Big cat sightings - Do you believe in them or have you seen any?

[Unknown2020]

So I’m fully prepared I may get told I’m crazy...

I live rurally, think fields backing onto each other, forests etc..

One day a few years back I was driving down a quiet country lane and in the distance I saw something black creeping along in the field amongst the corn growing. I actually came to a stop in a little lay by and watched thinking maybe it was a lost dog (nothing else about for miles, and not a typical walking area) On further watching it was definitely not a dog, it was like a cat but much bigger/longer and with a long tail and it moved about like a cat.

I mentioned it to a family member at the time and they said they were sure many years ago of seeing a puma that ran across in front of there car. Again too big to be a cat/too big to be a dog but moved like a cat.

Has anyone else actually spotted anything like this in the UK?

There used to be lots of sightings of big cats in the late 70s/early 80s and the police believed that they were mostly real and people had smuggled them in as babies and then let them loose when they grew too big. Not beyond the realms of possibility.

I saw one back in early 1980s.

I saw one in about 2002.

I’ve seen one. Years ago, big black cat.

I had a greyhound at the time and the dog was running up the side of a field against a hedge. I was yelling at the dog to come come back (She was heading away from me)and a massive cat came out the hedge slightly ahead of my dog (so further away). The cat ran towards the dog, who slammed the brakes on, turned round and rAn full pelt towards me with the cat close on her heels. In fact if it wasnt for the dog having a head start i think the cat would have caught her.

Whatever it was was as big as the greyhound. Greyhound weighed 29kg and fairly tall. I’m sure it was a cat, not a dog. The tail was quite cat like, much longer than a dog tail.

Cat seemed to realise it wasn’t going to catch the dog and went back through the hedge.

I saw my very sensible police officer neighbour and told him. He said he wasn’t surprised and had seen what he thought was big cat tracks down that lane.

I still live in the same village and sometimes walk the dog down there, never seen anything again. Lots of deer though. So good cat hunting territory i guess.

Oh wow I wasn’t expecting that response. The more I think about it the more curious I am over it! I haven’t really spoke much of it other to a family member for fear of making myself just sound silly!

I saw one in early 2000's. I was working alone outside in a countryside type environment. I was walking along a trail up a hill near some woods. I got the creepiest feeling that I was being watched. Eventually the cat came out the woods staring at me further down the hill. We stared at each other for ages but eventually it walked off down the hill. I had to walk back down that way to return to work, I've never gone so fast. The closest animal I've found to compare is a lynx but it didn't look exactly like that.

I saw a big black cat in around 2002/3. Driving via the North East on way to our caravan in Eyemouth....
Nearly drove over the side into a field!!

Never reported it.

Mine was dull fawn coloured, with short ears and a long tail.

It was trotting through a field of sheep, looking neither left nor right.

Yes - have seen one that we ended up getting phone calls from an expert about as they were ?ing if it was a Scottish wildcat, and so have others .

There’s actually a wiki page for ours c2002/2003 ... I remember at the time being told not to go off alone in the woods (age 11/12) as no one was sure what was in there ... Think they thought it was some sort of hybrid in the end . At the time we were told it was almost certain that there are big cats in the UK, especially rural Scotland, but they’d be more a threat to sheep and deer than anything else !

I saw what I believe was a puma on the far side of the field next to the house where I used to live. It was about 15 years ago in June and it was sitting warming itself in the early morning sun. It was sandy coloured and probably only the height of a Labrador but much longer. I went downstairs and over to the fence to get a closer look but it saw me and ran through a hole in the hedge. There were plenty of rabbits around so no shortage of food.

I hate telling this story because it makes me sound crazy, but when I was about 11 (2001/2) I am certain I saw a big cat. We lived on a quiet no-through country lane and we would often go and play at the end of it. I saw a big black cat slinking through a path among some brambles. It was as tall as the brambles and didn't move like a house cat. I was so alarmed I immediately ran back home to tell my parents, who totally did not believe me. The area we lived in has had a lot of sightings, but I didn't know that at the time.

I saw a big black cat a few years ago. I was out with my dog alone, walking down a disused railway track and suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable, like I was being watched. Dog went on high alert too.

It strolled out from one side of the track, stopped, stared at me and then continued on. Big, much bigger than my dog, with beautiful yellow eyes.

It absolutely shook me up and I wonder what would have happened if I'd been with a smaller dog or alone. I was glad to get back to the car that day!

Yes suspected sighting but it was to quick to be sure.

If it is true about all these sightings though

Wouldn't helicopters be able to see them or drones.

OMG, I LOVE this kind of thing!!
Thanks for starting the thread OP!

