The latest issue of BBC Wildlife magazine has an interesting article regarding the possibility of lynx reintroduction into the woods of Britain. The most frustrating aspect of the article however was the word on the wildlife 'experts' who were quick to dismiss the possibility that large, exotic cats already roam the wilds of Britain. The usual questions were asked, "Why isn't one caught in a trap ?", "Why aren't they run over ?", it really is a high level of ignorance which was confirmed to me when I received a sighting yesterday from a female witness named Sian who was on a train back from London. Sian is a credible witness who has, in the past had twp encounters with a black leopard near her Rolvenden home and yesterday, before dusk she was fortunate again. Whilst travelling between Paddock Wood and Marden a large, black animal ran across a field about 50 metres away. The animal was not a dog....and it was bigger than an Alsatian. It moved like a cat. Bizarrely, Sian was one of the only people aboard the train to see the animal which pretty much proves just how alert people ARE NOT when it comes to wildlife.

I may sound old fashioned but nowadays commuters seem buried in their iphones, PC's and newspapers, and yet the sight out of the window is far more interesting than the contents of the latest social networking site. Last year only two people on a carriage holding some 30 or so people saw a wild boar in a field so it goes to show the lack of awareness. Being on a train may not seem the most likely place to see a 'big cat' especially as most of the surroundings at times are a blur, but even so, the railway networks cut through the woods of the south-east providing a glimpse inot a habitat rarely seen by the general public. The railway line is perfect for a large cat to navigate by - alongside a railway line there is enough food and cover to hide an elusive predator which is why some sightings take place in back gardens in seemingly unlikely areas such as Strood, Halling, Cuxton etc. Another great place for a large cat to lurk at night is a golf course - not the sort of place people frequent. At the moment investigations are under way in Sevenoaks after some elusive wild boar have been seen damaging a course.

I always advise people when they are a passenger in a car or on a train to scan the hedgerows, treelines etc, because these are the areas where a cat will stalk.

Last saturday I spent many hours, with a friend, sitting out in the vast woods of the North Downs. The area is perfect for a large cat or two to hide. From 11:00 am until the late hours we saw two people all day, a dog walker and someone on a bike, but with the Blue Bell's popping up, the woods provided ample cover for any animal that did not wish to be seen. As the rains came down around dusk, sitting out scanning the hedgerows made for an eerie experience. Nope, we never saw anything, except for a wet fox and a scurrying rabbit...and the intriguing bright eyeshine of an animal that was gone in a second (it wasn't a fox/badger/rabbit - the eye shine was bright and a long way away) but the foreboding woods that stretched as far as the eye could see, just confirmed to me just how naive people are regarding the existence of these animals and the woods we still have. At one point we during mid afternoon we disturbed a resting owl which fluttered off into the trees, we were so close to it and yet never knew it was there until it rushed from the bushes. A large cat could lay up just feet away and not be seen. It reminds me of a recent sighting near Halstow concerning a female witness who was picking berries when she heard a terrible growl which came from the bushes below her. Immediately the woman questioned herself then continued picking until it happened again. When she peered down into the thicket she saw an enormous black cat peering back. This had taken place on a roadside. Cats have a remarkable ability to hide in the most unlikely of places.

Tracking a large cat is difficult but if you can, try to think like the cat, and only then can you give yourself a remote chance of seeing something. If you are fortunate enough to see such an animal I can guarantee  that the experience will stay with you forever.

This morning I received a very interesting phonecall. In my previous post I mentioned how the occasional sceptic is known to have a sighting of a 'big cat'. The chap who phoned me today was one of those, but also the type of person used to spending time in the wilds not only of Kent, but South Africa and other terrain across the world. The man, who lives in Kent, is an experienced mountaineer, a keen rambler, who has spent more than thirty years walking through woods, forests, mountains and valleys, and much of his time has been spent around the wooded pathways of the North Downs. According to the man, on the Thursday of March 8th, at 7:30 pm approximately, he'd been taking a stroll to get fit for an upcoming hike through the Highlands of Scotland. He'd been admiring the full mooon that hung low in the sky like a copper plate, and his journey had taken him close to Walderslade, back to Boxley, Burham and Blue Bell Hill. He'd been walking down a pathway in the woods when suddenly he heard a noise unlike anything he'd heard before. He told me, "It was as if someone was coughing about twenty-five yards away....at first I thought someone was ill in the woods but I couldn't see anyone and there were no sheep about which also make a coughing noise."

The man continued his walk when suddenly, he saw, about 5 yards away, off the pathway, in the wood, an enormous dark shape. The witness wanted to believe it was a labrador dog, but again, the noise was unusual. "I reached for a small light I carry with me and yet when I looked back the animal had gone. I believe I saw a leopard - I'd heard about these stories before and didn't believe them and have spent decades walking around these parts and never seen anything unusual, and yet there it was."

The leopard is known for its deep, sawing cough-like noise as well as a warning hiss and bubbly, guttural growl.

The witness added: "I've been to Africa and seen lions but to see this animal in your own backyard is amazing. I was hesitant to report it at first."

Interestingly, as mentioned on this blog of mine, only a few weeks ago I'd been in the same area with a friend looking for evidence of such an animal. I found leopard scat a few months back near the quarries at Blue Bell Hill, but the Downs are such a vast area, and stretch for miles and miles down into the heart of Kent. I'm hoping to investigate the area of the sighting, but it was actually nice speaking to someone who knows their nature and the sounds one should expect with regards to evening rambles.

Sadly, on the night the man was seeing his first ever black leopard, I was a few miles away at Chatham Hatch conducting a talk so I couldn't follow the sighting up immediately. When I conduct talks there can be any number from 10 to 500 people in attendance. I've given talks in people's front rooms, to huge halls, and I'm amazed at just how many people come forward to tell me of the animals - mainly 'big cats' they've seen, whic proves just how many people do not report their sightings at first. One man mentioned that one night he was out in the fields of Chartham, with a group of friends when they all clearly saw a large lynx which eyed them up rather casually before strolling off into the shadows. Another lady reported how her friends had mocked her for many years after she'd had a daylight sighting of a black leopard in a wooded valley near the village.

The so-called 'beast of Blue Bell Hill' seemingly came to life in 1997 when the Kent Today newspaper created the headline. However, sightings date back many years previous. The image here shows the Kent Today coverage of a smaller cat that was photographed in 1998 by Harry Matthews, even though the image was snapped on the other side of the river at Cooling. Last year I was derided on a local history forum by a warden who claimed that, quite matter of factly, "There is no beast of Blue Bell Hill...." because he'd never seen it. If one stands at the picnic on Blue Bell Hill's Common Road and looks across the beautiful Downs, you'd have to be rather ignorant to think that such a setting could not hide a large cat or two. Aylesford, Wouldham, Burham, Walderslade Woods, Nashenden Valley, etc etc, are places where elusive 'big cats' have been seen, but still, not everyone can be convinced, but just remember, even people used to spending time in the local woods do have occasional sightings of these animals. As the witness said to me at the end of the phone call, "It makes me wonder now just how many times I've not seen the animal but it's actually seen me!"

Think about it...

