Britain's 'big cat X files' revealed

There have been more than 100 sightings of exotic and unidentified animals in England since 2005, according to a dossier compiled by Natural England.

By Jasper Copping
Published: 9:00PM GMT 06 Mar 2010

They are the stuff of rural legend – but for decades, alleged sightings of big cats stalking the British countryside have been dismissed as hoax or fantasy.

Yet now the head of a Government agency responsible for investigating such incidents has declared that he believes these mysterious creatures do indeed exist.

His comments follow the release of a dossier by Natural England which lists more than 100 sightings of exotic, non-native and unidentified animals in England since 2005.

Of these, 38 were "big cats". In some cases, members of the public claimed to have seen the creature itself; on other occasions, they reported finding farm or wild animals which had been attacked or killed.

The documents – Britain's "big cats X Files" – show the extent to which Natural England takes the reports seriously.

The agency has launched several investigations, involving site visits by officials and the drafting in of specialist vets to examine injuries.

Big cat sightings have been reported all over England. In some areas they have spawned legends, such as the so-called Beast of Bodmin in the south west.

The investigations have yet to find conclusive proof of the presence of the mysterious creatures but, asked about their existence, Charlie Wilson, who coordinates reports for the Government agency, said: "The evidence is there that there are the odd, escaped, released dumped animals occurring in the wild every now and then.

"We know that. I am quite prepared to believe that. I don't think there are any breeding populations, however.

"If they are there, the numbers are so small that any risk of people encountering them is pretty small and any risks they present are somewhere approaching zero."

He added: "All reports are logged in our system. If there is only a sighting, then there is not usually much more than can be done to follow it up.

"But we are able to do so if there is something a bit more tangible that we could look at, like the carcases of other animals, or tracks. There are reports that turn out to be plausible."

One theory is that several large species, such as panthers, leopards and lynx, were deliberately released into the wild by their owners in the 1970s after the introduction of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act, which placed restrictions on the keeping of certain species.

In one "big cat" investigation, a carcase from an ostrich farm in Cambridgeshire was examined and the site was monitored.

In another, in Surrey, a roe deer was dragged over two fences, had its carcase eviscerated and was left with puncture marks. Natural England was informed by police and its officials studied photographs.

In Lincolnshire, a farmer found several of his sheep killed and eaten. On some of the carcases only the skull and spine were left. The farmer said the attack was down to a big cat and officials visited the site. Photos of the carcases were taken.

In another case, an injured horse was found in a field in Warwickshire, with claw marks scratched in it. In a further report, officials studied photographs of dead foxes, believed to have been scavenged by a big cat in Suffolk.

One big cat, spotted by a roadside between the villages of Mark and Burtle, in Somerset, was said to be as tall as a car. In another sighting in the same county, a motorist on the M5 reported seeing a big cat in an adjacent field.

While many of the investigations have been "inconclusive", others have been resolved. A supposed big cat seen in Norfolk, for instance, turned out to be a badger.

Danny Bamping, from the British Big Cats Society, said the real number of sightings would be even higher.

"Believing in big cats is not like believing in the Loch Ness monster," he said. "There is absolutely no doubt that they are out there.

"The most credible reports are from farmers, and those guys know their stuff. We have also had policemen reporting sightings to us. For every report, there are going to be others who don't bother to report it."

As well as the big cats, the Natural England dossier details other investigations which, in some cases, have found evidence of the presence of exotic species at large.

For instance, raccoon dogs – native to Asia and Russia – were confirmed as living in Oxfordshire and West Berkshire, while Siberian chipmunks, which can carry fatal diseases, have also been confirmed in Berkshire, Wiltshire and Cheshire.

Dead raccoons have been found in Kent and Hampshire, while there has also been a credible – though inconclusive – report of a living one in Surrey.

A snapping turtle, two feet long and 10 to 12 inches wide, was also discovered in Kent. The dossier states that the species "can be dangerous" and says that the animal needed trapping and destroying.

Fourteen coypus were also reported. The large South American rodent was brought to the UK by fur farmers in the 1930s, but some escaped and established wild populations.

These were thought to have been eradicated following a large-scale trapping exercise.

The new sightings could suggest that some remain at large, although none were proved conclusively.

A sighting of a wallaroo – an Australian animal which is smaller than a kangaroo but larger than a wallaby – living in Cornwall was taken as being credible, although not proven.

Other unconfirmed sightings include more raccoons and raccoon dogs, a wolf in Surrey, and a prairie dog in Buckinghamshire.

