Report from George Markie
The Scottish 'Lioness'
From the Fortean Times No 26
Original report in the Aberdeen Press and Journal 15 th December 1977
It seems police have records of sightings going back two years - but following the supposed wounding of the animal on two occasions they were mounting extensive armed searches on the moorlands and heaths near the village of Strathnaver, following the discovery of carcasses on 12 th Dec 1977.
Thomas Todd, a crofter at Achneiskich, Bettyhill, found one of his sheep dead - its fleece had been removed and its flesh stripped. This was said to be the work of a predator. Mr Todd remembers earlier incidents: "The other morning I discovered paw prints about 3" in diameter in the snow; and I remember about 2 years ago finding a dead ewe which had been defending its lamb. Half its head had been ripped off and I realise now that it must have been this cat when it was younger."
Of the present killing Mr Todd said: "I have never seen anything like it. The skin was removed as cleanly as if it had been professionally skinned. The backbone and top of the skull were still there, but the ribs had been chewed right into the vertebrae. There was very little sign of a struggle...whatever killed the sheep did so very quickly and efficiently."
Scott Johnston, a vet called in by the police, said "In my opinion the killing was the work of a member of the cat family. There is no conclusive proof, but the neatness of the kill, the spacing of the toothmarks and the crushing of the bones all point to a feline predator."
That same day (12 Dec 1977) in the evening, Donald Mackenzie, of the Dunveaden Guest House, out hunting foxes with his son, shot and wounded a large animal they spotted swimming in the River Naver, a mile from Bettyhill.
He described the event: "My son Jim saw two red eyes in the river, about 9:30pm. We have permission to hunt foxes at night using a spotlight and it was this that detected the eyes. The animal got out of the water and I realised what it was. It was about the size of an Alsatian, dark coloured and had a white chest. It ran across the fields and we chased it in the Landrover, but it was moving at incredible speed.
"I stopped and it stopped. I whistled and it started coming back towards us, so I aimed and fired. It spun round, fell down and got up again, then limped off into the darkness. I think I hit it in the rear end. It was a pity I didnŐt have my more powerful rifle with me."
The Mackenzies told Sgt Donald Bruce of Bettyhill Police, of their encounter, and having seen Mr ToddŐs sheep carcass - "I knew it was something different." - he organised the armed searches.
He too recalled the time, 2 years earlier "when a couple of English tourists reported seeing a puma... they were very specific in their description and said it was a puma. For some reason their names were not taken, but now I wonder if they hold the key to all this.
"Maybe they let the animal loose because it was growing too big and they didnŐt want to pay Ł300 for the licence to keep it."
Another man, Alistair McLean, a milk man from Skerray, said he saw the creature "a year ago" while fox hunting with a crofter friend, Hugh MacKay, some of whose sheep had been killed.
"It was about lunchtime and we were walking across the moorlands when this animal got about 40 yards in front of us and ran off. I only got a glimpse, but it was broad in the back, strongly built and very fast. I thought it was a dull rusty colour. I was convinced it was big game."
Since then it has been seen in Caithness and other areas in Sutherland and locals have heard its screams in Skerray.
Primary school pupil, Jaqueline Carney, told of an animal she saw outside her home at Skerray a month ago.
"I was out playing at about 1pm when I saw a large animal in the field below the house. It ran across the park and jumped over the wall. Its face was round and cat-like and it had a long tail. I was quite frightened. I ran in to tell my mother but by then the beast had vanished."
Curiously, the paper remarks on the "odd coincidence" that almost exactly a year ago that week, schoolboys from Skerray saw a strange animal molesting sheep, 10 miles from Bettyhill, and one of the boys was James, son of Mr Mckenzie above.
In many of the Skerray depredations, the paper said, the carcasses were found skinned "with all the flesh and many bones removed."
Aberdeen Press and Journal, 15 th December 1977
 |
 |
 |
|
| Return to index | Return to Scottish Big Cats | Return to Highland | Return to 1976 |