When I conduct lectures and write books about my research into 'big cats', people often come up to me and ask me why I became a 'monster hunter'. Mind you, some people also ask me, "How the hell is being a 'monster hunter' a full-time job ?", haha! As I've mentioned previously, I began collecting data on 'big cat' sightings across the south-east when I was about 9, and through one or two full-time jobs I continued to write and to investigate as well as research sightings of a more folkloric nature. 'Big cats' in the woods of Kent, etc, are very much real animals, but I was always interested in monsters as a kid - as most kids should be - unless today of course they get sucked into the atrocities of programmes such as The X-Factor! Anyway, a few years ago I walked out of my appalling day job and realised there must be more to life than the 9-5 and the stresses and strains, and it was whilst working one day that I heard myself on the radio that I thought to myself, "I can't carry on doing this...." So, as Christmas came I collected my thoughts, and went back to my job...for a couple of hours....then walked out, and never looked back. I'm of the opinion that if you can find a niche in life, or at least have a shade of originality then you might get somewhere doing the things you love. Mind you, the biggest inspiration of all, came via my dad and grandad who, as a kid, often told me ghost stories. Everybody - whether you believe in them or not - loves the idea of a mystery - unless one is blinkered by what newspapers and tv programmes tell you. Even so, I come from a big family where there is lots of tradition and old fashioned values. As a kid three things changed the course of my life. One was a movie called The Legend of Boggy Creek, a '70s US flick made in a docu-drama style way which, so many years ago, was way ahead of its time and paved the way for modern films such as The Blair Witch Project. The Legend Of Boggy Creek was a creepy, low-budget movie about a Bigfoot-type monster roaming the river bottoms of Arkansas. Around the same time I was given a book by a relative of mine, and the book was called A Dictionary of Monsters & Mysterious Beasts, and was written by a Carey Miller. The book was an a-z of bizarre creatures, mostly mythical, but some allegedly true, such as the yeti and the Loch Ness monster, and I devoured it greedily as my mind worked overtime. However, the main turning point for me came when one dark night my dad took me to a place between Rochester and Maidstone called Blue Bell Hill. Now, I'm sure most of you readers have heard about the Blue Bell Hill ghost story, in fact if you type it in on Google or look at a majority of British or Kent-based ghost books you'll get so much information. Sadly, much of this information is incorrect, but the story - when I was a kid - freaked me out but also intrigued me. The village of Blue Bell Hill and its surrounding woods is ancient. The village is divided, by a dual carriageway, into two parts, the Lower Bell (where there is a pub) and the Upper Bell, near the crematorium.

According to my dad, and so many people there is a ghost story attached to this old hill which concerns a phantom hitchhiker. The legend is that many years ago a girl - who was due to be married - was killed on the hill in a terrible car accident - which also claimed the lives of two other women, her friends - whilst one girl survived. This is in fact a true event which took place in the November of 1965. It would seem that since this accident people have encountered a girl on the hill, and they say that she wears the bridal dress (or according to some people the ghost is one of the bridesmaids) she never got to wear on her wedding day. The main ghost story which people have passed down over the years is that a girl in a whitish dress thumbs a lift on the hill but vanishes from the backseat. According to the legend when people go to the house where she asked to be dropped off, they find out that the elderly couple who own the house "get this sort of thing all the time" but then go on to mention that the girl is their daughter....who died many years ago. A great spine-tingling ghost story and a tale that stuck with me for many years, until I found out that most of the details are completely incorrect. It seems that in most cases, what actually happens on the hill is that people knock a girl down in their vehicle but when they look under their car there is no sign of a girl (two separate incidents which took place in 1992 involved an Ian Sharpe and Chris Dawkins who knocked down a girl on different parts of the hill). The woman they describe does not wear a bridal gown of any kind. Now, many people love this story but it's not until you delve into some mysteries that you find that the facts are in fact far stranger than the fiction many reporters, authors and ghost story tellers would have you believe. It's highly unlikely that the girl on the hill is the spirit of the woman (or women) that were killed in 1965, especially as there are accounts of a girl from the hill dating back several decades before the crash. I believe the Blue Bell Hill ghost story - which changed my life - is a product of urban legend in most cases and that over the years the local newspapers have unintentionally embeeded the idea of athe girl in a bridal dress into the psyche of the Kentish community. It became a Chinese whisper.

When I heard this story as a child I became obsessed with Blue Bell Hill and now I know the place like the back of my hand and spend many days and nights there investigating reports of a creature that, rather hilariously became known as the 'beast of Blue Bell Hill'. during the late '90s. Blue Bell Hill is a rather strange area, steeped in history it harbours the fascinating and ancient Kits Coty House and Little Kits Coty House - mysterious sets of stones. There are many legends pertaining to these stones. The village also harbours several other ghost stories, one concerning a very young girl who was knocked down in 1974, another from 1993 in which an entire family whilst travelling up the Old Chatham Road encountered an old hag-type horror - a figure that has been seen a handful of times on the hill. There are also tales of phantom hounds, a giant hair-covered creature (not just the local flasher on the loose!), a flying jellyfish and crop circles. Sure, most of these tales are far-fetched but they add to the mystery of the hill. The old, overgrown quarries - the dark, spooky lanes, all add to the atmosphere. Add to this a legend or two of a large elusive 'big cat' - and yes, there are one or two in the area, then we have an ideal area for what ghost-hunters would term paranormal activity.

Blue Bell Hill is a lovely area, but the ghost story - like so many ghost stories, has become a classic yet stale legend. A good friend of mine named Sean Tudor has researched the ghost sightings on the hill for many years and uncovered some amazing facts and folklore which stretch way beyond the handful of hitchhiker tales that many of you have been fed over the years. His website www.roadghosts.com looks at some of these tales, but at the moment he is writing an enormous, in-depth book about the spooky hill. It's also worth noting that in my recent book Haunted Maidstone I devote a segment to the Blue Bell Hill area and its levels of high strangeness, but if anyone is brave enough, then please do book a place on my Blue Bell Hill ghost walk, www.bluebellhillghostwalk.blogspot.com  I decided to run these walks on the 2nd sunday of each month but am getting a lot of groups wanting private night tours which are far spookier. The walk lasts two hours, and we go into the woods, around the old stones, and I speak about the ghost sightings as well as look into the reports of 'big cats', and other strange phenomena. If you gave any queries then you can email/call the details on the ghost walk website.

So many places across the world, and especially in the UK have a peculiar aura about them, and Blue Bell Hill is one of those places. If my dad hadn't told me the ghost story when I was a kid, then I probably wouldn't have ended up the person I am today (some would say slightly unhinged ha!), but it's important that kids are given mystery and imagination in their lives, rather than being the product of ignorance. Kids may think wildlife or history, let alone ghost stories, are dull because their idea of entertainment is being put in front of a PC or tv screeen for hours and forced into a trance-like state by a computer game. Nature offers us some real magic, on our doorstep are so many marvels, and who knows, when I'm long gone, I hope deep down that a child may continue to carry the torch and write about and investigate the stories I did when I was their age. And who knows, maybe a trip to Blue Bell Hill could change your life, or at least open your eyes to the mysteries and marvels of nature that lurk just around the corner...

If you've seen a ghost on Blue Bell Hill, or heard of any unusual stories about the area, get in touch at: neil.arnold@live.com

Today I received a phone call. It was like thousands of others I'd received before.

