Somerset/Wilts/Hants
Big Cat Sightings

There have been numerous sightings over the years of big cats in the Cheverell and Lavington areas.

Mr Amor, a UK sales manager for a tool company, said: "Up until I saw this animal I hadn't taken a lot of notice of stories of sightings of big cats, but when you actually see it yourself you stop and think....'

There have been various sightings of big cats in Wiltshire. A black leopard is believed to have been seen in Great Cheverell in April 2000.

A big cat, thought to be a lynx, was seen by two teenage girls in Drews Pond Lane in Devizes in January 2001.

In July 2002 a black panther was sighted in fields on Rowden Hill, Chippenham, and a month before that a black panther-type cat was spotted at Great Bedwyn.

Press report and verbatim account by witness

Mr Amor drew my attention to the following big cat sighting by a couple from the same village and reported in the press in 2000 - see below...

First published on Monday 15 May 2000:

Big cat sparks leopard alert

'Jane and Steve Phillips, of Great Cheverell, saw  the black animal while they were walking in Low Road on the edge of the village on April 29.

'Mrs Phillips said: We were walking on the road. Suddenly about 150 yards away in a field we saw this black animal. It was about the size of a labrador, but had cat-like ears and a very long and curly tail which was hanging down.

'We stood and watched it and then it slunk off towards a little stream and we lost sight of it.

'Mrs Phillips said: It wasn't a domestic cat or a dog. Its movements were not that of a dog, and it had an exceptionally long tail and cat-like ears. We have not seen anything like it before.

'She said she had been sceptical of big cat sightings, but is convinced that what she saw was a big cat.

'She was unnerved by the experience, but said it would not stop her walking in the area.' 

Press report

12 August 2004

The Somerset Guardian

'The hunt is on for what is believed to be a big cat that was seen mauling a deer near Coleford last week. The sighting occurred last Wednesday afternoon when resident Hilary Comer was walking her dog in a field near the Common Lane area between Holcombe and Coleford.

Her story has reignited fears that a large cat is on the loose around the villages between Frome and Radstock.

Mrs Comer said she was walking along when, to her shock, her dog, who had momentarily been out of her sight, appeared with a severed rear leg of a wild deer in its mouth.

She said: "Anya, my pet Doberman, walked on with the leg in its mouth then stopped, pricked her ears up and looked to be peering over at something.

"When I went over I saw a large, healthy, shiny cat with big hips turn away from the carcass of a dead deer and run up a tree.

"It had an elongated body about 5ft-long, not including the tail, was jet black in colour and stalking, like a puma or large wild cat.

"I stood back in shock and, for a moment, thought it was going to pounce, but it just sat there still and silent.

"My dog then wandered off, as she was a bit wary, and I then walked back home."

"I am absolutely positive it was large cat and I know several other people from the village who have spotted a similar beast in the last few months."

On Thursday afternoon people from the area began a search of where the beast had been spotted.

In the last year there have been several alleged sightings of the now infamous Coleford cat, however last Wednesday's sighting was the most compelling and chilling to date.

In May, four men from Frome narrowly avoided hitting a big cat in their car near Leigh-uponMendip, and in January a farmer from Stoke St Michael reported a spate of attacks on his herd of cows and lambs from a mysterious cat-like beast.

There have also been reported sightings of big cats in Coleford, Holcombe and Mells.

Robin Dogbeer, who works for the Dartmoor Wildlife Park and specialises in big cat sightings, said: "Mrs Comer was right to leave the area when she spotted the beast, as big cats are at their most threatening when they have made a kill, or are protecting cubs.

"The chances of running into a cat when it is in the middle of a feed are extremely remote to say the least, they can become very vicious and they will attack humans if approached.

"Residents should not panic but, if they do spot the cat, they should back off slowly, not run and keep the cat in their sights.

"If the animal went up a tree and is the colour of a lioness, it is likely to be a puma. Leopards are dark in colour and would normally run off rather than climb up a tree.

"This much activity in one area is very rare and I will be contacting colleagues in order to suggest beginning a study and perhaps set up a camera in the area to try to capture evidence of the cat."

Press report

Witness's verbatim account

17 June 2004

 A supermarket manager from Cheddar had a close encounter with a big cat in the middle of the Mendip Hills this week. Mark Hill, who manages a Budgens supermarket at Wootton Bassett, near Swindon, was crossing the Mendips late on Monday evening when says he saw the beast at Wigmore Farm between Priddy and Chewton Mendip.

He said: "I had just joined the main road when I saw the animal in the middle of the road.

"It was eating food from a fish and chip wrapper that someone had thrown out of their car. It was about four feet long, with a tail the same length as its body, and about three feet high.

"I was about a metre from it. It was definitely a big black cat, like a panther, not a dog such as a black labrador, and it stood there completely unconcerned with is head in the chip wrapper for about a minute-and-a-half as I watched it."

There have been many sightings of big cats on the Mendips, which increase in hot weather. Almost all the reports refer to a black panther, which has been spotted at Priddy, Axbridge and Shipham quarry.

At Priddy, cavers found the remains of an animal that appeared to have been torn apart by a large predator. Two quarry workers say they saw the animal on several occasions. 

Other areas have also had their fair share of big cat sightings, with reports of a big black cat at Bleadney and of an animal similar to a lynx close to Wedmore.

Press report

Dog Walker Meets Mystery Black Cat

5 March 2004 Wells Journal

DOG WALKER MEETS MYSTERY BLACK CAT 
 A woman walking her dog in Wookey was astounded to see a black cat the size of a labrador yards away from her. June Edwards, a mother of four grown-up children, who lives at Chapman Close in the village, saw the animal on Wednesday, February 25, at about 3.45pm. June and springer Molly startled the cat. June said: "I couldn't believe it - I had to rub my eyes. "I ran along  the field parallel to it. It behaved like a cat and was definitely not a dog. It had a very big head and long tail. 'She continued on her way, trying to convince herself she had not seen what she thought she had. It was some minutes later when she was watching a sparrowhawk that she saw it again. It was two or three fields away 'going up the Scramble Hill slowly in a slouchy way. It stood out - so black against the green field; going very, very slowly'; whereas, she pointed out, 'dogs dart about'.

Witness's verbatim account

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