Report from Chris Smith

The beast is out there .. and I'm going to prove it

by Brendan McGinty in The Edinburgh Evening News, 9 th July 1997

Brian Wood stood still in amazement, barely able to believe his eyes, as he came face to whiskers with the so called Beast of West Lothian

He had been walking his dogs in a playing field close to his Boghall home one April evening.

Suddenly a muscular, panther-like creature, 4 ft long and 3 ft high, bounded out behind him from nearby shrubbery.

And as shocked Brian fumbled to shine his torch at the big cat, it leaped a 6 ft fence before disappearing into the Bathgate hills.

For most people such a close encounter would be a nightmare. But the incident merely sparked a fanatical interest which has since made Brian spend all his spare time in the hills hunting the black panther.

Doubt

His fiancée says he is obviously obsessed and experts doubt that the panther exists.

Police are sceptical too, but Brian, a self-employed landscaper, is determined to prove them all wrong.

And now he is preparing to devote even MORE time to the pursuit of the elusive beast.

He is setting up a hide in the Silvermines area of the hills - which will be manned, with the help of two pals, for 24 hours a day.

Brian, 32, said: 'When it came up behind me that day it was more shock and surprise than fear.'

'I just heard a rustling of leaves and I turned round to see it come out from the shrubbery.

'It came past me and leapt over a 6 ft fence - its tail didn't even touch the top of the fencing.

'I just stood and stared at the beast - I wasn't expecting to see it and it was all over in two minutes. Looking back on it, my only regret is that I haven't seen the animal again.'

Since that April evening, the one man panther patrol has gone into action almost every night, without any success.

Safety

But Brian says he will build the hide for the safety of local kids and pets - and the situation is deadly serious to him.

He insists the panther has made THREE nocturnal visits to the heart of the Boghall housing estate where he lives.

Brian added: 'I'm worried about the local kids, the pets and even the adults.

'But I'm also concerned about the panther itself surviving outside its natural environment.'

The special hide will be just 4 ft high, with a canvas covering and a stool.

Along with two partners, who do not wish to be named, Brian intends to sit alone for eight hours at a time in the hide waiting for the panther to make an appearance.

His fiancée Angela Speirs, 30, groaned: 'He is absolutely obsessed with that panther and I must admit I will be a wee bit worried about him.

Protection

'If the panther gets him he's had it as far as I am concerned. I'd rather he took a gun up into the hills with him - I don't want the panther hurt, but it would be good protection.'

She says she has also seen the beast - crossing the street early one morning in Elizabeth Drive, where the couple live with Angela's children, Sarah, seven and John, ten.

Brian says a neighbour also spotted the panther in the area behind his block of flats.

And a second neighbour is said to have seen the panther prowling through local gardens.

Local mum Susan Laidlaw - who says her seven year-old son Robert saw the big cat on a shooting trip in the hills - said: 'I never think what Brian is doing is great. I would not let my kids walk up there again - we are talking about a dangerous animal here.'

If they are able to capture it then so much the better.'

Claims

But Brian still cannot convince the experts that the truth is out there. He says the SSPCA and Edinburgh Zoo have been slow to react to his claims.

Mike Flynn of the SSPCA said: 'We have never heard of any sightings in that area - the closest incidents have been in the Pentlands.

'Building a hide could be dangerous if there IS something up there and it's not the sort of thing we would recommend.'

Police are also unconvinced by the claims.

But Brian says that reaction proves he MUST get a picture of the big cat to convince them to take swift action.

He said 'I don't think I am obsessed with it'

'But I KNOW it is out there and I won't be happy until I have my picture.'

Hunt for big cats continues

The most famous big cat sightings have come from in and around Bodmin Moor, Cornwall.

Since 1983, arguments have raged about whether a big cat - or cats - exist on Bodmin Moor and in nearby Exmoor. Two years ago the Government launched an £8,000 enquiry into the sightings in the West Country.

It concluded there was no evidence a so-called 'Beast of Bodmin' existed.

The Highlands are also a fertile ground for big cats. A puma was captured in Aviemore in 1993, eleven years after another puma had been captured in the same area.

And there have been several reports of a puma-type creature in Blairadam Wood, West Fife, over the past four years.

© The Edinburgh Evening News, July 9 th 1997

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