"On saturday 25th February," the man said, "I was driving with my wife from New Romney to Ivychurch. It was about 10:30 pm and we saw a black leopard cub playfully chasing a rabbit. The cat was about 2ft 6" long and had a long tail. It took a swipe at the rabbit but missed and then chased it into the undergrowth and we lost sight of it."

A sceptic, in reply to such a report could easily dismiss such a sighting and say, "He probably saw a domestic cat," but this witness, like a few fortunate others, had had a similar experience before. He continued: "We knew it was a 'panther' - the way it was built but in November 2011 I was driving between Hamstreet and Brenzett on the A2070 and the headlights picked up a set of bright green eyes in the road. I saw a huge animal - it froze in the headlights then leaopt into the undergrowth. It was a massive black cat."

Romney Marsh and much of East Kent has been a hot-bed of sightings for many, many years. When I received this call I still got that adrenalin kick that I got when I took my first ever report of a 'big cat' - when I was 9 years old, which seems like many years ago. Back then, as a kid, it was a time when the 'big cat' situation was a mystery, and the 'beast of Exmoor' a mere whisper on the wind. Newspapers covered the stories because it was new - whereas now, a 'big cat' headline is never far away. Back then there weren't big cat hunters popping up everywhere and those that were seeing such animals weren't coming forward in their droves because a majority of witnesses just ddn't know what they were seeing or what was going on. Nowadays, the 'big cat' phenomenon has embedded itself into British folklore and culture. As a child I never thought that one day I'd be researching these animals full-time - and whilst it's a privilege to do so, the element of mystery isn't what it was once, and in a way it's a good thing because it's now a serious situation, but all those years ago things felt different to my innocent mind.

When I first began researching the sightings it was a hobby - not many people took a 9 year old child seriously - but I knew these animals existed and I vowed that one day I would see one, but even then I knew how difficult it would be. Too many people think they can walk out their back door and see a 'big cat' and when they don't they get incredibly frustrated. The amount of big cat hunters out there who are desperate to see a 'big cat' goes to show how the aims of such people over the years have changed. My motives have never changed - all I wanted to do was make the public aware these animals existed because I'd begun to speak to witnesses who had seen these animals and wanted someone to talk to. I've made many friends over the years, and sadly, it would seem, a few enemies and detractors - I guess if I was still that 9 year old I wouldn't have been the target of cowards and pathetic individuals, but then again, as a 9 year old, I didn't really have a voice either.

As a kid I hoped that one day I would see a large cat - and in the late '90s the local press were running quite a few headlines about a local 'big cat' which they dubbed 'the beast of Blue Bell Hill'. Yep, it's a terrible headline, but I've heard far worse. I recall the Kent Today newspaper at the time running an article after there'd been a sighting at the picnic area which overlooks the Downs at Blue Bell Hill. A couple had been walking along the picnic area one afternoon when a large black cat raced in front of them and headed off down a wooded pathway. As we know, newspapers love these stories and within the next few weeks the 'beast of Blue Bell Hill' became embeded in the psyche of the local populace. Strangely, even sightings at Gravesend, Dartford, etc were dubbed the 'beast of Blue Bell Hill' even though this is on the other side of the river.

At the moment the major tabloids are concentrating their beastly headlines on an area of Gliucestershire where researchers, hunters and the like are setting up cameras etc, in the hope of catching a glimpse of the local beast. I've seen it all before  - it happens every few months - it began with the 'Surrey puma', but since the '60s has happened all over the UK - "the beast of this...., and "the beast of that...." Witnesses come forward - some start reporting things they haven't seen, photographs of muscular domestic cats and blurry blobs start cropping up and then it fades. Nowadays of course there appear to be more concentrated efforts to find these cats - people are buying trigger cameras, there are scent traps etc. When I was a child the occasional police foray into the local woods was as far as it went regarding a search. Back then, nobody wanted these animals caught or categorised - nowadays, that's the only motive.

When the sightings began of a large cat around Blue Bell Hill in the '90s, I'd already marked out the territory of one cat. However, despite so many witnesses ringing me up, I was getting the crank calls too so I had to be careful at the time with regards to giving out locations etc. Things got rather surreal when I was threatened by the local Devil worshippers haha! Even so, one night a relative of mine, whilst travelling near Capstone Park - not far from Hempstead, reported to me he'd seen a large animal protruding from a hedegrow. His son had been with him at the tim and so, hot on the heels I made my way to the area. In most cases I receive sightings hours, or even days later and following these up is unlikley yo produce a personal sighting, but my uncle's report was only an hour or so old. I'll never forget sitting in a vehicle with the headlights on and picking up a set of bright yellow eyes. I'll also never forget seeing those sheep, huddled together in a tight-knit group, and the eyes once again, seemingly with arrogance, glaring back at us. The eyes belonged to an animal that was sitting on its haunches stalking the sheep. I'll never forget slowly getting out the car and watching the sheep scatter and the cat bound off into the distance. It was an amazing experience but I knew I could track this animal and see it again. And I did.

When it comes to research of this kind, it's all very well and good putting reports into a folder otr popping out to the woods a couple of nights a month, but you've got to put yourself out there, become one with nature, eliminate everything else and appreciate your surroundings. I'll never forget melting into the landscape of a farm in the area and seeing the long, dark form a black leopard slink through the fog. The animal had no interest in the sheep on this occasion - it was en route - and it was gone after a few seconds. The more time and effort I put in the more I began to appreciate nature in general - it wasn't just about the 'beast of Blue Bell Hill', it was about understanding. It had been a privilege in 2000 to see this cat twice, but when I saw a different black leopard in 2008, in broad daylight, in the same area, I was gobsmacked. I watched the animal as I surveyed the landscape, and it didn't have a care in the world. It slinked across a field - the same field where I'd watched a fox walk - the long tail, the muscular shoulders, the flat face. It was an inspiring site. I'd found the sheep it had killed just a 1/4 of a mile away - the carcass was fresh (see photo) and rasped clean. The farmer that lost the sheep had never lost a specimen in some 40 years of farming. The cat had preferred rabbit and pheasants, but that night it went for something larger. Bizarrely, by 2008 I'd become accustomed to see unusual cats in the wilds of Kent. I recall becoming good friends with a chap named Ian who lived not far from Higham on the other side of the river. This guy phoned me one night to say that whilst walking his dog he'd been stalked by a large black cat. I took the report with a pinch of salt  - the guy seemed genuine, but when he told me he'd filmed a lynx as well as I had to laugh...until I not only saw the footage, but one summers evening at 8:45 pm saw the lynx for myself. We had been monitoring an area for some months but we never expected this lynx to run across a field in front of us. There were three of us watching that evening - two of us saw the animal as it raced across the field and slinked down into a ditch. It happened lightning fast. It was an area where we had many strange experiences, including being shot at! Nowadays the area, like so many others has changed, but it was clearly a cross-point for at least one species of cat - but both lynx and leopard had been seen there. Then, one evening I was contacted by a hysterical couple who said they'd pulled over by the side of a country lane at Higham and watched a mother and several cubs playing in a field. The reports kept coming. It was not a 'blue Bell Hill beast', just another leopard on its nightly hunt.

