I was on a trip all of last week so I hadn't gotten around to posting this yet, but there have been a few more big cat reports in St. Albans, England and in Australia.
First, there is a video supposedly showing the St. Albans cat. The Express says this (June 22):
Choudhury got his phone out and shot a short video of the cat. He said: "It definitely wasn't a domestic cat. When I stopped and reversed it just stared at me. I wasn't scared or anything. But I was shocked, it was very strange. It stared at me and then got up and went into the woods."
What Choudhury filmed is undoubtably a cat, but I really can't tell what kind. It almost looks big enough to be a puma (but also, to me, looks like it could be a large domestic cat) and the stripes on the end of the tail are interesting. And what about the reports of a black cat around St. Albans?
Next is the story about a horse that was attacked by a possible big cat attack in Australia, with a video below.
The Courier Mail reports:
Check out King's Panther People website here.
As always, if there is more to either of these stories in the future, I'll update things…
First, there is a video supposedly showing the St. Albans cat. The Express says this (June 22):
"A stunned driver claims he has sensationally caught the legendary big cat of St Albans on camera at the crack of dawn.
"Jahid Choudhury dramatically snapped what appears to be a huge beast - which looks like a deadly puma - as he drove home at 4.30am in the morning after finishing work.
"Mr Choudhury was heading home along heavily-wooded Napsbury Lane, St ALbans, Hertfordshire, when he spotted what appears to be a powerful beige cat lurking by the side of the road."
Choudhury got his phone out and shot a short video of the cat. He said: "It definitely wasn't a domestic cat. When I stopped and reversed it just stared at me. I wasn't scared or anything. But I was shocked, it was very strange. It stared at me and then got up and went into the woods."
What Choudhury filmed is undoubtably a cat, but I really can't tell what kind. It almost looks big enough to be a puma (but also, to me, looks like it could be a large domestic cat) and the stripes on the end of the tail are interesting. And what about the reports of a black cat around St. Albans?
Next is the story about a horse that was attacked by a possible big cat attack in Australia, with a video below.
The Courier Mail reports:
"Incredible footage has emerged of a horse inflicted with wounds resemblant of a big cat attack on a Gympie region property where the exotic predators have reportedly been sighted.
"The images, submitted to the Big Cat Research Group this week, show a number of straight, definite slices covering the rump and flank of a horse contained at Lower Wonga, The Gympie Times reports.
"Big cat researcher Vaughan King believes the attack is that of a big cat and says the Gympie region is a hive of reported activity.
"'These injuries bear numerous similarities to that of failed attacks on horses by cougars in North America, and attempts on zebra by leopards in Africa,' the big cat chaser said.
"He said the scratches were 'too clean, clustered and at too many varying heights' to be from the horse rubbing against barbed wire and the patterned grouping of the cuts pointed to the paw of an animal.
"He is also certain the woulds could not have come from anything native.
"'No Australian natives have got claws that would match that,' he said.
"The former Australian Zoo big cat trainer, who is collating big cat data on his website pantherpeople.com said it did not surprise him that a big cat had their claws set on an animal the size of a horse.
"'Big cats are opportunistic - especially the leopard - there is no prey to big or too small,' he said.
"He said most big cats will try to get to the neck as soon as possible, but with a big animal the cat would try to bring it down before going for the kill.
"The beast could be enough to sustain the big cat for more than a week.
"He said if the big cat realized it had bitten off more than it could chew mid-attack it would have retreated.
"'Big cats are very aware of self preservation,' the researcher said.
"'They realize their body is their livelihood - if they get injured they can't hunt.'
"Mr King, who is based at the Sunshine Coast, said the Gympie region has historically been a hotspot for big cat sightings, with two recent sightings at Cooloola and Curra sparking more reports.
"He is now interested in changes to the animals' behavior as a guide to detect the presence of big cats and asking rural residents to keep an eye out on anything out of the ordinary.
"'Farmers and property owners are the ones that are going to see the animal indicators first,' he said.
"He encourages anyone who has sighted a big cat or signs of one around to report it to pantherpeople.com so he can build an accurate track of the species."
Check out King's Panther People website here.
As always, if there is more to either of these stories in the future, I'll update things…
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