Report from Mike Inglis
Scottish Big Cats are grateful to Mr Taylor for lending us his video.
Big Cat Video
From the Dundee Courier, 19 th November 1997
A Dunfermline man believes he has video footage of a big cat that has been seen a number of times on waste ground on the outskirts of the town. Robert Taylor, who lives in Craigston Drive, near Queen Margaret Hospital, is convinced the beast he has captured on film is a large wild cat of some kind. Now he is keen to hear from anyone else in the area who thinks they may also have seen the mystery animal.The retired gardener and caretaker, who worked for the Carnegie UK Trust in Dunfermline, contacted The Courier after reading a report in Monday's paper that there may be a puma, or some similar big cat, living in north-east Fife. Various sightings have been made across the region, but Mr Taylor says he has seen a big cat six times on waste ground just opposite his house.
Mr Taylor (68) said, "The last time I saw the thing was in March of this year, but most of the sightings were back in 1995 over quite a short space of time. The first time was from our bedroom window upstairs when I noticed the animal on waste ground opposite the house. It was definitely too big to be an ordinary cat." The second sighting was caught on video, again from the upstairs window. "I saw it further down on the same piece of waste ground and called my wife Margaret and son Robert, who recorded it from the bedroom window."
The brief piece of footage which was taken just before 10 pm on July 4, 1995, shows a large, dark, cat-like animal moving along a disused railway line about 200-250 yards away from the Taylors' home. The animal is visible for a good few seconds as it walks along the path. It then stops outside the back of a new house before disappearing out of view down the side of the disused embankment. Susan Craig, from the Palace Rigg Country Park in Cumbernauld, was called in and shown the footage.
Mr Taylor added, "She even came through with a deer hound and measured out the distance to make a comparison with our video and what we saw." He said it looked as though the dog and the big cat were about the same size. "When I read the bit in the paper I thought it would be interesting to hear from anyone else who has seen this beast. I only know of one other person so far, a fireman from the town." Anyone wishing to contact Robert can do so at his home address or by phoning him on 01383 731103.
19 th November 1997
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