I'll never forget the time my father rang me and told me he'd seen a lynx whilst driving home one evening past the local rubbish tip. The cat had been in the hedgerow close to the road and sped off up the field as his car came by. He stopped the car and watched in amazement as the animal reached the top of the field and stopped and looked back at him. The animal's tail wasn't visible from a distance.

Lynx are elusive animals - although they'll take a deer they are more than happy to feed on rodents, hares and birds. They are beautiful animals and I felt so lucky to have seen such an animal.

Most people who see such animals are chance encounters. However, to track an animal is great to do. Imagine if such an animal was tagged and we could then appreciate the ground it covers. No-one appreciates how vast a territory an animal such as a leopard, puma or lynx can cover, but when there is cover and food in an area, it wouldn't necessarilly have to travel that far. My personal sightings were magical experiences. They have stuck in my mind for many years so every time I receive a sighting from a terrified, hysterical, or knowing witness, I know I can share their excitement. After all, the animal they've seen is not from another world, but simply an animal that shouldn't be there. It's not the local 'beast on the loose', or the quarry of the local researcher, it's an animal fending for itself and above all, an animal that does not care for beastly headlines or for the researchers trying to capture a glimpse of it. Without these animals there would be no mystery, and so many seem to forget that this situation is simply about these animals, and about these animals alone. It's not about the evidence really. It's not about the newspapers, or the personal aims of the camo' clad hunter.

When I was 9 years old I was told there was a 'big cat' in the local woods. There will always be a 'big cat' in the local woods. But can you imagine the day one is caught ? I've always been of the opinion that there is no mystery as to why these animals exist. The mystery is created by those who hunt and pursue them. I've also always been of the opinion that the public need to be made aware of what is going on and that the authorities need to acknowledge their existence, but every now and then my 9 year old self taps me on the shoulder to remind me that these majestic animals should be left alone to melt into the countryside...and it wouldn't be a bad thing if they did, after all, they've been doing this for far longer than we realise. Sometimes I wish there were more 9 year old researchers around because in their naivety, they'd see these cats for what they actually are, rather than what we want them to be.

I'm of the opinion that no amount of evidence in support of large, exotic cats roaming Britain, is good enough for the most hardened sceptics, which is a shame really. Today I spoke with a man who stated that quite categorically a few years back he caught a strange animal - cat-like - in a snare in Kentish woodlands, and had taken a photo of it. The animal had, sadly, died in the snare, but when I asked the man - who was very experienced in the wilds of Kent regarding poaching etc - what he did with the carcass he replied, "We left it and it just rotted." Over the years I've spoken to dozens of people who have claimed to have shot a big cat, or run one over or found a dead one, and in every case these people have either burned or buried the carcass. In most cases this was long before the country was buzzing with researchers keen on making some money out of a good photo or other piece of evidence. And in any case, most people who do come across a carcass - especially if they have shot the animal, aren't going to tell many people about it. As you can see on this blog there have been a few cases over the years across the countryside of the UK where exotic animals have bene run over or shot. Mind you, I'm often asked why we don't find many dead ones, but there is an easy explanation for this and it doesn't involve silly conspiracy theories etc. Basically, if you consider that a large, yet extremely elusive animal is prowling around the remote thickets of Kent, then that means it is avoiding main roads, in fact most sightings I get of animals crossing a road usually involves a motorist travelling on a remote b-road in the wilds of Ashford etc. There isn't much chance that a large cat is going to run out in front of car in such a remote location. However, if a cat did then it still knows to kepe a distance but, if by chance the cat is hit, it may crawl away to die or, as in the case of alot of road kill, vanish simply due to the progression of nature. If you consider also how many sightings of large cats take place after dusk, then you can see why these cats are hardly ever filmed or photographed. However, what seems to be the case is that a piece of footage, no matter how clear, or whether it's been scrutinised and passed by 'experts', it's still not going to convince a hardened sceptic. In reality, I'd love to ask the sceptics one question back (because the sceptics seem quite happy to bombard me), and that is, What would it take to prove to you that these animals exist ? Some would respond that seeing is believing, but is it really when you are so closed off to such a situation ? Some people don't even believe their own eyes. Would a clear, up close photo prove anything ? Of course not, sceptics could argue that it came from a zoo. Over the last few years a terrible hoax photo has been doing the rounds showing what is meant to be a black leopard in a field in Staffordshire. Of course, the image is simply a cut 'n' paste job onto a backround, but I guess these 'big cat' stories bring out the best and worst of people. I still don't think a 'big cat' with young would convince many people, so maybe a cat killing a sheep would, but there's so little chance of getting this on film, and there's a major reason one - no-one is out there putting the time and effort in. Trigger camera's are fine but they mean that someone has to keep checking them. ideally, the people who are going out to film leopards in Africa, etc, are the people we need in the UK, but they haven't the time to do this, and some of these guys may feel that their reputation will be tarnished, which is a pity, as I'm sure that any wildlife cameraman that films a 'big cat' in the UK may see his profile soar. The trouble is, all we have at the moment are 'experts' telling us these animals don't exist rather than looking at the evidence we have and taking it further. Sure, we've had hair analysed, DNA from saliva will eventually prove also that there are 'big cats' around, but it's still not enough. Only today I picked up a cutting from the Daily Mail of November 30th 1994 concerning the escape of a female snow leopard from a private collection in Hertfordshire. It made me realise how easy it is for a cat to escape but also how relatively easy it is for one to get recaptured, which is why I don't believe the animals we have in the wilds today are zoo escapees. Hopefully, with the evidence for such animals accumulating since the 1960s Surrey puma cat-flap (excuse the pun!), all we can do is continue to collate, but I don't think 'big cat' research should be in effect to appease the sceptics. At times we seem to forget that it's about the animals and not the personal egos that are involved. There are always detractors, there are sceptics, and I guess that's what makes the debate healthy to some extent but the problem is, it has become every man for himself, as in most walks of life so no wonder people are hesitant to come forward with their evidence...but you know what a sceptic would say to that, "Maybe they don't want to come forward because they don't have any evidence," so you can't win either way. Deep down I hope these cats outlive us all and I also hope that a child is never attacked by one in the wilds. I'm also of the opinion that if someone gets their 'irrefutible' evidence (whatever that may be), that it will of course only prove one thing - that there's one large cat out there. The situation as a whole is far greater than many realise and even if the authorities (whoever they may be) admit to such animals existing in our wilds (which is highly unlikely) I still don't see us moving on or out from the shadow of the sceptical view.

Apologies for the lack of updates in the last week or so. Writing committments and ventures into Kent woodlands have prevented recent entries. One trip, with a friend, took us to Burham Downs, and right across the Downs towards Blue Bell Hill. I recall a year or so ago a local gamekeeper moaning about my research. He came out with the classic line, "There is no big cat on Blue Bell Hill...I've spent many years around the hill and never seen a thing...". It's this type of naive attitude that frustrates me. On Sunday 19th February me and my good friend walked miles through the woods around Burham, Wouldham etc. We saw one solitary fox, which was eyeing us up from its bramble thick domain, and two rabbits which scurried off into a quarry. The area seemed bereft of life and yet there were areas strewn with fox faeces and rabbit droppings, but of course there was no sign of a large cat - finding a piece of scat would be like looking for a needle in a haystack for some people, and it's amazing how many pieces actually get trodden on by people on bridle paths. Even so, an area of woodland that stretches from Burham, to Blue Bell Hill, to Boxley, is vast for a human to walk - down in the lower quarries we didn't even bump into a human, rather strange considering Sunday was a lovely day for a countryside ramble. I did think of that sceptical gamekeeper though as we pushed our way through bracken and bramble and then sat quietly in those dense areas. It made me realise how useless the human is when it comes to acting like an animal - our sense of hearing, sight and smell, especially in the darkness, is no match for a large cat. One can see why most sightings are so brief, mainly concerning people who are driving or walking the dog.

