Posts Tagged ‘Big Cats’
The elusive African Golden Cat
Three images of one of Africa’s most elusive cats has been caught on camera.
The African Golden Cat (Profelis aureate) was caught with a digital infrared camera trap, set up by Yale biologist Dr Gary Aronsen.
Cat info: Due to its extremely reclusive living style, not much is known about this cat’s behaviour.
The African Golden Cat is able to climb, but hunts primarily on the ground. Prey includes rodents, birds, small monkeys, the tree hyrax, small antelope species, such as the duiker, and even the Giant Forest Hog. These cats have also been known to take domestic poultry and livestock.
Source: BBC Earth News.
Image: © Gary Aronsen.
August was a fantastic month for Cryptoworld, with over 20,000 unique (new) visitors and almost 800,000 hits! Unfortunately hits aren’t really a true indication of the amount of visitors to a site, but it would be great if we can top the 1 million mark before the end of the year!
Anyway – the top stories for August are as follows – interestingly a couple of old stories have crept back into the top ten!
Scary Ants?
1) Scary! Ants form Global Mega-Colony
Very Scary: A single mega-colony of ants has colonised much of the world, scientists have discovered.
Read the whole start here >>>
2) Mermaid spotted in Israel
Israel was in the grips of mermaid fever in August after numerous sightings of the mythical sea creature off its coast.
Read the whole story here >>>
3) Orange balls of light seem over South London
Crowds of people gathered in Balham and Tooting (South London) to watch two sets of orange lights fly in formation across the night sky.
Still a very popular story – now with 75+ comments!!!
Read the whole story here >>>
The alleged Sewer Monster!
4) Very Weird Unknown life form found in Sewers! (Video)
Unsurprisingly, the Sewer monster is still in the top 10. What is it? The debate seems to still be ongoing.
Read more, watch the video and decide for yourselves >>>
5) Sewer Creature is REAL – but not what you’d expect!
One possible answer – Bloodworms (Tubifex tubifex) – what’s your thoughts?
Watch the video here >>>
6) Lights, Lanterns and UFOs!
Lots and lots of people are seeing strange lights all over the world. Here in the UK, there are new sightings on an almost daily basis – but what are they?
Read the full story and watch the video here >>>
The Bare-faced bulbul
7) Bald Songbird discovered in Laos
The latest strange creature to emerge from a rugged region of Laos is a bald songbird, dubbed the “bare-faced bulbul”.
Read the full story here >>>
8 ) 4 new Thylacine sightings in 3 months!
An old story from June 2006 has crept back up the charts – Four new sighting of the Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacine) have been reported in the last three months on the outskirts of Portland, Southern Australia.
Read the whole story here >>>
Helensburgh Big Cat?
9) Big Cat captured on video in Helensburgh, Argyll?
An off-duty Ministry of Defence police dog handler has taken a video of what he claims is a panther-sized big cat.
Read the story (with photo) here >>>
10) Cannibal Frog found in Australia
The matchbox-sized green-stripe frog normally eats bugs – but this one swallowed a green tree frog.
Read the full story (with photo) here >>>
A still from the Helensburgh Big Cat Video
An off-duty Ministry of Defence police dog handler has taken a video of what he claims is a panther-sized big cat.
Pc Chris Swallow was helping a friend with their garden in Helensburgh, Argyll, when he spotted the black creature on a nearby railway line.
The officer, who is stationed at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde, said the cat was as big as a Labrador dog.
Big cats have been reported in the area in the past, with several sightings of the so-called Coulport Cougar.
Pc Swallow said he saw the animal on 30 June while working in the garden at Kildonan Drive, Helensburgh.
He could tell it was not a Labrador, as he first thought, because of the way it was walking, and because its tail was about twice the length that a dog’s would have been.
Source, more information and the Video can be found on the BBC website:
Policeman takes ‘big cat’ video.
1) UFOs and Helicopters filmed near Horn Lake (Video)
Interesting video of unknown lights and what appears to be a lot of helicopters over Horn Lake, south of Memphis (exact location unknown). Half way through the video 3 new lights seem to appear out of thin air below the original group.
Watch the video here >>>
Giant Earthworm
2) Giant Earthworms, not Deathworms?
Giant earthworms average at 1 metre (100cm) long and 2cm in diameter but can reach 3 metre in length.
Read the whole story here >>>
3) Another Montauk Monster (Video) new or old news?
Another one of Loren Coleman’s “Montauk Monsters” has apparently been washed up on a beach near Long Island.
Watch the video here >>>
4) Orange balls of light seem over South London
Still a very popular story – possible something to do with the amount of weird lights that are seen over the UK?
Crowds of people gathered in Balham and Tooting (South London) last week (August 2006) to watch two sets of orange lights fly in formation across the night sky.
