Creatures, Myths & Legends

'Beast of Bolton' spotted near UK reservoir

By T.K. Randall
November 14, 2015

Image: Black Panther
Credit: Davidvraju / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) Natalie Kay had been returning from a shopping trip along Doe Hey Road in Farnworth at around 9:30pm when a large animal jumped in front of her vehicle, forcing her to slam on the brakes.

"It just stopped dead right in the middle of the road and was staring at me," she said.

"I knew it wasn't a dog. It looked like a cat but it wasn't. It was much bigger and had a long tail, pointed ears and these greedy yellow eyes. It was about the same size as the bonnet of my car."

The unidentified animal remained motionless on the road for several seconds before dashing away at considerable speed down a nearby dirt track towards a local reservoir."It was really scary. I haven't seen anything like that before," said Kay.

It has been suggested that the creature she encountered was the infamous 'Beast of Bolton', a mysterious denizen that was last reported in the area more than five years ago.

The most likely explanation however is that the animal was a large cat, possibly a panther, that might have been living and even breeding in the wild after being released by an exotic pet owner.

"You hear of these animals in jungles, but you wouldn't think anything like that could live in Bolton," said Kay. "There are playing fields near where I saw it."

"It's scary when you think that children play around there."

Source: This is Lancashire

Tags: Beast, Big Cat