Report from Paul Russell
Media Student is Sceptic about Ayrshire Big Cats
By Paul Russell, Kilmarnock, December 1996
Through the making of a short video on ABC sightings we came into contact with a number of eyewitnesses, zoologists and experts. My initial reaction is that the sightings in Dundonald can be explained away by the simple fact that the house next to Frasers Garden Centre has a large black poodle which is allowed to exercise in the Garden Centre fields.
Unfortunately the media interest has in my opinion created a willingness tor peoplE to claim To havE sighted the Big Cat, certainly the claims of the two poachers must be taken with a very large pinch of salt. Local people ( the poachers excluded) were very keen to talk to us and I feel the difference of opinion is reflected in the video.
Sergeant John Keely of Troon was quick to write off the possible presence of any ABC's in the Dundonald area. Although in the context of the Dundonald situation this was probably appropriate it should not be taken as a stock response to any other sightings in the Kilmarnock area.
One major problem with the project was the lack of witnsses, however the one witness who did talk to us Ieft me with the definite impression that she did see what she believed was a big cat. In her favour the description she made was not of Puma, but more like a cougar. Both of the experts featured in the video stated that the Puma was the least likeliest of all the big cats to be surviving wild in Britain.
Richard 0' Grady of Glasgow Zoo Park believes has come across evicience of :ABC 's in the wild as locally as Eaglesham. A pen had been destroyed and a number of chicken eaten. the Police investigating wanted an expert to confirm that tracks found nearby were dog tracks. Mr. O'Grady told the Police that the prints were in fact f rom a big Cat, there were no claw marks, and as dogs don't have retractable claws the onlv alternative is that the tracks belonged to a large big cat.
Mr. O'Grady also suggested that Britain probably ought to have a lynx wild, as we are missing a top predator. This is backed up by the fact that the Lynx survives quite happily in France and the fact that Scotland's forests are dangerously overun bv Red Dear, a problem that animals such as the lynx would have little problem amending.
Di Francis, naturalist & erstwhile journalist as well as published ABC expert has devoted 20 vears of her lite to the study of wild cats in Britain. When the project visited her Invernesshire home she produced countless clippings and artefacts of evidence that suggest the possibility of ABC's in Britain.
A skull which was discovered in 1995 has baffed zoologist's because it defied definition as any recognised species of big cat.
In her books she has published what is probably the clearest photo of a wild big Cat I have seen, it also inclucies a scale which allows you to judge the size of the anirnal (very big). More interestingly she has managed to breed wildcats and made unexpected observations about the nature of their markings which change as the cats mature. The most accessible theory she has on wild cats is the emergence of a hitherto unrecognised species of large wildcat.
The new species is called the 'Rabbit Headed cat', which as you would expect has an unusually dimensioned head. The elongated skull allows heightened senses but restricts cranial capacity, making for a very efficicnt and very unreasonable killing machine.
>P>One such animal was shot in East Kilbride after killing two large dogs, it has been classified as a wild cat because it had just been catching prey in a near by reservoir, only the Scottish Wildcat is known to swirn for prey.Unfortunately the appropriate establishments are not ready to accept many of Di Francis' theories, in fact she hinted at several cover-ups involving material she has submitted for their diagnosis.
Mr. O'Grady pointed that the motives may be financial, in France large payments are made to farmers for livestock killed by the Lynx.
I don't know how readv I am to accept that there are ABC's roaming the countryside of Ayrshire, although as they say , don't believe anything until its been offically denied. I don't doubt the word of the witnesses, or the experts but until I see one for myself I will err on the side of scepticism.
Ayrshire Big Cats:
Just a few points although the letter I sent Paul was much longer:
The initial sightings of a cat-like animal I received from the Dundonald area was that of a tawny coloured creature. It was only when the press got hold of the reports that it miracously changed into a black animal. Then I received two reports, one from the poachers, Stephen Steiner was most definitely a hoax.
The initial sightings were between Fraser's Garden Center and apprx one mile up the road, not at the center itsself.
There was only a lack of witnesses prepared to appear on the video. The problem with the experts saying that the puma is the most unlikliest of animals to be roaming the British countryside is that it is the puma that is most often described and identified as being sighted. A cougar is a puma and vica versa!
December 1996
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