Not sure if anyone saw it but about 2 weeks ago Meridian News covered a bizarre story from Seaford in Sussex where a couple claimed that a leopard had walked into their front room. I find it so hard to take such reports seriously - it reminded me of a chap a few years ago from Nunhead, London who claimed that one night he felt rather ill and so opened the door for a bit of fresh air only to see a massive black cat stroll into his front room. Now, if this sort of thing happened, surely this would be main news, or at least followed up ? Were there hair samples on the carpet ? And, in the case of the couple, why on earth was their front door open at night - or did Mr Leopard have a key ? These are the sort of reports that make a mockery of any type of serious research but sadly, these are the type of reports that make the newspapers etc. I guess the sceptics etc are fed up of the usual, "I was driving and it crossed the road..." stories, but the fact is, these are the most consistent.

A contact of mine in the Tonbridge/Tunbridge Wells area recently sent me another photo of a deer kill - and also the image of some scat. Once again it appears that someone has trodden on the scat - which, by the way, is full of deer fur. I recently conducted several talks, one in Farningham Road where I was approached by a young lady who told me that she'd seen a huge, muscular black cat whilst driving through Sevenoaks. Sadly, her partner did not believe a word of it and I wonder just how many people don't report their sightings due to a fear of ridicule. Some witnesses even question their own sanity. Eye-witness reports can be vague but as I've stated previously, some witnesses get clear views of these animals and know what they are seeing. I was also recently contacted by a guy who works for a safari company via Surrey and he was amazed when he recently saw a black leopard in the county. Conducting talks to specific groups and also the general public is a huge buzz for me because it enables me to make the audience aware of what signs to look for and to explain the theories as to why such animals exist in our woods. By giving talks it also enables witnesses to come forward to report their encounters, and they come forward in their droves...

A majority of people do not know where to report their sightings of any unusual animals. If sightings are reported to the police most of these remain in the files, but those I've examined can be very vague, i.e. Feb 1st, Maidstone, black cat sighted. Other sightings are made towards local papers, but only occasionally are the sightings featured in a decent article - otherwise we get the usual stuff from the major tabloids. Although I have received thousands of reports over the years there must be a decent amount of people who've never told a soul about what they've seen. I was also contacted by someone regarding a photo if an alleged exotic cat. Over the years many people have claimed to have shot/run over a cat - or knew someone who has, and, of course, evidence is usually scant. In my book MYSTERY ANIMALS OF THE BRITISH ISLES: KENT I featured a photo which someone claimed was of a puma that had been caught in a trap in North Kent. The image in the book clearly shows a domestic cat which has been photographed then stuck on as if it is hanging from a tree - in no way is the image of a large, exotic animal. However, one chap did say that a few years ago he had snared a smaller exotic cat so we'll see what happens...it reminded me of the case a few years back when a buolder claimed that he'd seen someone shoot a 'big cat' on a pheasant shoot on the Isle of Sheppey. Again, this seems unlikely and I'm more inclined to think the team of beaters had encountered a large feral cat. Sceptics argue that there are never any bodies of 'big cats' but again, this is such a naive attitude. You can walk for miles, for years, through vast forest and never find a deer that has died of natural causes and there are thousands of deer, mind you, exotic cat bodies have been found - animals have been shot dead and run over, but these are generally smaller cats, but absence of evidence does not mean evidence of absence.

Many 'big cat' stories seem to fade into urban legend, this is understandable when the stories are old and they get passed down through generations like Chinese whispers. Over the years I've bene told numerous fantastic tales which are rarely verified. There was the case down in Maidstone where a family claimed that a black leopard had been killed by a car. The animal was in a ditch and the famil watched in amazement as two leopards came out of the woods and were sniffing round the carcass. Then there's the story from Tonbridge way of the woman who heard a thud on her conservatory roof and found a dead lynx which she believed had been killed by a larger cat. Apparently the woman threw the lynx over the back fence and the newspaper came out and photographed it. This has never been provem. Then there was the chap in Dover who claimed that his car was written off when he struck a lynx and then there was the day I spent trying to run across a motorway in order to find the alleged carcass of an enormous spotted cat. Bizarrely, all we found was a tiny cuddly leopard toy was the witness was adamant that the previous day crows had bene pecking at a large, decomposing animal. Cover up or a simple case of misidentification ? However fascinating these type of stories are, many are nothing more than legend, or, byt he time you arrive on the scene things turn out to be not quite as dramatic as one would hope.

I do wonder how many reports the authorities receive of cats that have been run over etc. A rather cowardly chap recently at a poke at me (he didn't use his actual name of course...very brave) regarding an article that appeared in a major paper regarding the alleged cover up of big cat bodies by the Ministry of Defence. It had been claimed that the MoD were hiding such bodies from the public, and that they'd been picking alleged carcasses up from the roadside and possibly analysing them in some type of covert fashion. It makes for a great story but my opinion is that if a body of a leopard was run over and it was reported to the 'authorities', then surely they would - i.e. the MoD - have the right to take that body away. Why would they need to consult the local 'big cat' researcher or give the carcass to the local news station ? Maybe the MoD have taken bodies into the bowels of their secret laboratories, but isn't this getting into the realms of aliens and UFOs ? If a leopard is found, and obviously it would be considered a danger to the public - especially if it's injured - then the authorities would have a right to deal with it. Whether we believe in cover up's or not, is not the question, but the main problem is that too many researchers are creating, in their minds a complex web of intrigue about the British 'big cat' situation. Yes, it is possible bodies have been investigated by the MoD, but I'm pretty sure that if a local researcher found a carcass of a 'big cat' he'd be all too keen to splash it over the news thinking that once and for all he'd found his Holy Grail...but one body does not solve a mystery. All it does is give a local researcher a massage of his ego.

I'm pretty sure there are people out there gagging to capture a big cat or find a dead one. At the moment there are trigger cameras everywhere hoping to catch a glimpse of  cat, and then of course it'll be all over the tabloids for a week then fade...until the next one. I distinctly recall a few years ago some fantastic photo's in a major tabloid showing a puma looking through a patio door of a house in a Welsh valley...great photo, but the general opinion is "so what ?", and this is how it'll always be unless someone of authority turns round and says "Yes, we DO have leopard and puma in our wilds", but that's not going to happen unless all these cats form a gang and start killing people. When a mystery comes along people make their own minds up - they create conspiracy theories, they start thinking that because they haven't seen a 'big cat' that such animals are paranormal or teasing them, others seem to believe there are thousands of big cats around, others suggest that they aren't big cats but monster hybrids, so it all adds to the melting pot. The one thing lacking of course is consistency but as we know...consistency doesn't make a newspaper headline. Everyone has their own opinion...fair enough...and those that see such animals will react in their own personal way...and I'm sure a day will come when one or more cats is filmed very clearly, and who knows, with the amount of people scouring the woods and fields maybe a dead leopard or puma will turn up...but people will still say "so what?" and maybe they have a right to. After all, it's just a large cat in a place it shouldn't be...

