A leopard in '60s London...

Here's a fantastic piece of footage from the 1960s showing a woman walking her pet leopard down the streets of swingin' London...the react of the poor dogs is priceless as is the inclusion of the woman in a leopard-skin fur coat! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/good-to-share/10596046/Prowling-the-streets-of-London-with-a-Leopard.html

Forest Hill sighting...

"I saw a cat like creature in Forest Hill. I was in the Millennium Albion Woods and it ran past us, we disturbed it. I was freaked out as I was with my kids. It was not a deer, muntjac are supposed to inhabit this green area. I know what deer look like, this was a black feline animal, very swift, it was large too, so not a domestic cat.  It all happened so quickly and totally unexpected so it was difficult to make much out. What really caught my eye was its black colour, it moved very quickly like a cat, I would've expected small muntjac in there I have seen them elsewhere and this was not a deer. It was too fluid and powerful. It's size I would say was appx three foot from head to back legs. I can't say for sure I saw it's tail I'm afraid. It happened in an instant my kids didn't see it at all. It was bigger than a domestic cat, much bigger, obviously very shy. It reminded me of TV programmes I've watched about pumas or lynx. I thought, "I saw a deer it can't have been a big cat" but my eyes told me it was a cat. I'm convinced. I had never known of their existence until I got home and did a bit of research which is where I came across your stuff. It happened at about 11.30am on Tuesday 28th October, 2014. In the Albion Millennium Gardens in Forest Hill off Albion Villas Way".

HAUNTED HIGHGATE book

Author Della Farrant has just had published HAUNTED HIGHGATE (The History Press), a fascinating a collection of weird and wonderful stories from the Highgate region. A review/interview will be coming shortly but until then you can purchase your copy from Amazon by clicking HERE

'Panther' sighting in Surrey?

"I have literally just seen it too whilst out on a run (12/10/2014 at 1pm)!

I was running along Rickman Hill Road in Coulsdon, when I saw what looked like a large jet-black dog cross my path about 100 yards ahead. I couldn't get a glimpse of its head but had very large paws and a long tail that curled upwards at end. Having originally assumed it was a dog I carried on running, expecting there to be a driveway that it had walked into, but it was just dense woodland!

Just arrived back home and searched online and found this post, turns out I'm not going mad!"

The beast of Svendroog Castle

The beast of Svendroog Castle - For those of you who followed 'big cat sightings back in the '60s and '70s, there was once much fervour and chaos created in the vicinity of Shooters Hill when it was claimed that a large cat was on the loose. Although the panic died down after a few weeks due to lack of evidence the area became cemented in big cat folklore. Of course, the best thing about such cat flaps (excuse the pun!) is when one still receives reports from these areas decades later.

This morning (25th September 2014) I received an interesting email from a lady who I had met many years ago whilst conducting a talk around that particular area. She had been walking with her husband on the morning of the 25th September 2014 near the ominous-sounding Svendroog Castle when they both observed a huge black cat sitting on its haunches and staring into a clump of undergrowth as if stalking rabbits, as a domestic cat would with mice. Now, when one considers that in 1963 it was rumoured - but completely false - that a cheetah was on the loose at Oxleas Wood - it was nice to hear that the couple had in fact observed a black leopard. The animal then quickly turned and disappeared into vegetation before the woman in question could get a photo.

I hope of course that this sighting will not urge some 126 policeman, armed with 21 dogs, an array of soldiers, RSPCA and ambulance staff to take to the woods as they did back in 1963. Amazing to think that these 'authoritative' figures covered over 800 acres in search of a creature that they knew nothing about, and was likely to have been a puma judging by reports so where the cheetah came into the affair is anybody's guess - although I have my theory, as mentioned briefly in my Mystery Animals of the British Isles: London book.

I am still amazed that authorities are called out to look into routine 'big cat' sightings and I do wonder as to why they pick and choose certain cases over others; after all; it's very rare for them to be called out to rescue a child from the jaws of a salivating leopard but now that I've dubbed this creature the 'beast of Svendroog castle' I'm sure the local populace will be having nightmares for weeks and keeping their pets...and children locked away as the curtain of dusk falls...mind you if one visits Svendroog Castle you could just imagine some strange lord of the manor keeping a leopard or two in his dank basement centuries ago. Photograph shows the hunt for the 'beast of Shooters Hill'.

Did you hear the one about the terrapin that took a ride on the back of a dead fox?!!

Well, it's actually true! Read more here

An exotic cat on the loose in Surrey?

Yes, it's true, read more HERE

And of course the tale of the scorpion on the tube...

read it HERE

And this is why no-one takes 'big cat' sightings seriously...

Under the heading 'Leopard on the loose in London' the following article appeared at London 24 - read it HERE

What's worse than finding a boa constricor in London?

Well, two of course! Read more HERE

Beasts of London on Facebook!

'Beasts of London' now has a Facebook page at :  https://www.facebook.com/groups/kentcryptozoology/   which will incorporate the counties of Sussex, Kent and Surrey too...come and join!

Big cat sighting in Surrey

 "Just want to report a sighting in Coulsdon, Surrey where I live.

 

Last week (early April 2014)– midweek I think around dusk, I heard an awful snarling outside in the garden.  Sounded like a cat fight but with really loud noises.  I looked out and could see nothing.  It was quite shocking at the time but I thought nothing about it and kind of forgot about it.

 

Then on Saturday evening at dusk, but nearly dark on 5 April I heard a terrible weird scream.  I thought it sounded like a teenage girl but with a yowl sound to it somehow.  I actually went outside to the back garden and looked down the side of the house as I thought the neighbour (older couple – no teenage kids) had gone bonkers.  As I walked back up back towards my kitchen I noticed what were two white circles shining midway up the garden.  I thought for a minute that they were glints from some garden furniture or something but then realised they were two eyes staring at me !!  Judging by the size of them and the width between them on the head I figured this was a large cat – certainly not a domestic.  I could not see the body as it was pitch dark so I worked out the animal must be black.

 

I called my husband to get a torch but by the time he did, the animal had shifted away.  (He thought I had been on the wine and kind of did not believe me !).

 

Then later around 10.30/11pm we both went out to the kitchen to clear up things and saw the sensor lights trigger on the summerhouse (100 ft away down in the garden) then on the patio by the corner of the kitchen.  For a split second I looked out of the window and saw the big black cat, bounding across to other side of the garden.  I’d estimate at a rough guess it must be 4-5 feet long.

 

Haven’t had any more sightings since but heard it on Monday night scaling fences and starting off the local dogs in the neighbourhood."

So, did you hear the one about the troll that chased a train London!!!

http://cryptozoologynews.com/troll-runs-train-flooded-england/