Report from Daniel M. Bamping
Black panther sighting by pigeon shooters
15 th August 1995
In the witnesses own words:
I came face-to-face with a black panther (20 yds away) on a sunny summer afternoon while out shooting wood pigeon on a friend's farm in 1995.
We were walking alongside a hedgerow when the horses in the paddock started to get spooked by something. Thinking it was us with the guns, we kept quiet and walked slowly away from the horses.
Then from the long grass by the hedge arose a large black panther (wide head, green eyes, long tail). The panther had been cat-napping in the sun, and had just woken judging by its startled behaviour.
With us coming from a down-wind direction, it was as surprised as us. My friend and I looked in amazement straight at the beast for a couple of seconds. I even raised the 12-bore shotgun and had it in my sights - but wasn't quick enough to get a shot off before the cat darted though the hawthorne hedge and into a field of high potato shaws.
That was the last we saw of it, but there several large pawprints left in the dust which confirmed the size of the cat.
Thinking back on the sighting, I was glad I didn't let go with the gun 1)a 12-bore with game shoot would have just made it livid, and 2) I would have had to live forever with the guilt!!!
time: 16.00
location: Woodhill, Angus, Scotland
area type: wooded paddock between fields
colour: black
species: black panther
appearance: long tail
length: 6-8
height: 3-4
witnesses: 2
evidence: paw prints, flattened grass
15 th August 1995
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