For the record, such an article is a good example at how inadequate reporters can be when covering 'big cat' stories. There has always been confusion for the press when identifying cat species, yet it's not a difficult task to undertakle when we consider that only three species of large cat are commonly sighted throughout the UK, the black leopard, the puma and the lynx, none of these resembling one another.
The mysterious Beast of Bucks has been spotted again by a couple near Hazlemere.
A large cat-like animal was seen by Suzanne Young, 19, of Quarrendon Road, Amersham, and her partner Matthew Tucker, 19, of Orchard Lane, Amersham, as they were driving back along Amersham Road from a night out in High Wycombe.
Suzanne, a secretary for Balfour Beatty in Manchester, said: "All of a sudden a very big cat trotted out in front of our car from one side of the road. We'd slowed down for a bend and saw a black blob on one side of the road.
"At first we thought it was a fox until our headlamps hit it. Once this happened it sprinted the rest of the way to the other side of the road. When we saw it in the light we realised it was far too big to be a fox, or even a dog. We weren't drunk as we were driving."
The couple went back to the scene of their sighting, just before the turning for Gravelly Way, on Sunday, and found some large paw prints in Common Wood, near Tylers Green.
"It was more for the sake of our sanity than anything else," Suzanne added.
"When we saw it in the light we realised it was far too big to be a fox, or even a dog."
Suzanne told the South Bucks Star that the creature she saw was about 3ft to 4ft tall, jet black, with a long tail.
She believes it to be the infamous "Beast of Bucks" although added that other people's accounts of it have sometimes differed.
She said: "A few older people I know have claimed to have seen it, like my grandad.
"This was definitely more like a puma than a panther."
Six years ago animal specialist Trevor Smith was called to help police after they took plaster casts of paw prints found on Wycombe Heights Golf Course, in Rayners Avenue, Loudwater. Experts confirmed that the tracks belonged to a young puma.
In February last year café owner Heather Brown told the Star how she spotted the giant feline while walking in the Chequers estate, near Princes Risborough. And a dog walker said he saw it on The Rye, High Wycombe, earlier this year.
Zoologists believe many exotic cats were released into the wild when the Dangerous Wild Animals Act was passed in 1976 and owners could no longer keep them as pets.
2:00am Friday 6th July 2007 (This Is Local London)
Wednesday, 11 July 2007
Sunday, 17 June 2007
Sunday, 10 June 2007
Squacco Heron
A Squacco heron appears to have made itself at home at the Crossness nature reserve in Bexley, South East London. It is claimed that the last Squacco heron seen in London was at the Kingsbury Reservoir in 1866, but there have been some other more recent reports.
There have been around 50 reports of Squacco heron’s in the UK over the last 50 years or so, and there are unconfirmed reports of another Squacco in another part of Kent too. There have also been sightings of a Purple Heron and a Quail (the latter hasn't been seen in this borough since 1969) The Squacco was spotted on the afternoon of 29 May and has been seen on the Southern Marshes of Crossness ever since. The Squacco heron is mainly found in southern Europe, though it winters in Africa.
The sighting follows a £500,000 project at Crossness by Thames Water, Bexley Council and the charity Groundwork. Work has involved restoring reed bed and ditch habitat for water voles and creating a new wader scrape which has attracted the heron. The site has also been opened up to the public with a wildlife viewing screen enabling ornithologists to get close to the bird without disturbing it. eports.Crossness Nature Reserve is a small oasis within an industrialised urban environment, providing a unique opportunity to escape city life and enjoy one of the last remaining areas of grazing marsh within the Greater London area. The reserve is part of the original Thames floodplain known collectively as the Erith Marshes. With much of the marshland having been developed to provide business and residential opportunities, the creation of Crossness Nature Reserve in 1996 secured part of this important, declining habitat for nature conservation and public access. As a result of the regionally important communities of wetland birds, plants and invertebrates, the site has been awarded Local Nature Reserve. Click Crossness Nature Reserve to read more about the reserve, and to find out how to get there. http://www.wildlifeextra.com/crossness-squacco.html
There have been around 50 reports of Squacco heron’s in the UK over the last 50 years or so, and there are unconfirmed reports of another Squacco in another part of Kent too. There have also been sightings of a Purple Heron and a Quail (the latter hasn't been seen in this borough since 1969) The Squacco was spotted on the afternoon of 29 May and has been seen on the Southern Marshes of Crossness ever since. The Squacco heron is mainly found in southern Europe, though it winters in Africa.
The sighting follows a £500,000 project at Crossness by Thames Water, Bexley Council and the charity Groundwork. Work has involved restoring reed bed and ditch habitat for water voles and creating a new wader scrape which has attracted the heron. The site has also been opened up to the public with a wildlife viewing screen enabling ornithologists to get close to the bird without disturbing it. eports.Crossness Nature Reserve is a small oasis within an industrialised urban environment, providing a unique opportunity to escape city life and enjoy one of the last remaining areas of grazing marsh within the Greater London area. The reserve is part of the original Thames floodplain known collectively as the Erith Marshes. With much of the marshland having been developed to provide business and residential opportunities, the creation of Crossness Nature Reserve in 1996 secured part of this important, declining habitat for nature conservation and public access. As a result of the regionally important communities of wetland birds, plants and invertebrates, the site has been awarded Local Nature Reserve. Click Crossness Nature Reserve to read more about the reserve, and to find out how to get there. http://www.wildlifeextra.com/crossness-squacco.html
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
Top London chef Gordon Ramsay loses lamb top 'big cat'!!
Fascinating details emerged this week regarding chef Gordon Ramsay and his pet lamb Charlotte, who was found dead whilst grazing at land owned by David and Victoria Beckham in Hertfordshire.
The animal was allegedly killed by a 'big cat', possibly a black leopard after recent sightings were anything to go on. Wounds certainly seemed consistent with a cat kill as the bones had been licked clean, and only the unfortunate victims head was left.
Links here provide full details:
Sunday, 27 May 2007
THE SATURDAY STRANGENESS!
Neil Arnold's brand new regular feature for Londonist.com, covering all manner of strange creatures and weird folklore such as The Highgate Vampire, phantom hounds etc.
This feature will appear each Saturday. Log on to Londonist to view.
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