Big cat sighting leaves experienced hillwalker baffled
May 2, 2010 by Dave Hewitt · 28 Comments
Is there a lion loose in the Campsies? Picture: S Taheri
Dr Bob Sharp, 64, is the retired head of the department of sports studies at Strathclyde University. He was part of the team that put together Scotland’s first degree in outdoor education. He has also been involved in mountain rescue for 33 years, 12 of them as leader of the Lomond mountain rescue team.
Recently appointed to the role of statistician for the Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland, he is a former chairman of the Scottish Mountain Safety Forum, has served as director of what is is now Mountain Leader Training Scotland, and was a vice-president of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland.
He completed a round of the Munros in 1991, and has spent a lot of time on the hill over the years. And he describes himself as “an evidence-based person”, someone who is “not prone to delusions or quick, uninformed decisions”.
All of which is relevant, in a “reliable witness” way, to what happened on the morning of Thursday, 22 April, in the Campsies, north of Glasgow.
Sharp was out for a walk up Meikle Bin: the second-highest hill in the area, an excellent viewpoint, and a popular half-day leg-stretch.
He started, as most people do, at Todholes at the west end of the Carron Valley Reservoir. Much of the hill is afforested, and the route is an easy stroll along tracks. High up, a path heads up through the last of the trees and follows the north-west ridge to the 570-metre summit.
Conditions were good – dry, with a cloudbase well above the summit – and there was no one else around. The only other walkers met were near the parking area. A perfectly ordinary outing – until, on the final slope, “between 480 and 500 metres”, it became memorable and puzzling.
“At a point where the slope relents,” Sharp wrote in an email to friends and colleagues the next day, “I saw a large animal running from left to right about 20 metres away. My brain tried to fit its shape to that of a fox but failed miserably. The animal I saw was, for all intents and purposes, a female lion. It was not a sheep, cow, deer, badger, fox, hare, wildcat, otter, etc.
“It was beige/brown in colour, had chunky, fur-covered legs, a long tail and rounded-off ears. It was large, at least four to five feet long, and it moved just like a female African lion. I followed it as it ran towards the treeline, then it was gone in about ten seconds.”
Anticipating the scepticism that such sightings tend to provoke, and true to his scientific background, Sharp added: “I was not drinking at the time, or high on drugs. Nor was I hypothermic, ill or fatigued. Just strolling along minding my own business when all of a sudden this big cat appeared.”
Asked a few days later if he had seen the creature again when he came to descend the hill, Sharp said: “I returned the same way and dropped down to the treeline where it was heading, but saw nothing. I should have looked for possible pawprints, but it never entered my head.” (He didn’t have a camera with him.)
Was he scared of it? And did the creature appear scared of him? “Neither. I just recall being puzzled and surprised that it was an animal so unusual and out of place.” The creature made no noise, and headed westward into the trees.
Afterwards, Sharp contacted Simon Jones, a manager with the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Jones was of the opinion that “such a sighting would be unusual but still possible”.
Asked whether he had ever seen anything like this before, in three-and-a-half decades of Scottish hillgoing, Sharp says “Never.”
The incident occurred at grid reference NS664824, less then ten miles from the northern edge of Scotland’s largest city. Needless to say, Bob Sharp would be interested to hear any theories people might have about this – and also whether there have been similar sightings and reports in the area.
Related posts:
- Audio: Kevin Mitchell, leader of Ochils Mountain Rescue Team. John Knox speaks to Kevin Mitchell, leader of Ochils Mountain...
- To the rescue! by John Knox As they screwed the official blue and...
Given the number of people walking the hills with cameras and mobile phone cameras it won’t be long before someone catches a shot of Clarence.
Report This Comment
I wouldn’t be too sure about that. 3 or 4 years ago I saw a big cat while out walking near High Valleyfield in Fife. I was following a path and, rounding some bushes, I saw the animal about 15-20 yards ahead. It’s reactions were faster than mine and it quickly slunk off into the scrub. My only impression was of a cat like face and movement. But it was of a more powerful build than a domestic cat, or even a wildcat. In any case, domestic cats normally stand their ground.
I didn’t report the incident because it was just a fleeting glimpse. But I have been wondering ever since just what it was. Then, a couple of months back there was a story in the local paper about 2 lads hunting rabbits at night with lurchers, also in the High Valleyfield area. They scanned a field with a lamp and caught sight of what they thought was a panther disappearing into the darkness on the other side of the field. The dogs were straining at the leash trying to get after it.