...but if you see one, or have any evidence, then please forward it to me at:  neil.arnold@live.com   I'll happily come and have a look, and advise.

I see that on The Sun website there is more debatable footage of an alleged 'big cat'. It's rather frustrating when people come forward and state that such 'evidence' is "the most conclusive" despite the fact that so many pieces of film footage are shot from a distance and are often blurry. Any sceptic would have the right to argue at such a piece of film, and so many of these types of footage seem to be floating around on You Tube and the like....but these would be the last place I'd submit footage. What is clear is that in the UK...and the same as Australia, there are a lot of large feral cats, a few years ago in Australia a man shot a feral cat that was four-feet in length! Even so, a feral/domestic cat does not look like a puma or leopard, but in my opinion any footage that is blurry or debatable shouldn't be put forward as evidence. It's great that people are roaming the countryside with camera's but to get close enough to a predatory cat requires patience and a lot of luck, but it is also dangerous and that's the concern that many people seem to be forgetting amid the mystery.

Many people ask the question, Where the hell do all these cats come from ? There is quite a simple set of answers on this question and there's no real mystery. Sadly, the mystery of the topic is all that people want. Over the years people looking into the subject have come to the conclusion that there are more than 1000 'big cats' roaming the UK - this is a laughable statistic and wildly off the mark. It's certainly fair to say that it's impossible to judge how many puma, leopard, lynx etc there are, but to say there are a 1000 is ridiculous. Only a year or so ago it was claimed that 13...yes, 13, black leopards were roaming the Romney Marsh area of Kent...where do people get this sort of information! Having researched this subject since the early '80s I've seen only a steady rise in numbers, which would be correct if say a female black leopard had produced between 1and 8 cubs in her short lifespan. There isn't one female on heat scouring the countryside, and whilst every county DOES have a 'big cat' legend, we can only guess that there are small but viable populations. If the country was running alive with 'big cats', as some newspaper headlines claimed recently, then we'd have a majr problem. Whether people like the theory or not, it is a fact that a majority of the animals seen today are offspring of animals from animals released in the '60s,'70s and early '80s around the time of the '76 Dangerous Wild Animals Act. My research has proven that in a majority of English counties in the '60s, people owned puma, lynx and black leopard - lions were also purchased - the most popular story concerning the lion cub, Christian, purchased from Harrords in London. A majority of folk who purchased exotic cats - usually as cute and cuddly cubs/kittens, didn't go to the newspapers with their pets, they kept them in their front room, in shoddy basements, and only a few cases were actually highlighted by the media. In my 2009 book Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Kent I listed thousands of eye witness reports of exotic cats across the south-east and examined some of the theories. My recently published follow up, Mystery Animals of the British Isles: London also looked at several cases of animals being kept as pets. For example, there's the case of the chap who walked into his pub in London in 1974 with his pet puma on a lead. The cat became very agitated ripping apart the upholstery of the pub. The man was eventually fined. In another incident a man purchased a puma kitten for his children and it attacked a child. A lion 'playfully' leapt on a woman as she was walking down a London street, and another man owned a serval - an African hunting cat - which bit a friend in a restaurant. These cases are not rare. In the '60s and '70s it was quite common to own an exotic cat - as well as a menagerie of exotic animals, from monkeys, to reptiles. One man ordered a rhino from Harrods! These animals were simply an extension of someone's ego, a status symbol, a novel pet - just like terrapins, snakes and baby alligators have bene over the years. When the 1976 Dangerous Animals Act was introduced it is a known fact that people DID release their pets. A puma kitten or leopard cub could easily survive in the wilds of England. I've no doubt that the Surrey puma legend began due to a cat that had been released from a private collection - although this does not explain the mystery creature seen around Coulsdon in the 1800s! Even so, whilst lions and larger cats were purchased, it was the smaller cats, especially lynx and puma and jungle cat, whic were released, and the black leopard was certainly the iconic animal to own in the '60s. You'll find that in almost every case, if not all, regarding tigers, lions etc, escaping, they've either been recaptured or shot dead. One fascinating case from the '70s, regarding Kent involved a Mr Fred Lloyd, who, whilst fishing on the banks of the River Medway at East Peckham, on 5th Jan' 1974, got the shock of his life when a black leopard cub rolled out of the bushes. "I grabbed it by the scruff of the neck", Fred told the newsppaers that covered the incident, "...and shoved it straight into my fishing box."

The animal hissed and growled and so Mr Lloyd took it home and put it in a play-pen but the animal proceeded to destroy it and so he transfered it to a beer crate. Mr Lloyd phoned several zoo parks but they, bizarrely, laughed at him. 24 hours later an RSPCA Inspector arrived on the scene but no-one came forward to say they'd lost a 'panther'. Weirdly, a 'panther' cub, caled Zar had allegedly been stolen from a zoo in Essex on 4th January, but there's no evidence to suggest this was the same cat - thought to be worth in the region of £600. It seems highly unlikely this was the same animal, and this may well have been the first case on record where someone actually captured a leopard cub that had been born in the wilds of England. On 22nd Jan' 1975 The Daily Mirror ran a story concerning a London man who had split up from his wife and so decided to leave his aggravated pet puma in the back garden of his former home. Westminster MP, Peter Templemore, when commenting to the press stated, "Sooner or later someone will get killed", and yet three decades later we find that we've not moved on in our progress at offisially recognising the situation we have in the UK regarding so-called 'big cats'.  A puma escaped from a garden in Byton, Hertfordshire on 1st Jan' 1975 - it was never confirmed as to whether to animal was recaptured. These sort of cases are numerous, and again, prove that people were keeping such animals across the country and certainly when the 1976 Act was introduced, a majority of people did not give their animals to zoo parks and certainly did not destroy their 'pets', and so they released them. Even so, there is no evidence of bizarre cross-bred cats out there, so there'd certainly have to be enough of each species for there to be a viable population today, and this is the case. In the 1940s an Orpington man, as a child, was given a present by his father who'd been abroad on war duty. The man was given a cute black cat which decided to eat the next door neighbours cat. The family did not have a clue what sort of cat they had and so asked a vet who stated quite categorically that it was a 'panther' cub. With that, the father went straight to the most remote woodland he knew and released the animal. Only a decade or so ago a man from Torquay, in Devon, phoned police to say say he'd released his "black puma" but wouldn't say where as he didn't want such a "beautiful" animal hunted. Again, these are quite common occurrences. However, these cases do not explain the reports which date back more than a century.

