Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Leicester Mercury
A teenager started 2012 with a shock when she opened her bedroom curtains to see a big cat trotting along outside.
Fifteen-year-old Sarah Burdett, from Foxton, and her father's partner, Lora Cannon, then tracked the animal, finding tracks and faeces, which they say point to something like a panther or a black leopard.
Rutland and Leicestershire Pantherwatch said it was the UK's first big cat sighting of the year. Sarah said: "I'd just woken up on New Year's Day and I looked out of my window.
"Running across the field I saw this massive black thing.
"I've owned a cat and its tail was just like a cat's but it was massive. It also had pointy ears just like a cat. It was a bit scary because it was the last thing I expected to see."
Sarah and her dad's partner, Lora Cannon, immediately pulled on their shoes and coats and headed out across the fields behind the house.
Lora, 46, said: "While we were out we found some tracks that were interesting.
"Unlike all the dog tracks we found, these ones had no claw marks, which suggested to me it was a cat.
"We also found some poo that had a lot of hair in it, so we thought it was an animal that had been chomping on rabbits and eating the fur.
"Before we reported the sighting we went on to the internet and checked out everything we'd seen and it was very exciting.
"I'm pretty confident Sarah knows what she saw and the more we investigated it, the more convinced we were. I'll definitely go walking with my camera handy from now on."
After they reported their sighting online to national organisation Big Cats in Britain, Nigel Spencer from the local group, got in touch and went for a walk in the area with Sarah and Lora.
He said the animal could be related to one spotted near Foxton some years ago.
He said: "Reports around Foxton and the canal have been common since we first started investigations in the 1990s.
"But whether this is the same animal or offspring, I wouldn't like to say. Five years is the normal lifespan in captivity.
"It's a very interesting report because it had been quite quiet in this area before this report."
He said while evidence of big cats was not conclusive, there was too much of it to deny their existence in the British countryside.
For more information and to report a sighting, visit: www.bigcatsinbritain.org/
If you have any news on this item please let us know by leaving a comment or email bcib@btopenworld.com Please report any sightings at http://www.bigcatsinbritain.org/localreportform.htm If you wish to comment on any of the items please click the header of the story.
Leicester Mercury
A teenager started 2012 with a shock when she opened her bedroom curtains to see a big cat trotting along outside.
Fifteen-year-old Sarah Burdett, from Foxton, and her father's partner, Lora Cannon, then tracked the animal, finding tracks and faeces, which they say point to something like a panther or a black leopard.
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Lora Cameron watches out for the big cat spotted outside her home in Foxton
"Running across the field I saw this massive black thing.
"I've owned a cat and its tail was just like a cat's but it was massive. It also had pointy ears just like a cat. It was a bit scary because it was the last thing I expected to see."
Sarah and her dad's partner, Lora Cannon, immediately pulled on their shoes and coats and headed out across the fields behind the house.
Lora, 46, said: "While we were out we found some tracks that were interesting.
"Unlike all the dog tracks we found, these ones had no claw marks, which suggested to me it was a cat.
"We also found some poo that had a lot of hair in it, so we thought it was an animal that had been chomping on rabbits and eating the fur.
"Before we reported the sighting we went on to the internet and checked out everything we'd seen and it was very exciting.
"I'm pretty confident Sarah knows what she saw and the more we investigated it, the more convinced we were. I'll definitely go walking with my camera handy from now on."
After they reported their sighting online to national organisation Big Cats in Britain, Nigel Spencer from the local group, got in touch and went for a walk in the area with Sarah and Lora.
He said the animal could be related to one spotted near Foxton some years ago.
He said: "Reports around Foxton and the canal have been common since we first started investigations in the 1990s.
"But whether this is the same animal or offspring, I wouldn't like to say. Five years is the normal lifespan in captivity.
"It's a very interesting report because it had been quite quiet in this area before this report."
He said while evidence of big cats was not conclusive, there was too much of it to deny their existence in the British countryside.
For more information and to report a sighting, visit: www.bigcatsinbritain.org/
If you have any news on this item please let us know by leaving a comment or email bcib@btopenworld.com Please report any sightings at http://www.bigcatsinbritain.org/localreportform.htm If you wish to comment on any of the items please click the header of the story.
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