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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to think friend was mistaken about seeing a 'black panther' behind my house?

171 replies

HourOrTwo · 15/04/2015 15:57

So last week friend turned up on my doorstep in a right state, saying she'd just seen a 'black panther' run across road and disappear into field behind my house!! I said it must have been a dog or badger but she no it was definitely a big black cat. She was very upset and shaken (left her bike in road and ran to my house on foot, would not tell me what was wrong until we were inside!)

FYI we live in a rural area, only one other house nearby. Our garden backs onto fields with woods nearby. Road is more of a lane, hardly any traffic.

Friend said she'd cycled round bend in road when big black cat about 5ft long with a long tail ran into road about 10m from her, she braked, cat froze and 'snarled' at her then ran rest of way across. She saw it go through hedge then lost sight of it. She said it sort of 'slunk' across moving low to ground and had a strange shaped head. I can't think of anything else to fit this description, any ideas?

I told her it had to be a big black dog but she was having none of it, insists it was a big cat. Apparently it moved like a cat. She doesn't have any vision problems, she wasn't drunk or anything (I did wonder at first). She does get scared easily though and can be bit hysterical e.g. she is scared of wasps and dogs. She wanted to phone police but I talked her out of it and when DH came home he gave her a lift home.

Thing is DH has taken this seriously!!! He won't let DD (7) play in garden unsupervised, has cut back all bushes around house and won't let me walk DD to school (2-mile walk through fields). He also reported it to police though unsurprisingly they declined to investigate. They said there haven't been any other sightings. DH has been examining garden 'for signs'. Last night he thought he heard 'a big cat coughing' (!!!) when he was standing at end of garden. Naturally he didn't see it.

AIBU to think this is all crazy and my friend must have made a mistake?

OP posts:

Patsyandeddie · 15/04/2015 23:11

I quite believe the sightings, why not, all these people can't be mad or drunk. I've lived in Africa so am not particularly phased by it, they are more frightened of you than you are of them unless they feel threatened.

SiobhanSharpe · 15/04/2015 23:43

I live very near Hatfield Forest and Great Hallingbury, mentioned in an early post as a sighting iplace for a big cat;, there are large numbers of muntjac and other deer (roe? Fallow?) around here, (so much so that it can be quite unnerving driving at night, they just dash across the road from the hedgerows) There is plenty of food for big cats.

DH thinks it is quite likely they are around -- we have lost ducks and chickens, some obviously to foxes (lots of damage, wounded birds, heads bitten off etc) but others have just disappeared, with only a few feathers left. A big cat has also been spotted in Sheering, nearby, a goose was taken.

My DS worked for the local council a few years ago as a temp for a few
months and hung out with the wildlife protection officers. They were all convinced big cats were in the area.

1MrsRabbit · 15/04/2015 23:46

A friend of mine is adamant she saw one in her car headlights once, and OH has seen a big cat whilst out deer stalking in the early hours of the morning for the RSPB in one of their nature reserves. He thinks that any that are shot are hushed up either by the authorities or because the shooter doesn't want to risk loosing their firearms certificate by shooting an animal that is not on their licence. I would love to believe that there are a population of big cats in the UK, but until I see one for myself...
The other thing that makes me doubt their existence is why are none ever found as roadkill?!

MooseBeTimeForSpring · 15/04/2015 23:51

Christ, you'd never go outside if you lived here then! Bears, cougar, lynx and wolves are regularly seen

SiobhanSharpe · 15/04/2015 23:53

The wildlife protection officers remove them sharp-ish!
just remembered DH and I saw a big cat once in central France! But it was golden like a mountain lion or puma, not black. It was noticeably large and chunky. Powerful looking, long and with a long tail. Walking through the grounds of a hotel in a rural area.

SistersofPercy · 15/04/2015 23:54

Moose, in my head now I'm singing

"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"

Back to thread

UncertainSmile · 16/04/2015 00:00

I love this kind of Cryptozoology. I'd like to think there are colonies of big cats in the UK.

LackaDAISYcal · 16/04/2015 00:04

Never seen one, but can believe their existence.
If native wildcats can breed with domestic cats, then it's not too far a stretch that escaped "big" cats can mate with native wildcats.

Wikipedia has a lot about various sightings over the years.

And, if they are as elusive as people say, in general, they are probably well away from farms and are living on deer and other wild animals. The ones that are seen in more populated areas are maybe young ones looking for a new territory, or drawn to populated areas due to hunger?

I know I soound like a loon, but there is too much anecdotal stuff to dismiss it.

Your DH is being a bit of a loon though; chances of it appearing again anytime soon are slim to none! I assume your friend is normally a rational human being, not prone to exageration? Do you believe her?