Read the full story here – lots of comment too >>>
5) Mystery primate skull found in Dallas (Video)
A plumber working on a construction project outside a North Dallas school unearthed a mysterious skull. Wait, before you get excited, it’s just a monkey skull and not evidence of Bigfoot.
Watch the video here >>>
Giant foot-shaped enclosures
1) Archaeological discovery enormous foot-shaped enclosures in Jordan
“The ‘foot’ structures that we found in the Jordan valley are the first sites that the People of Israel built upon entering Canaan and they testify to the biblical concept of ownership of the land with the foot,” said archaeologist Prof. Adam Zertal.
On the eve of the Passover holiday, researchers from the University of Haifa reveal an exceptional and exciting archaeological discovery that dates back to the time of the People of Israel’s settlement in the country
Read the full story here >>>
2) American made UFO spotted in Afghanistan
An unidentified, jet propelled UAV has been spotted operating from an American airbase in Afghanistan. It’s a flying wing design, similar to the X-45s and X-47s built as development aircraft for the U.S. Air Force and Navy.
Read the full story here >>>
3) Ring shaped UFO filed near Los Angeles Airport
An interesting video of a Ring-Shaped UFO that first appeared on Youtube in December 2008 has started doing the usual rounds, but before you dismiss it, have a look as it does look intriguing.
Watch the video here >>>
Duffus Castle big Cat
4) Big Cat photographed near Duffus Castle, Scotland
Two very intreging photos of a what looks like a large black cat near Duffus Castle, Scotland on Easter Sunday 2009.
See the pictures and read the full story here >>>
5) Betty & Barney Hill Alien Abduction exhibition
The case of Betty and Barney Hill is perhaps one of the most famous alleged UFO abductions cases from the early days of Flying Saucers and UFOs, now a major exhibition has opened with thousands of items belonging to the Hills – from the torn dress Betty wore that night, to tapes of the Hills recounting their experience under hypnosis.
Read and watch the full story here >>>
6) UFO filmed Near Asteroid 2009-DD-45
Video of an unknown object purposely avoiding and Asteroid – could it be a UFO? Or a totally new generation of terrestrial aircraft?
Watch the Asteroid video here – also read the comments!!! >>>
Almost perfectly preserved baby Mammoth
7) Milk and Feces found in preserved baby Mammoth
Fecal residue and traces of prehistoric milk have been found in the digestive track of an almost perfectly preserved baby mammoth, according to a new analysis.
Read the whole story here >>>
8 ) Mystery animal photographed in New Zealand
A mysterious creature, about the size of a large dog has been photographed by tourists in New Zealand.
Read the full story here >>>
9) Gum Hill Beast (Bigfoot) Video?
Humm, questionable footage of Bigfoot type creatures are always cropping up. The latest video to do the rounds is this, the Beast of Gum Hill.
Watch the video here >>>
10) Collection of NASA Anomalies – aka UFOs
A great compilation of NASA footage showing unknown objects. Some just happen to pass by the field of view, while others appear to be purposly tracked and discussed by NASA.
Watch the video here >>>
Do big cats live wild in the UK?
That exact date is not clear, but there has been another big cat sighting near Bridgnorth in shropshire, UK.
“It was just strolling along and had a long, wafting tail,” she said. “It definitely wasn’t a domestic cat it was bigger than an Alsation.”
Heather, who travels to Bridgnorth to kayak along the river and go for country walks, said: “We believe we saw the cat near Hampton Loade around 4.30pm. At first I didn’t really think that much of it, but there were four of us who saw it.
“We thought it may have been a dog, but it was just the way it was strolling along the field – cool as a cat really. We would like to know if any other people saw it.”
Heather is not the only person to have spotted a big cat in the Bridgnorth area. Chris Summers, who works at Shatterford Lakes, said she saw a big cat around 14 months ago, which was at least the size of a sheep.
Source and full story can be found here: Big cat on the prowl (Bridgnorth Journal).
More UK Big Cat Sightings – this one is interesting and the photos are pretty good.
Duffus Castle big Cat
Craig (30), from Lossiemouth, was at Duffus Castle on Easter Sunday with his wife, Angela, and 3 children when he sighted the creature.
“I have three house cats, so I know how big they are, and it was about twice the size of a normal cat,” he said.
“It had broader shoulders and was far more muscular. Its ears were much bigger as well.”
This was the second time Craig has caught sight of a black cat, at the same location, but the first time he has captured it on film.
“I have a Canon SLR camera which has a telephoto zoom lens, so I was able to get a good shot of it.”
Craig estimated he was about 400 feet away from the cat when he spotted it emerging from woodland near the castle.
“It definitely wasn’t something you would have walking about the house. I was watching it for more than five minutes.”
Source: The Northern Scot.
