, as these people gest, some kind of big cat."

Cats are essentially split into the purrers and the roarers. The soft-toned lynx and the puma, though much bigger than the pet lazing on your hearth, are not classified as big cats.

But the panther, or black leopard, which roars, is classified as a big cat. Most of the sightings, it seems, have been of a panther-like creature.

A spokeswoman at Southport Zoo said that none of their big cats had escaped. In the past, though, they had been called out to investigate peculiar creatures, described as big cats, which were later identified as large, black Alsatians.

"Maybe at some time a big cat was released into that environ-ment," added Danny, who has a degree in wildlife and underwater film-making.

"Judging by the species which are roaming Britain today - lynx, puma and panther - there is a distinct possibility that these species could inter-breed. Then you could get something unique or different."

He thought the cat of West Lancs could be a lynx, which has no tail, tufted ears, and a sturdy dog-like bearing.

Such creatures could cover about 20 kilometres a night," he said. The 300-acre Beacon Country Park, Upholland, might provide a home for a big cat. But Clare Parker, one of its rangers, said there had been no sightings.

In the past couple of years, Bolton-born Danny's society has detailed 2,000 sightings of creatures that could be big cats in the country. Lancashire was one of its hot-spots.

A woman from Newburgh, who wished to remain anonymous to avoid the ridicule of sceptics, said: "The big cat stopped and stood absolutely still, looking at us for a few minutes, then walked off into the next field.

"It was a lovely looking animal, quite hefty and broad-chested but sleek in body." Had the commercial possibilities of having a strange beast prowling their patch occurred to West Lancashire District Council? Their spokesmen were unavailable yesterday.
Liverpool Daily Post: March 21st 2003.

---------------------------

Bolton is my home town. I'll have to keep my eyes open for one of those big cats.

Interesting. Wouldn't it be ironic if these big cats end up being supported in places where they do not belong, while their relatives are being exterminated in their native countries?
It's interesting how the hybrid theory keeps popping up. If anything, a hybrid would probably be less likely to me melanistic.