During the Victorian era many people had private menagerie's and travelling zoo's. Barnum, Wombwell, Bostock, Jamrach, just a few well known showmen who would exhibit all manner of curious creatures and oddments to draw in the gullible crowds. However, in my book Mystery Animals of....London I highlighted many, many cases of animals escaping into the wilds, one involving a leopard that escaped in Camden, and even a tiger that grabbed a small child. These are not stories concocted by sensational headlines, despit the fact that newspapers have always sought out a beastly tale or two. If one takes the time to trawl countless archives - and it is an exhaustive process - you'd be amazed at how many stories there are concerning not just exotic cats escaping/being released into the wilds, but a whole host of animals - from wallabies, monkeys, snakes, birds of prey, and not al of these were recaptured or shot dead. There has been a legend around Blue Bell Hill of a large, elusive animal for at leats 400 hundred years! That's a long, long time. Old records know the legend as the 'great dogge' but this beast was said to roam parts of Trottiscliffe too two hundred years later, but one one occasion this 'lean, grey' animal with 'prick't ears' was said to have killed a man who was walking on the Pilgrims Way. There were also rumours of a black leopard being shot near Burham in the 1930s. I was told this information by a Mr Cuckow many years ago because as a child, he, and a few other friends actually saw this happen. They believed it may have escaped the local zoo at Maidstone which was run by Sir Garrard Tyrwhitt Drake but this was never confirmed. Interestingly, I recently read of this case in a new book called Big Cats just a shame the author couldn't have mentioned that he got the information from me! It's also worth noting that even the Roman's housed large cats - but not the puma - in their vast amphitheatre's, and there is also legend that during the wars some pilots brought over exotic cats as mascots, and were then told to shot them but may have released them instead, but this has never been proven and certainly wouldn't account for the amount of sightings there have been. Again, we have to look at consistency and in my two books I've highlighted so many cases that even the most sceptical person would find difficult to debunk.

So, there you have it...a brief explanation as to where black leopard, puma, lynx etc have come from. Interesting to note as well that I've never, in all my years of conducting this research, received a sighting of a leopard with normal pelage. Black leopard parents only produce black offspring, due to a recessive gene, and over the course of a few decades the rosette pattern will gradually seem to phase out due to the density of the darkness. The strain is less dominant in squirrels, but in the leopard in the UK it appears very dominant. I'm happy to consider that we may have leopards of the normal pelage but again, there needs to be consistency in reports for me to take this into consideration. The same also goes for animals with varying coat markings which do not seem to fit in with conventional markings.

Mystery Animals of the British Isles: Kent and Mystery Animals of the British Isles: London are available from Amazon and can also be ordered from bookshops such as Waterstone's.

Left - Hary Matthews photo taken in 1998 of an unusual cat on Cooling marshes.I have just come back from giving a lecture today in Gravesend on the 'mystery animals of Kent', and the feedback, as always ranges from stunned, to spooked, with many of the sceptics in the audience impressed by the evidence I presented. I also noticed that in today's edition of The Guardian newspaper, that a deer carcass, which many people believed had been killed by a 'big cat', in Gloucestershire, had been confirmed as being killed by a dog then scavenged by a fox. This wasn't a surprise to me, despite many people being adamant it had been a cat kill, but the DNA analysis proved otherwise. It's great that 'authorities' are, at times, when they have the time and in some instances the money, analysing alleged evidence of 'big cat' activity because people often say to me that there is no evidence whatsoever that large cats exist in the UK. I find it strange that with so much evidence that the 'big cat' situation is regarded as a mystery and relegated to folklore. Even more bizarre, when evidence is presented to the sceptical eye, they refuse to believe it, even if a majority of disbelievers don't actually know what they are looking at. Some people would scoff at it even if it bit them on the nose and this type of ignorance isn't healthy to any situation.

When walking through the woods it's important to know what you are looking at in regards to native species as well as possible non-native species. It's vital when examining possible 'big cat' evidence, to eliminate every other possibility. In the south-east of England we have foxes, deer, badger, dogs, domestic cats, squirrels, and countless other animals, many which are rarely seen. In parts of Kent and Sussex there are also wild boar and wallaby - bizarrely these animals are also dismissed by sceptics even though they've bene photographed and filmed.

Most people would think that surely the best evidence to support the existence of a 'big cat' cat would be to film it - this is far easier said than done even in today's climate with people walkinga round with mobile phones etc. The problem is, a leopard or puma is an incredibly elusive animal, they can hear, se and smell a human, and often keep their distance. A majority of sightings are so brief and usually involve motorists travelling late at night or during the early hours, or people walking their dog etc. A cat often sticks to hedgreows, tree-lines etc and hunt under the cloak of night - no-one drives with their phone at the ready and if your security light comes on at night the last thing you expect to see in your garden is a black leopard. Even so, many people nowadays are using trigger camera's which they are setting up across the country - this is fine, but it seems that some people just want to film the local 'beast' to make some money out of it and to allegedly 'be the first'. In Kent there have been a few cases where cats have been caught on film, but across the UK film footage does exist - in 2011 a Jungle Cat was filmed crossing a road in the Meopham area near Gravesend. In 1998 Harry Matthews took a photo of an unusual cat on marshes at Cooling. Bizarrely, this photo has appeared on several websites (in other words, stolen) with people claiming it's the 'beast of Bodmin' etc. The cat in the photo is no 'big cat', but it could well be a Jungle Cat or a hybrid of Jungle Cat/domestic cat. Bizarrely, the local news channels at the time when covering the story of the photo claimed it was the 'beast of Blue Bel Hill' even though the animal was seen on the other side of the river, and clearly wasn't something akin to a black leopard. In 1994 a holiday-maker claimed he'd filmed a large black cat at Aylesford Priory, a few miles outside of Maidstone. I'm of the opinion that most footage of so-called 'big cats' will be ridiculed because sceptics expect someone to walk up to a leopard and photograoh it from a few feet away, this is highly unlikely to occur. For me we must look at what I consider to be the best evidence for 'big cats' in the wild, the sheep and deer kills. The photo's here are proof that farmers do lose sheep, and that deer are certainly high on the menu - wherever the deer move so do the cats, and it'ss even more amazing when deer and sheep are found high up in trees. Leopards take their prey into trees, as discussed in the last post. Whilst deer and sheep make an ideal meal for a cat, there is far easier prey to catch - rats, mice, birds, squirrels, foxes - sceptics expect there to be thousands of slaughtered sheep but this isn't the case, but there are cases throughout the south-east where farmers have succumbed to severe livestock losses.

This sheep was killed not far from Blue Bell Hill. When a leopard kills its prey it often goes for the throat leaving puncture marks. A large cat rasps the fleece/fur and leaves a very clean kill. No other animal kills in this fashion - foxes do not bring deer down, and certainly do not stash them in trees! The farmer who lost this sheep had never, in 40 years of farming lost a sheep before. In the same area other farmers had lost a few sheep in similar fashion.

In most cases of large prey, the head is left untouched, birds tend to peck the eyes and foxes will scavenge. It does not take long for a carcass of an animal to disappear in the wild.

These type of photo's can appear gruesome and finding a carcass like this in the middle of a deep, dark wood can be quite eerie, especially if the carcass appears relatively fresh. Quite recently I investigated a sheep carcss in the Rokvencden area, after a lady walking her dog had seen an enormous black cat walk into the churchyard in the village. The next day the woman found a carcass - all that was left was the skull and the spine, the ribs has been sheared off and scavengers had done the rest. In 1998 I found a carcass of a goat in a relatively built up area on the outskirts of Rochester. The goat had been licked clean and birds had taken the eyes. A large cat often stalks its prey, and will sit in an area, iften away from the flock before making its move. Sheep are sometimes carried to the edge of a field and eaten. I'm sure that if sheep could talk they'd have some pretty scary experiences to speak of!