There seems to be an every increasing number of strange big cat sighting here in the UK, below are five recent reports and stories from across the UK.
Is this the Fen Tiger?
First up, The Elusive Fen Tiger.
A farmer (name withheld) from Soham Fen just outside Ely, claims to have spotted and photographed a large black cat on the 1st of April. Now that date is a difficult to take serious as it is obviously known for all sorts of tom-foolery, but the ‘beast’ was seen wandering around Soham Fen in the early hours.
“It was standing around 5ft at the shoulder with distinctive black and white markings and a menacing set of teeth. I kept my distance as it looked my way and he didn’t look very happy. I keep a few chickens, so I rang my missus to tell her to keep an eye out.” said the farmer.
Source: Ely Standard.
Black Panther sighting near North Elmham, Norfolk
There have been numerous sightings of the panther-like animal near Aylsham and Aylmerton and now the beast has been spotted in North Elmham.
Daphne and Reg Ivany, from Dereham, saw the animal while they were walking near the County School railway track on February 20. Mr Ivany said the cat was about 50 yards away in an adjacent field. “We wondered what it was at first. It was bigger than a dog. It had a long body and a long bushy tail. From the side view you could see it had a square jaw. It seemed to glide along like a cat.
Source: Norwich Evening News.
Preston Dock Beast!
Big Cat seen in Lancashire dock!
Concrete plant worker Tony Young claims to have discovered a mysterious sight in the water of the outer basin at Preston Dock, off Lockside Road.
He said: “I was walking on the dock at about 8.15am and I saw it. ”There was a lad there who goes round doing the lifeboat rings. “He was just coming up to me and I said ‘What does that look like to you?’ He said it was a log.”
But Mr Young thinks it was the body of an animal – possibly a big cat. “The face of it looks like a big cat, like a puma or a panther”, “It doesn’t look like a soft toy because a soft toy would have a friendly face, this had a really mean face and a short snout.”
Source: Lancashire Evening Post
Do big cats prowl Sir Paul McCartney’s house?
Environmentalists have secured £150,000 to help determine – once and for all – if big cats exist in and around the Scottish home of Sir Paul McCartney. Sir Paul has a farmhouse on Kintyre, Arygllshire, which he famously immortalised with the single Mull of Kintyre. Now the peninsula is getting a reputation for big four-legged creatures.
A number of sightings of a large black cat have been reported at Machrihanish – on the southern tip – and other places on Kintyre over the last few years. The big cat claims have now prompted a formal fact-finding mission. The survey will focus on the 88-mile stretch from Tarbert to Southend known as the Kintyre Way. Locals and visitors alike will be asked to report sightings of big cats along the route.
Source: STV
Shaun Baxter with Claw Marks
And lastly, Dad shocked by big cat sighting!
CLAWED into a tree trunk, these fearsome-looking scratch marks could be evidence of the latest sighting of a mysterious black panther thought to be prowling East Anglia.
Shaun Baxter, a father of one, said he spotted the big cat gouging out the markings while he was shooting rabbits in a field just off Bacton Road between North Walsham and Edingthorpe in Norfolk on Sunday afternoon.
He said: “I was standing next to a tree in my camouflage gear and about 70 yards away was a big black panther-like cat. “It was scratching on a tree, like a normal household cat would do at its scratching post.”
Source: EADT24
Are Big Cats loose in the UK?
Animal welfare officers from Pembrokeshire County Council are investigating a second sighting of a big cat in the Johnston area.
The panther-like animal was spotted over the weekend by a husband and wife who live in the village but who do not want to be named.
They described the animal as black, between four to five feet long with a curled tail and they watched it for several minutes.
Animal welfare officers have visited the scene to discover if it left tracks which could lead to its identification.
Source: News Wales – read the whole story.
Big Cats have recently been reported near Creech Barrow, Purbeck, Dorset
Dorset Life magazine has a very interesting article on Dorset Big Cats.
Sightings of felid phantasms stalking Great Britain have surged since the mid 1970s. Dorset, if not as prolific as Devon and Cornwall, has had more than enough to attract the interest of committed trackers of Alien Big Cats, as they are often termed, including the police. According to their wildlife officer, PC John Snellin, ABC sightings in Dorset average around 30 per year.
In 2005, sightings around Bournemouth and Poole prompted Dorset Police to issue a plea to holidaymakers to dial 999 if a suspect animal was observed. This spate included a supposed puma present in Bournemouth’s West Cliff Road. Lately, Wareham and Purbeck have not been neglected by big cats as suitable habitat, according to reports. Further west, a mystery cat was seen with increasing frequency near the village of Broadwindsor. It was described as being the size of an Alsatian dog, and sightings of it spread to the Beaminster and Bridport localities.
Read the full article, On the prowl by Mark Burrows (external link to Dorset Life).