Was this the same animal? In that case it has been around for a few years in an area which is fairly well populated. But no photographs.
Report This Comment
There have been a great number of sightings of what sounds like a black panther in the Oban area. People of all ages and walks of life claim to have seen it, some several times.
The gentleman in this sighting sounds eminently sane.
There is surely a possibility of escaped exotic pet/zoo escapee/brought in on a boat from a far-flung place.
Report This Comment
i have also encountered 3 sightings in my time around the argyll area and as the hill walker said above one of the ones ive spotted in the bast was bushy with a long tail which comes down its back legs and looks almost like a spoon shape it also had a very how can i put it the way it walked was like with a swagger almost sleakit/sneakily etc. once we arrived at the spot which it had crossed the rd there was a bambi dear in the brushell shaking literally but no sign of the the larger predator
Report This Comment
Camping wild in the hills between Moffat and Eskdalemuir I was suprised by a brown/fawn animal about four feet long as it approached my tent. It looked like some kind of deer but suddenly barked and disappeared.
Left me puzzled.
Report This Comment
14 yrs ago I was driving at night near my home in the countryside near the Culbin forest, nr. Forres, Scotland. I drove around a sharp bend and a black puma, which had been crossing the road, stopped and turned to look into the headlights of my car, obviously startled.I braked and had a very close view of the animal, which was about 20 yds ahead of me.It was jet black, with bright yellowy green eyes. It quickly loped off and into a field at the edge of the forest.The length of the body and tail were typical of a big cat. I was so stunned, that I just sat for a few minutes. I have always been sceptical when I have heard of such sightings, but now I am 100% convinced! Interestingly, when I told some older residents of our village, they said many people had seen similar animals over the years in this area. The Culbin Forest extends for approx 10 miles and is an ideal habitat fir such creatures.
Report This Comment
I have come clean. It was me, dressed in a big furry lion suit. Sorry
Report This Comment
In Kansas a few years ago I was riding a four-wheeler and saw a quick flash of a large cats legs and tail run in front of me. It was so quick that I couldn’t make out what kind of cat but it was extremely large and we’ve found paw prints to back it up since then.
Report This Comment
Don’t believe one word of it. I remember watching trackers from America who came to the UK to look for any evidence of large cats. They could find none, all the prints were dogs and all the attacks on sheep or cattle were dogs. Even in areas of America where large cats abound people can live there whole life without seeing one.
It’s daft as UFOs and crop circles.
Report This Comment
rubbish come to scotland youreself for a while and wonder the hills thery defo theyre ufo`s are as daft as bigfoot not big cats
Report This Comment
Don’t believe one word of it
It’s daft as UFOs and crop circles.
Very forward thinking attitude that!!
Which century you stuck in??
Report This Comment
Come to Wales their are reports everyday of cat like creatures i believe that there are a small population and its growing every year its only a matter of time before someone has hard evidence
Report This Comment
I never realised Bob was that old!
Report This Comment
In Feb 2007 I saw something rather similar at NS8499 in the Ochils. I would have assumed it was a fox (the tail seemed shaggy) but it appeared the same colour as the cat pictured above. I was scared but it seemed more scared of me and made a rapid departure through long grass which made identification tricky. It seemed to slink away more like a cat than a fox.
Report This Comment
Personally I haven’t ever seen anything odd in the feline department on the Ochils in almost 25 years of regular visits. (I have had two distinctly odd incidents of walkers seeming to do complete disappearing acts, but that’s another story.)
Despite – or perhaps because of – it being hill-sheep country, there are foxes on the Ochils; I’ve seen maybe between a dozen and 20 over the years, including a couple of big raggedy ones. The area you describe is one of the quieter bits of the range, as you’ll know – on the far side of the glen from Dumyat, but before walker-traffic starts to increase with the 2000-foot contour on Blairdenon. So if there was any strange creature lurking on the Ochils then that would be one of the more likely areas, I think.
Report This Comment
About 4 or 5 years ago on a cold winter night, a few of us went a walk along the back line at the foot of the Kilsyth Hills (Campsie Fells, quite near the Meikle Bin). We got to a farm, and even though it was really dark, 3 of us seen what looked like a large cat. I actually thought it was a lion at the time. We ended up runnin away. Everyone laughed at us at the time but since this story came out its changed peoples minds.
Report This Comment
Last night about 2am i parked my car outside my house, picked my dog up out of the car and turned around to see, what i presume is a black panther, far too big and built to be a dog, it appeared that its far was shiney. as i was carrying a small puppy i was very scared. this surprised me as i live in a suburban area in Glasgow.
