12th May 2005




Face to face with 'beast' in the woods

A TERRIFIED mother and her son came face to face with a jet-black beast in woods on the edge of Northampton.

Maria Harding and her seven-year-old son spotted the panther-like creature while walking on Sunday at about 2pm in a park between Clannell Road and Rowtree Road in East Hunsbury.

Mrs Harding, of East Hunsbury, said: "There's a park which is opposite Tesco. We went into the wooded part and my youngest son asked me 'Is that a dog?'.

"We saw this animal behind some ferns. It was very big. It was too big to be a cat.

"It certainly wasn't a dog. You could tell from the way it moved off that it was some kind of cat."

When she first spotted the animal, the 41-year-old was very surprised and shocked.

She said: "It was scary. I thought it was very strange. At the time I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I couldn't work out what it was."
When they spotted the big cat, which was smaller than a German shepherd dog but bigger than a fox, they were about 10 feet away from it.
They then tried to follow the animal but lost sight of it in some bushes.
The sighting is the latest in a long line of big cat spottings in the county.
Last year the Chron reported sightings in Lings Wood, Greens Norton, Great Brington and Whilton, near Daventry.

Robin Godbeer, a member of the British Big Cat Society, said: "Overall we have not had so many reportings this year. In Northamptonshire I think we had one other about a fortnight ago.

"The chances of seeing them are very remote. Their senses are so much better than ours."

According to Mr Godbeer a wild cat could easily survive in the English countryside. He said: "It would basically eat exactly the same as a fox. It would eat mostly rabbits but anything from mice upwards. It would actually feed on foxes."
Mr Godbeer had the following advice for anyone who encounters the wild cat of Northampton: "If you come face to face with it, don't panic. Just back away and maintain eye contact."

www.northamptontoday.com

COOL good find Blackleaf