THE MYSTERIOUS big cat, spotted over 50 times in the Tamworth area has been seen once again – this time in Austrey.
Sheepy Magna man Andrew Gough (67) was walking though St Nicholas
churchyard when he spotted the beast at around 4.15pm on Saturday
October 19.
Mr Gough said: “We were approaching the rear of the
church facing an adjacent allotment when I saw it, I think it was
heading for the fields. It was moving quite slowly and naturally and
paid no attention whatsoever to me or my wife. It went into the
allotment and was out of sight in just a few seconds.
“I was about 70 yards away from it, the weather was dry and
visibility was good. It was about two feet tall and around three foot
six inches in length. wasn’t scared at all, I was just pleased to have
finally seen this cat. I’ve lived in the area for 30 years and have never seen it
before, but I’m not the sort to imagine things. I had read the stories
on previous sightings and now I know there is a factual basis for these
stories.”
The allotment into which the beast disappeared belongs to Austrey
man Mac Collins. Mac said: “I have never seen a big cat, but I think
there’s every chance that they are out there. I shall have no qualms at
all about continuing to work on my allotment though, it’s a wild animal,
it is not likely to approach any humans.”
Richard Meredith is a biologist who logs big cat sightings in the area - now numbering almost 60.
He said: “Having listened to Mr Gough’s account of what he saw I am convinced this is a genuine sighting.”
The ‘big cat’ believed to be a melanistic leopard, has been seen
across Tamworth and North Warwickshire in recent years – by dozens of
local residents – from farmers and labourers to teachers and police
officers.
The most recent sighting reported to the Herald was in the
Glascote/Stonydelph area in July. In August a reader sent in a photo of a
creature he claimed was the big cat spotted near Orton-on-the-Hill –
but the picture was widely condemned as a fake.
Government experts still claim there is no firm evidence of big
cats living in the British countryside, but also acknowledge that they
could survive quite easily in the wild.
A history of big cat sightings in Tamworth, from the Herald files
Big cat sightings are not unusual in this part of the world. Here are a selection from the Herald files:
In February 2012, a young couple claimed to have seen a panther-like big cat in Dordon.
In January 2012 Dog walker Michael Greatrex photographed giant paw prints in a field off Boulters Lane in Wood End.
In December 2011 a 69-year-old Austrey woman claimed she saw a big cat in Warton Lane.
Also in December 2011 , Wood End woman Karen Rooke said she spotted the beast in the Boulters Lane/Gypsy Lane area.
In November 2011, police officer DC Sarah Anderson was out
walking her dog in fields between Baddesley Ensor and Baxterley when she
first saw the beast. She then saw it again two days later.
Weeks earlier, train driver Jake Medley was cycling close to
midnight in the Shuttington area when a “big black cat” ran across the
road.
A panther-like cat was seen in Measham in November 2010.
In September 2010, a Whittington man saw a golden big cat run from Hopwas Woods.
In July 2010, a big cat was spotted in Bonehill, fitting the description of a melanistic leopard.
In June 2010, a Dosthill man reported seeing a stripy big cat close to Hedging Lane.
In November 2009, the Herald reported on how TNT employee Gemma
Capostagno was walking on Baddesley Common when she spotted the
creature.
In October 2009, motorist Sue Swift saw what she thought was a
large black labrador near Polesworth. When she tried to coax the animal
into her car she realised it wasn’t a dog at all – it was what she
believed was a puma.
Preston woman Jaki Ryding, aged 43, saw a big cat-like beast from
a train between Tamworth and Lichfield on Thursday, September 3, 2009.
Also in September of 2009, Lisa Urry, of Borough Road, spotted a big cat on the outhouse of a nearby property.
In July 2009, a big cat-like creature was seen by Margaret Locke,
the Musical Director of Tamworth Ladies Choir, who lives in Bonehill.
An Austrey woman, who asked not to be identified, told the Herald
she saw a big cat on Monday, June 15, 2009, between Appleby and
Measham.
Mount Pleasant resident Richard Foort said he had seen such a
creature four times in 2009, prowling wasteland near to the river in Two
Gates.
A Gillway woman claimed she saw a big cat in the garden of her Hawthorn Avenue home on July 7, 2009.
A Measham couple spotted a creature on their CCTV in April 2009, when it leapt their six-foot garden fence.
In 2008, a 31-year-old says he saw a feline in fields as he walked from No Mans Heath to Austrey.
In 2007, Coton Green man John Ellis reported seeing a big cat just four feet away from him in Wigginton Park.
In 2006, Drayton Manor zoo manager Robin Roberts broke a 15-year
silence to admit that he had seen a black leopard roaming free in the
area. Mr Roberts, who worked with big cats for more than 40 years, told
the Herald how he and a former colleague saw the creature in a local
village.
Also in 2006, a gruesome attack near Austrey, in which a pregnant
sheep was stripped to the bone, was blamed on a big cat prowling the
Tamworth area.
In the same week a woman, who kept horses in fields in Warton,
told the Herald she was convinced a big cat was responsible for two
vicious attacks on her lame horse, which left it with bite marks to its
neck and deep claw marks needing stitches.
In 2004, Linda Rawlins, of Austrey, said she had seen what she
believed to be a black panther twice in five days in fields near her
home.
In 2003, a farmer and his wife told the Herald how they spotted a
big cat when driving between Warton and Grendon at around 10pm.
In 2002, Warton man Simon Rooke said he believed a big cat was responsible for a wound to his pet pointer, Jasper.
Also in 2002, Fred Hopkins, senior ranger at Kingsbury Water
Park, confirmed a sighting had been reported of two animals that fitted
the description of large cats.
A similar sighting was also reported in 2001, in Water Orton, when a woman said a rottweiller was confronted by black cats.
In 2001, Measham man Graham Pearce claimed he had caught a big cat on video.
source
No comments:
Post a Comment