WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE

You should get some of that Lion's dung. I f he's that big, it will certainlty keep the cats and wildlife off your borders!!!

You are right...
this could be the work of the dreaded GNBBBL ~

GoY's Naughty Berkshire Bush-Burning Lorry..... :o)

lol. I wondered what the letters stood for.
Stupid - now I've realised it's on top of the blog aswell. lol.

LOL Paul, I shall be there with my bucket and spade if it comes back!
Double LOL TT, how long did it take you to think that up? Excellent!
Well Hywel, one things for sure - you don't need any lion dung to help your plants along.

LOL

Oh dear I'm with Hywel I did wonder what the letters stood for until I looked back at the top of the blog.
Nice one Tt I like it:o)

:o) The lion sounds more exciting than the lorry, don't you think ? Lol.

I definitely prefer the lion theory although I'll keep a close watch over my shoulder if I go out there on a dark night. Who knows I might even get a photo (but not at night!).

Check out fleshy fungi conifers http://www.google.com/search?q=fungus+that+conifers+have+leaving+like+burn+marks&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb:IE-Address&ie=&oe=

I thought it was generally known that BIG cats are living in GB, if you doubt it then let me say IHAVE SEEN THEM.
on two seperate occasions now they ARE here, though if they are responsible for your damage or not I can't say...if the local cts (iccle house types ) will not go near it then it probably was done by one.

Tell me more Indy, sounds intruiging. I have heard reports of sightings but never first hand. My cat Daisy loves the front garden so don't think we can have had a giant 4 legged visitor.

I've seen 2 so far the first was the strangest and closest the second was driving to Scotland in broad daylight about 100yds ahead of me a large dark cat leapt onto the road and ran (bounded twice and was off the other side theres no doubt in my mind what that was my lady missed it it was so fast and she wasn't watching the road.

The first time as I said was the more convincing as the thing came to within 10 ft of me late one evening when i was walking my 2 dogs on the edge of a scrubby bit of woodland near Stoke on Trent. The dogs ran off to a hege row about 50yds from me I was in a dip and they ran uphill away from me, the dogs started working the hedge and barking so I stood still trying to see what they were doing, the light was fading and I heard a scrabbling sound coming along the bank to my left ,I thought it was one or both of the dogs until it stopped just a few feet from me and turned its head to look back the way it had come .

I stood stock still watching, the dogs were still working the hedge, it seemed like minutes but was probably only 30 secs or so I had a clear sight of it ,it was bigger at the shoulder than a labrador and much longer the head was held high and had rounded ears it was very dark coloured if not black, I took all this in easily as i had the tme to look it up and down more than once . At this point i moved slightly it turned its head to me drew its lips back in a hiss and was gone before my eyes could adjust straight into the woods , the dogs turned up at this point and I grabbed them and took them home.
No I did not report it to the authorities as I have little faith in them doing anything but questioning my sanity,probity etc.
BUT I KNOW what I KNOW and what I have witnessed with my own eyes.
This piece of woodland is right on the edge of a heavily populated area with farmland on 2 sides of it , they do not fear to come close to us though they are wary of being seen I am sure.
There were reports around that time of a cat on Cannock Chase, which is really only a few 20 or so miles of farmland away from where i saw mine...

Whether anyone believes me I do not care at all, but it took hours for the hair on my neck to lay flat and I never went out to those woods after dark again,even with the dogs!

Ineresting and I agree with the authorities, I would nt report it either, they are like doctors if they have nt got it seen it etc neither have you got it seen it.

Yes Morgana I have been watching the authorities hiding what they like from people for many years and want no part of their circus of media assasination of those who say the wrong thing. ISAW WHAT I SAW its enough that I know that and apart from anything else the fact that BIG cats are out there gives me hope that other wonderful things in nature will yet survive our (societies) misrule and self-destruction.

Yes I agree what would they do cage it or kill it the norm

What a fascinating story Indy. I don't doubt what you saw, there have been so many sightings of 'big cats' over the years and they cannot all be the figments of imagination of fanciful or attention seeking people. I have always been open minded on this and other things as there is so much in this world that is unexplained or unknown. It is very arrogant of mankind to assume we know everything. You are so clear and adamant in what you saw and as you say, how wonderful to know that creatures exist in spite of us and how priveleged you are to have been witness, not once but twice. Had I witnessed the close encounter I would have been terrified and am now looking at my front garden in a new light!..Thank you for sharing your experiences with us.

Youre welcome lily2, As it happens I narrowly missed a third encounter here in Wales, my lady took our then dog for a walk at night (about 6 years ago) he was a BIG and BAD Alsation rescued from beside the road where he had been dumped.This dog was afraid of nothing and no oneeven once trying to take on a bull with me being dragged along behind and i weigh 13+stone!
She only went round the corner from us and as she was passing a hedge the dog started dancing and pulling away from the hedge my lady says she heard a sort of hissing snarly noise as she was pulled across the road away from the source. Others round here have reported sightings and they're good solid farmers with no need to tell lies, these people are shocked by their encounters as wasI, and they remain as vivid in the memory as if they had just happened.
The BIG cats will avoid confrontation unless cornered, and will quietly leave the area if given the chance, my advice to anyone is if out in the dark "MAKE A NOISE "as you go.

!'ll certainly remember that Indy, I feel a bit nervous to go out there in the dark now! This started off as a fun blog but now you've got me wondering!!

We do live out in the country here, if youre in a conurbation you should have little cause to worry.

The best estimates of such cats based on sightings etc is that there could be between 20- 40 spread over the whole of the british isles , Big cats of the cougar type are the most commonly reported and they range over a very large territory, for the population to continue to exist over the 40 or more years theyve been reported there has to be a breeding stock, numbers could be as low as 5 to 10 but they would not be viable populations over time, also if there were more than this some at least would end up as road casualties and as yet I have not heard of any, you have more chance of being charged by a bull than coming face to face with a big cat, me ? I guess i've just been lucky and yes i have been charged by a bull also but that wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for that bl***y alsation.
You could have a look at the British Big Cat site that looks into reports of sightings they may give you a sense of perspective on the whole thing, try to remember there are 60 odd million of us people and very few of them, so we will see them occasionally but they are well used to keeping out of our sight and way.