Report This Comment
Two things. One: bumped into Bob Sharp last week and he was saying that he went back to Meikle Bin, with his camera, and took pics of paw prints that were consistent with it having been a mountain lion / lynx.
Two: there is a report on Walk Highland that a “very large, black cat” has been spotted in woods near Kincraig, and police are asking walkers to report any sightings.
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/news/giant-black-cat-warning-to-walkers/001946/
Report This Comment
I saw what looked like a jungle cat in Cumbria about 11 years ago, ran across the road in front of the car & then stopped on the verge. I thought that it was a fox at first, but as I got nearer realised that it was a cat, much bigger than a domestic cat from what I remember & beautiful markings like nothing I’ve seen on a domestic cat – this was about 7am in the day light close to a village. My parents live in Cumbria & my dad has also seen what he thought was a big cat a few years before this.
I live in Aviemore, Scotland now & last year caught a fleeting glance of what looked like a big cat on the Essich road just outside Inverness. I’m a police officer & myself & a collegue were heading towards Inverness at about 1am-2am ish. Less than half a mile from the first houses something large ran across the road & over a wall. Unfortunately we were talking & only saw it out of the corner of our eyes. As it went over the wall, it was close into the wall & seemed to slink over it easily and into a field. We stopped & put the car’s search lights on & used torches, but saw nothing. From what we did see, the animal was at least the length of the wall (about 1 metre high) and it moved like a cat. I could not have been a dog as a dog would have struggled to get over the wall from close in. I have seen Pine Martens close to here, but it looked bigger than that.
Here’s a link to a big cat that was captured in Cannich in the Highlands in 1980.
http://www.lochnessinvestigation.org/pumas.html
Report This Comment
Interesting reports – thanks for that. What part of Cumbria was it where you saw what you saw? I too have family connections down there, and could ask around to see if there have ever been any similar reports.
Report This Comment
I saw it just outside Wetheral & my Dad saw a big cat on the road between Gilsland and Brampton (I think). I believe that there have been big cats reported in the area, I seem to remember something in the local paper, but that’s going back a bit now. I got a very good view of the cat. It wasn’t that close when it ran across the road, which is why I thought it was a fox at first. I slowed down to see if I could see it in the bushes & it was stood on the verge only about 5 metres away, but had been hidden by a bush until I was level with it. I didn’t expect anything to still be there, so hadn’t slowed down enough to come to a stop. I wasn’t sure what sort of cat it was, but there was an article on the news (I think) about a month later about a Jungle Cat in captivity & it was almost identical to what I had seen.
One of my neighbours is convinced that she saw a big black cat near the tourist information centre at Bogbain on the A9 as you drop down into Inverness. This was about 10am. I can’t say if it was or not as the area is used by dog walkers & could have been a dog, but interestingly a week or so after this a big black cat was reported near Farr, which, from Bogbain is not that Far!
Just in response to Stiubhart’s post (3 May 10) I would say that what you saw was a Roe Deer, they will bark just like a dog. I’m not sure if other deer do this, but I’ve come across a Roe Deer before & it barked at me, I’ve also heard them in the woods.
Report This Comment
Thanks. My main Cumbrian connections are around Coniston and Keswick, but my regular fellwalking sidekick has a sister in Wetheral, so I’ll see what can be discovered.
Incidentally, years ago, I ran the Brampton to Carlisle 10-miler – a famous old road race. It started late for some reason, and I wasn’t exactly speedy, so I finished in the dark – a curious experience. Didn’t see any big cats that day, however…
Report This Comment
I haven’t seen anything personally, although I have relatives outside Drymen who regularly walk in the forests north of the village. On more than one occasion they’ve seen big cats (what kind I don’t remember) darting off in front of them. About a decade ago their horses were attacked by a big cat (lynx rings a bell), which has come up in conversation several times since.
Report This Comment
There have been recent sightings of a “large panther-type cat” in Dornoch and Tain:
http://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2010/08/31/is-latest-big-cat-sighting-the-golf-lynx?printview=1&rhs-tab-1=2
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-11138122
Report This Comment
It is common for a female lion to stalk its prey and
by your description she was either unsure of her self
or startled at been seen you said that she ran back
towards a tree line Thats where she hides
Most likley a n adbandon pet
I believe that if this animal is not captured
the only logical course will be the death of someone or two
thank you
and gods luck
a friend from lion country
Report This Comment