My dad says he saw one about 10 years ago, on his way to an early morning fishing trip, between Northumberland and the Borders, like a puma.
A friend of mine saw a sandy coloured big cat North York Moors, saw it from a train.

I’ve always been fascinated by the prospect of seeing a wild animal in UK/Europe.
About 15 years ago, exDH and I read in the Guardian about the Abbruzzo region of Italy, where they were trying to raise the numbers of wild boar, wolves and bears.
We became a bit obsessed with the idea of going there and seeing one.
We went there, wandered off into the forests/mountains (prob not to best idea, looking back), and exDH bloody well saw a bear! Gutted that I didn’t. he was a few steps ahead, looked down a hill, and saw the bear running off into the distance, and it’s little brown ears moving up and down!

I’ve seen one. Years ago, big black cat.

My husband tells a story of how he and a friend saw one on the Kintyre peninsular back in the mid 90's. Ironically, just a couple of days after he been taking the piss out of a local drunk who claimed a big black cat had chased him into the sea.

I love reading all of these, makes me feel less crazy!

I remember when I was quite young coming back from somewhere in the car with my dad. About half a mile before we got home he stopped the car and actually got out saying he had saw a big cat. He actually stopped the car behind us to see if they had saw it crossing the road too 😂 in fairness it was someone he knew in the car behind. I didn't see was too busy doing something else.
I also like to go to rural areas to run with my dog. There is a particular stretch of rough ground, with lots of long grass and trees at the back of the beach that always gives me the creeps now, because one day I had such a strong feeling that something was watching me from up in the trees. I couldn't even look up. I don't know why the thought of big cat popped into my head, but all I could think was, please don't take my dog! That sounds crazy because I didn't actually see anything but it was so strange. Never felt like that anywhere else, and I've happily sheltered in the trees nearby that spot a couple of times to escape hailstones in the winter, but I still think about that everytime I pass through there.

My mum said she saw one in the fields where she walked the dog. This was 2004 time. My friend and I went for a walk in the same place but went off the beaten path, this was around 2010, we came across a large deer carcass which was fresh looking, under a tree half hidden and one of its hind legs was clean off.

I have read the book 'We Bought a Zoo' a true story of a family that bought a zoo. The zoo is in Devon or Somerset I think. One of their big cats got out and they had to capture it and they got into a bit of trouble. Later on the owner was driving and saw a big cat out and thought "oh crap not again - we're gonna lose our licence" (or words to that effect). But when he got back to the zoo and did a head count non of their big cats were missing. He told someone what he had seen and the response was "oh that'll be one of the local wild ones"!!

I definitely think they're out there - not lions or tigers but smaller ones like pumas, lynx or mountain lion for sure.

We we driving home from a friends at dusk one night in autumn 2013 in separate cars. Husband was in his van front of me coming down a country lane with a small woods on one side and an open field on the other. Being higher up he could see more than me and suddenly slammed his brakes on. He sticks his arm out the window and starts wildly waving and pointing at some thing in the field. I had a quick look as best I could over the wall and saw around 12 deer charging across the field. Once we got home he asked if I’d seen it? I was like what the load of deer and he said no, the big black cat chasing them! It had jumped off the dry stone wall at the side of the lane where it had been watching the deer and ran for them when we approached. Not long after that my friend and I were walking some of the farm tracks around there looking for new hacking routes to take her horses and found a single deer hind leg caught up on a fence about a mile from our sighting. Needless to say we gave the area wide berth for walks and riding after that.

Not seen one but when i lived in a place with lots of field and woodlands me and my mate were walking home. This must have been 2008 and i was a teenager. Two much older girls stopped us and asked jf we had seen a leopard or big cat. Me and my mate just laughed and said no but they didnt seem to be joking and in retrospect we heard of the sightings a few times.

However the uk is small. How could such large exotic cats live undetected for 30 odd years? And how could they mate if its one or two exotic releases?

In Cornwall on holiday with my ex probably about 1996/7 I saw a huge black cat come through a hedge on the other side of a field, walk along it and then back through. It was massive and our dog barked at it. Ex and I both said "did you see that?!" at the same time.

I’m not sure what to believe. We thought we saw one not too many years ago, it had the gait of a cat and as it was about midnight by the side of a road we were sure it was a large cat. When we got closer we realised it was a particularly large fox.

Theres stories of sighting round here. I am sure I saw it. But then doubt myself.

It was it was walking across an open field but looked huge. I passed the field all the time and it often had horses in, so I could get some sense of perspective if size.

But then I wonder wouldnt we have had stories of dead or missing horses? Or bodies of live stock?