Report from Mike Inglis and George Markie
Large black animal leaps over fences
July 2000
I have only just discovered your site due to an article in the Scotsman otherwise I would have contacted you sooner.
Details: I was driving westwards, in the dark, along the south side of Loch Leven in Kinrossshire at about 11.00 at night. A large animal, about the size of a small Alsation dog leapt over the fence on the Loch side of the road and stopped momentarily in my headlights. I braked to a halt. The animal looked at me, then loaped over the fence on the Benarty Hill side of the road.
The animal was black with a long body and thick, undulating, rope-like tail. The face was squat, quite unlike a dog. The eyes glowed orange in the headlights of the car. I would estimate that I was approx 25 to 30 metres from the animal. I got out of the car and peered over the fence but could see nothing in the darkness. There was no sound whatsoever. The animal was most cat-like in appearance.
I went to the police station in Kinross and reported the siting. The desk sergeant was rather dismissive but the young woman police constable took details of the sighting and confirmed that I was not alone in having seen a strange animal in the area. I have always wondered if there had been any further sightings in the area.
I would be happy to give you further details if required. My sighting could, no doubt, be confirmed with Kinross Police.
Brian.
Follow up on sighting
Another one from Scotland's only free Safari Park ;-) George.Date: July 2000 23:00hrs
Location: On the B9097 from Glenrothes to Junct.5 M90.
Flat open fields on the Loch Leven side of the road. Flat fields going up to a very steep hillside and cliff on the Benarty Hill side of the road.
Weather: A dry, dark, clear night with good visibility.
Description: Black or very dark all over. Glowing orange/yellow eyes in the car headlights. Smaller in shoulder height than a German Shepherd but gave the impression of a having a long body.
Shape of Head: Rounded and slightly squat - definitely cat like. Gave the impression of being quite powerful. Rounded ears - not too large and definitely not pointed like a dog.
Length: Including the tail it was longer than the width of my car. Body ncluding the head must have been almost 1 metre - perhaps 0.9 metre.
Tail: It appeared to be almost the same length as the body. Thick and ropelike. There was no tapering or feathering at all.
Movement: It could only be described as fluid. It cleared fences on either side of the road with ease and in what I would describe as a lolloping motion.
Distance: At the closest point it was only about 25 to 30 metres away.
It crossed the fence on the north side of the road, them stopped momentarily in the middle of the road (perhaps for 2 to 3 seconds) to stare at the car. It crouched slightly nd turned its face towards me, then turned and crossed the fence on the south side of the road.
It appeared to be fairly indifferent. It certainly did not take off in a panic when it leapt the second fence.
I got out of the car and peered over the fence where it had disappeared but saw nothing in the darkness. There was no sound whatsoever. The sheep which were in the field did not appear to be spooked either. I realised that it was not too bright to be peering over a fence after what appeared to be a large cat and retreated to my car. I then reported the sighting to the police in Kinross.
The sighting lasted between 5 and 10 seconds.
July 2000
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