Report from Chris Smith
Lynx spotted at Coldingham
June 2000
My sighting was at Coldingham St. Abbs on the Eastern borders of Scotland. We were taking a walk with our dogs through some woodland early one morning (June 2000) and I saw what I at first thought was a wolf (silver grey and white markings with a white rough around it's face) It was about 30 feet in front of us and I thought, that it couldn't be a wolf, not here, it must be some sort of collie dog, it paused for a few seconds and I realised that it couldn't be a dog it didn't have a muzzle and it moved very much like a cat does. As it paused for those few seconds I noticed that it was carrying something (either a rabbit or a squirrel) which was dangling in it's mouth, it did not seem phased by us or the dogs and after a few seconds disappeared very quietly into the undergrowth. Whatever this animal was, I am sure it was some sort of cat it was about the size of a collie dog, medium coat length, it appeared not to have a tail, and had silver grey/black and white markings with what seemed to be a grey/white rough around its face. We were staying near these woods and the next morning we saw on roadside opposite a completely stripped carcass of a very young deer, all that remained of it was its head and hooves. After returning home I tried to find out exactly what this animal could have been, and my conclusion is that it was some type of Lynx, either Eurasian or Canadian. Could this type of cat be roaming about the borders of Scotland - looking back I feel quite honoured that I saw it!
June 2000
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