LackaDAISYcal · 16/04/2015 00:05

ooops, for got the link en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_big_cats

CuttedUpPear · 16/04/2015 06:46

I listened to an episode of Ramblings on Radio 4 the other day, set in the Wye Valley near Symonds Yat.
The format of the programme is that they go for a walk and talk with some local folks. They record the programme as they go.
Clare Balding (the presenter) actually saw a big black cat during the recording - she described it as moving very differently from a domestic cat, and obviously much bigger. She was really taken aback!
The chap she was walking with is a local village footpath ranger and he was not as surprised as she was - he had seen it before.

Definitely not someone's pet moggy and if Our Clare says it happened, I believe her!

icelollycraving · 16/04/2015 07:37

Fascinating thread! I've never seen one. I would quite possibly faint,I'm a wuss.
I would like to think there are big cats roaming around.
Now.....what about Nessie? Any sightings?!

alltherightfriends · 16/04/2015 08:26

We saw one in north wales on holiday when I was a child. My mum was convinced it was a lynx. It had pointy ears with tufts of hair around them. It froze in front of our car and then ran away. I have always wanted to see another one since!!

fulltothebrim · 16/04/2015 08:32

There have been sightings not far from where I live in a rural area. I have not seen it myself, but there have been reports in the local newspaper, photographs and video footage.
It looks like a black sleek cat, but is the size of a fully grown Alsatian dog. Perhaps an escapee from a private wildlife collection.

patienceisvirtuous · 16/04/2015 08:33

Shamelessly placemarking so I can read after work :)

CatthiefKeith · 16/04/2015 09:37

I've never seen one, but have read huge amounts on the subject and am convinced they are out there.

I know for a fact that a certain circus lost a pair of lions in the 80's, and never recovered them. They didn't report it as there was already a bit of a public outcry regarding the use of animals and they were worried about the backlash.

anonymice · 16/04/2015 11:40

My Uncle lives in West Sussex. He was walking his dog one morning (Great Dane) in the mid-nineties at about 4am. He let the dog off the lead and about 2 mins later could hear loads of howling. Dog rushed back to him with its neck gushing blood and obvious claw marks. Vet who stitched his dog up told him he has seen plenty of sheep with claw mark injuries and facial injuries consistent with big cat attack. I am sure they are there.

DishwasherDogs · 16/04/2015 11:45

I'm sure I saw one in the late 90's. I was driving back from babysitting and saw it trotting along the road near some woods and moorland. It was definitely not a dog, and way too big to be a domestic cat. It looked black but it was dark so could have been a different colour.
Other people saw it too.
IIRC big cats can have huge territories, so it would be very difficult to find one.

AnnPerkins · 16/04/2015 11:53

I thought I saw a big cat a year or so ago when I was driving on the Herts/Beds border. It definitely wasn't a deer because it had the gait of a cat and it must have been big because it was about 50m ahead of me, crossing the road between an ex airbase and a golf course.

However, for the benefit of any Herts/Beds residents of a nervous disposition who find this post whilst googling, I am only about 38% sure it was a big cat. It might just have been an extra large hedgehog.

DH believes he saw a golden eagle swoop in front of our car in Bedfordshire recently. Apparently one had escaped from a nearby sanctuary. If he had thought he'd seen it before hearing the news report, rather than after I might have been more convinced.

CFSKate · 16/04/2015 11:58

Could it have been the SuperBadger?

bananaandcustard · 16/04/2015 12:56

years ago my whole family saw a lynx type of cat while driving through some narrow country lanes on the herts/beds area. we stopped the car and looked at it and it sat looking at us.

so cats are out there. doesnt worry me though. I think they follow the small deer herds that wonder around.

IdaBlankenship · 16/04/2015 13:10

I saw a big black cat in broad daylight about 3 years ago. It ran across a field in front of me (about 5 metres away), and disappeared into a hedge. It was definitely a cat as it ran in a particularly feline way with large, powerful back legs. It was bigger than a labrador with a long tail and completely black. Gave me a massive fright to say the least

HellKitty · 16/04/2015 13:10

My friend lives in the country and saw a large black panther type cat on the road in front of her one night. As far as I know there were a number of stately homes who had exotic pets in the 50s and 60s which then basically went wild or were released.

DP did however have a Maine Coon cat years ago that would sit in the garden and freak people out because of its size.

springsprang · 16/04/2015 13:42

There have been two sightings of a big black cat roaming the fields close to us. Both of them were reported to the local RSPB reserve, and both of them turned out to be my dog.

However I do believe they may be out there, there's loads of deer and the occasional badger around here - they're quite big and we don't often see them - wouldn't be hard for felines to hide.

TooExtraImmatureCheddar · 16/04/2015 13:55

Helen, I grew up in Aberdeenshire and there were a number of sightings of the so-called Beast of Bin near Huntly in the early 90s. A friend's father saw it and made plaster casts of pawprints and they were huge.

tomatodizzymum · 16/04/2015 14:29

That Buckshaw Beast www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1244693/Pictured-The-mystery-Buckshaw-Beast-savaging-animals-terrorising-villagers.html

looks like a Capybara. I remember reading that several are around the UK. We have them wild here, they look something like that.

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