Report from Chris Smith

Without any hard evidence we can only surmise

Big cats by David Hudson in "The Countryman's Weekly, 31 st May 2002

NEWS stories - real news stories - are sometimes a bit hard to find in our rather sleepy corner of Scotland. When something a little bit unusual does occur, it is pretty much guaranteed big, banner headlines in the local papers.

A death under mysterious circumstances certainly fits the bill - hence the sensational: "Stag Death Adds Force to 'Big Cat' Theories."

That this was big news locally can be judged by the other story given almost equal prominence on the front page. This was, and I kid you not, 'Lost Dog Returns Home.'

Never mind the war on terrorism, or the Queen Mother's funeral. We know what's important around here! There was even a picture.

But, what about this big cat?

According to the story, a stag had been found with injuries consistent to that of an attack from a big cat. The police had called out a local stalker to put the animal down, and a local vet had examined the carcass.

There were bite marks in the throat and deep scratches in the shoulders that strongly suggested an attack by a cat - and we are not talking domestic moggy here.

As it happens, the stalker is an old friend and sometime shooting companion and, naturally, I was keen to hear his opinion when I met him a couple of days later.

The police had telephoned him in the middle of the night having spotted the injured fallow buck in the lights of their patrol car.

Peter was on the scene within ten minutes or so and found the buck still bleeding heavily and unable to rise to its feet. His immediate thought was that this was not a road casualty and closer examination, after dispatching it, confirmed this.

The windpipe was crushed; there were deep lacerations in the shoulder and a bite in the hindquarters. Judging by the size of the scratches and the depth and spacing of the teeth marks, Peter was in little doubt that a large cat of some kind had attacked the buck.

There was a certain amount of circumstantial evidence as well. If the buck had been hit by a vehicle there would probably have been signs on the road - broken headlamp glass, plastic trim, skid marks and so on. But, there was nothing to indicate a road accident.

There was a pool of blood and a lot of hair in the field a few yards from where the buck was found.

Peter's reconstruction suggested that the buck had been attacked and seized by the throat, the cat's claws inflicting the marks on the buck's shoulders as they struggled.

Then the police patrol car had come along and the cat had fled from the headlamps, unseen by either of the policemen.

It is only theory, of course, but it is a theory advanced by a very experienced stalker, and it is the only one that seems to fit the known facts.

Can there really be big cats - be they pumas, panthers, mountain lions or whatever - living wild in South West Scotland?

Let us consider the evidence. There have been quite a few sightings in the area over the past four or five years, mostly quick glimpses of a 'large, cat-like creature' seen crossing the road in a motorist's headlights.

The most recent occurred when a woman driver spotted something beside the road in a village only a mile or two from where the dying buck was found. She stopped her car and got out to have a closer look - not, perhaps, the wisest course of action when confronted with a large and possibly hungry, predator.

Fortunately, the cat ran off or the Annandale Herald might have had an even better story for its front page.

Could a big cat - or several big cats - survive in the area over a number of years, yet never be seen clearly enough to be positively identified?

The area is well wooded and thinly populated. There are plenty of places where a nocturnal animal could lie-up during the day with no chance of being disturbed. We have literally thousands of badgers living in the woods, but how many members of the general public ever see one - except as a road kill?

And there is no shortage of prey. The woods are full of deer and the fields are stocked with sheep and cattle, not to mention hares, rabbits and pheasants.

There is no doubt that a big cat could survive. The question is whether it could survive unseen?

The general public may not see many live badgers, but every gamekeeper who goes out at night with a fox lamp is familiar with the sight of Brock, bumbling along through the fields, digging for grubs and turning over cowpats in search of worms.

Surely, if there are big cats living wild around here, they would be seen much more regularly, caught in the beam of a spotlight? Perhaps they would even respond to a squeak?

Does any reader with experience overseas know the answer?

And if there is a cat, quick enough and strong enough to pull down a fallow buck, then surely it would also turn its attention to the far easier prey of sheep, or young calves?

Yet our local veterinary investigation laboratory has performed no post mortems on stock with injuries such as those suffered by the unfortunate buck.

It is obviously impossible to be certain, one way or the other, until one of the cats is either killed, caught or captured on film in such a way as to confirm its identity.

There have been a few 'big cat' pictures in the past, but none that could be said to provide definite evidence of the existence of big cats living in the wild in Britain.

Until there is such evidence we can only surmise but, based on the details of this incident, I am inclined to think that there may well be.

The Countryman's Weekly, 31 st May 2002

---

Return to index	Return to Scottish Big Cats	Return to Dumfries and Galloway	Return to 2002

---