This photo shows a ram kill in Sussex, it was taken by a farmer named Graham Bennett. He'd been losing a couple of rams a week for around five months!

 I have hundreds of similar photo's to this, some of small dogs, others domestic cats, deer, etc and they are all killed in the same way. When dogs attack they can be extremely spiteful, biting the face, the legs, and will rarely eat a sheep, and scavengers tend to pluck bits from the carcass afterwards. In Paddock Wood a few years ago a farmer found most of his flock had been mauled - this had been the work of dogs. The faces of the sheep had been bitten but the carcasses remained untouched elsewhere. 

 The next blog will look at other evidence such as 'scat' (faeces), and paw prints.

This is the biggest question posed by many people who have an interest in the subject of 'British big cats', and it is a subject often scoffed at by sceptics. Hopefully, this blog will answer a few of the questions posed by sceptics and also those with a genuine interest in what has become known as the British 'big cat' phenomenon. As a full-time researcher into the subject I've collected reports from the south-east of England since the age of nine! after hearing about a sighting in the area of Blue Bell Hill. Almost three decades later I'm still collecting evidence and believe that without a shadow of a doubt there are large, exotic cats roaming Britain. It's only natural there are a lot of sceptics to this subject, after all, a majority of 'big cat' stories in the press are often inaccurate or simply a beastly Halloween headline, but again, I'm hoping this blog will convince some sceptics that these stories are not born from myth or overactive imagination and that I am not insane in my quest!

I'm looking forward to any constructive comments and thought-provoking questions and will be covering a wide range of subjects to hopefully explain the why, what, where and when of the saga, a saga which in fact has been going on a lot longer than many people would have you believe. Although I've always enjoyed studying folklore, my research into exotic cats is very much something I like to keep separate. I decided to take it upon myself to study the sightings and evidence because the so-called 'mystery' of such cats has, mainly since the 1960s, been relegated to folklore. The reality is, there is no mystery as to why there are large cats roaming the wilds of Britain, and hopefully I'll explain why in this blog. I have conducted lectures, organised field trips, written articles and books, and liaised with zoologists, police, scientists, in the hope of simply making the public aware that large cats do roam the UK. Most counties seem to have a 'big cat' in their midst, and this is true, and certainly not folklore. Over the last few weeks there have been numerous stories in some of the major tabloids regarding potential evidence to support the theory that 'big cats' roam the woods, but as you'll find when reading this blog, the evidence has always been there, and is in fact quite easy to find if you know what you're looking for.

Kent - the 'garden of England' is still a heavily wooded, and in some places, dense forest county. Our wilds can provide ample enough shelter for an animal that does not want to be seen - and yet, despite the scepticism, sightings persist - and have for decades since the Surrey 'puma' legend hit the county of Surrey during the 1960s. From then on there have been beastly legends, from the Exmoor and Bodmin tales of the West Country, to the forests of the Scottish Higlands, the valleys of Wales and the remote moors of Yorkshire. Is every eye witness mistaken ? Can every so-called 'big cat' sighting be explained by species native to the UK, such as foxes ?

I will attempt to update this blog as regularly as possible, so if you have any questions, evidence or sightings please do get in touch. By writing this blog I am hoping that any detractors of my research, or sceptics, will look at the evidence with a non-bias view. I am open to any suggestions or views regarding what some evidence could be, but hopefully you will find that the evidence presented on here suggests that exotic cats ARE roaming the south-east of England.

It's not often I do 124mph down a Kent motorway but yesterday was a bit different.

Sorry officer:

"I had cramp"..."I didn't realise"..."I'm late for a cross-stitch class"..."I wondered why no-one was overtaking me"..."I haven't got my glasses on and couldn't see my speedo" ..."I've got to get my Schitz Shu to the vets"..."My nail's broken and I've got to get to A+E"..."Someone stole my snowman", were all the possible excuses I could have used but I didn't have to - haha, I got away with it!

¬_¬

There's something you need to know.

When you get stopped by a Traffic Officer, your excuse has already been heard at least 5,627,230+ times before and therefore the Officer has a bank of answers to give right back to you including a fine, points on your licence and/or a ticket in most circumstances; friendly advice on some occasions... if you're lucky.

You DO realise you've been stopped for a reason, don't you?  Ignorance is no excuse when it comes to the Law; it really isn't.

No, you're quite right, you weren't speeding but at the end of the day, something is not quite right with your vehicle which you may or may not know.  However, whatever the circumstance, you've chosen to ignore it and the chances are you think you won't get caught, so deep down if you do, your plan is to act dumb, play the fool, deny all knowledge - simplez.  No.

It might be because you have a wobbly/vibrating bumper or that your wheel arches at the rear of your vehicle are half an inch off your tyres or your tyres just look 'odd'.  It might be because your hook-up trailer looks naff.  It might be because you're hogging Lane 2 combined with something else that has caught a Traffic Cops eye and believe me they WILL look and they WILL check.

It might be you have no seatbelt on or your vehicle's MOT or insurance is out of date.  Oh yeah, you can be safe in the knowledge those fluffy, friendly, black cladded, lacy stocking wearing, white capped, hi-vizzed, Bodie and Doyle types know ALL about you before they've stopped you.

It might be because one of your passengers eyeballed a Police Officer the wrong way because he's had one too many Bristol Creams or has smoked the 'wrong' type of Golden Virgina; it could simply be your personalised numberplate doesn't fit your face ...not literally (however, in some circumstances, this could be a blessing).

If you're a foreign driver and you're flouting any of the UK Road Traffic/Safety Laws you won't be ignored like the old days.  You WILL be fined.  So just a friendly tip - make sure you've got plenty of GBP sterling on you, else unfortunately your vehicle won't be going anywhere near to Lithuania, let alone Dover.  Oh, another tip foreign brothers and sisters, don't barter or use your poker playing skills (strip or otherwise) with the Traffic Cops, it DOESN'T work.

No-one is immune to the Law in this country, including me.

Overall folks, what you don't seem to understand is you're getting stopped because you're compromising road safety; your safety, the safety of your loved ones and more importantly the safety of other roadusers around you on the road at any one time - if that's a coach, then ooooo, that's going to be about 60 odd people (someone elses mum, nan, dad, grandad, auntie, uncle, daughter, son, beloved friend).

"IT's Not Going To Happen To Me Syndrome" is a general life philosophy for a large proportion of people however, when IT does happen, there's nothing you can do about it.  You're getting stopped because "IT will happen to you if you don't do something about it" - howzat for a better understanding?  Terminal illness however, is a different story - that's a roulette you can't do anything about.

They're not called The Professionals for nothing.

A big thank you to RoSPA Kent for organising Police Shadowing with Kent Police Road Traffic Unit (Coldharbour), especially Graham and Alex for putting up with the old crow in the back - I had a great day; thanks for breaking my racetrack record

ps. No evidence of lacy stockings whatsoever to be fair.