Twenty-eight of the sightings involved wild boar, which have escaped from farms and become established in some parts of the country in recent years. Sightings in other areas are still closely monitored.

The information was disclosed in response to a Freedom of Information request by The Sunday Telegraph.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/7384536/Britains-big-cat-X-files-revealed.html
(Submitted by Liz R)

Blonde raccoon is star of show at new wildlife centre

RIGHT: Terri Petter holds her blonde raccoon Fingers at the site of where her wildlife education center will be built. Renee Jones Schneider, Star Tribune.

CALL OF THE WILDLIFE

A landmark furniture store in Farmington is being transformed into a wildlife education center, along with a gift shop and restaurant.

By DEAN SPIROS, Star Tribune
February 21, 2010 - 7:29 PM

The array of country furniture and accessories displayed in a sprawling timber building has always been but part of the lure of Oak & Treasures in Farmington.

For some, a weekend just wasn't complete without stopping in to talk to Fingers the blonde raccoon, who regularly occupied a pen in the back of the store. Or to get an up-close look at the wolf that often kept Terri Petter company in her office while she worked at the store belonging to her mother, Eunice.

After 15 years, the animals are moving from the back rooms and into the spotlight. Oak & Treasures is closing its doors and will reopen as a wildlife education center in the fall.

"The Habitat" will display a variety of native animals in their natural surroundings inside large, fenced-in pens. The inside of the log building will feature a bar and grill and gift shop. The walls will be adorned with animal mounts accompanied by educational text.

It's the brainchild of Apple Valley native Terri Petter, who grew up with a love of the outdoors and the creatures that inhabit them.

"Working with critters has always been her dream,'' Eunice Petter said. "We've been working toward this point for five years. It's just a good time to do it.''

"I always wanted to educate people on the outdoors and to get kids off the couch and away from the video games,'' Terri Petter said. "Getting people back outside to enjoy wildlife.''

Terri Petter has more than 100 animals, including cougars, wolves, bobcats, lynx, badgers, foxes, prairie dogs and ground hogs. They are housed on her 100-acre ranch in Apple Valley. Petter has a U.S. Department of Agriculture permit, and she said all of the animals have been purchased from a USDA-licensed facility.

"I don't have any kids; those are my kids,'' Terri Petter said. "I protect them like they are my kids.''

A landscape makeover will include the addition of trees, boulders, plants and ponds. "You're going to be able to walk out there and feel like you are up north,'' Terri Petter said.

Admission prices stand at $7.50 for adults and $5.50 for children. Yearly memberships will be available. Petter also is seeking corporate sponsorships and accepts donations.

The Petters have purchased an adjacent 70 acres of farmland they plan to use for future expansion of the habitat. Plans call for a petting farm featuring horses, cows, chickens and the like.

The current going-out-of-business furniture sale runs through May 1. Construction will begin soon after, weather permitting.

Eunice Petter has been in the furniture business for over 30 years, dating back to her days as an antiques dealer at Lake and Hennepin in Minneapolis. She also taught history for 30 years in the Apple Valley school district. While sad to see the furniture store close ("I'll miss the customers"), she's excited about her daughter's new venture.

"It's a big gamble,'' said Terri Petter, who put her ranch and her mom's timber building up for loan collateral. "I might be living in a box in two years. But I think it's worth it.''

http://www.startribune.com/local/south/84920632.html
(Submitted by D.R. Shoop)

Prairie dog of Bodmin

It looks like an overgrown guinea pig. But the really odd thing about this creature is that it seems to be about 4,000 miles from home.

The North American prairie dog was photographed in Cornwall by Godfrey Stevens, 58, and his wife Linda, 48, as they walked the isolated Goss Moor nature trail, 13 miles from Bodmin Moor - home to the fabled Beast of Bodmin. Newquay Zoo identified it as a female, black-tailed prairie dog which probably escaped from a private collection.

‘We had decided to take a walk along the nature trail when we noticed this strange animal lurking near a drain,' said Mr Stevens, an electrical wholesaler from Penzance. ‘I love wildlife, that's why we were there in the first place, but neither of us had ever seen anything like it.

‘We expected we might see some nice wild flowers, but this was a real surprise for us. We just couldn't believe our eyes.

‘It was sniffing around the entrance to a drain and would occasionally stand up on its hind legs.

‘I was very confused because I knew it was not a weasel or a stoat but for the life of me I couldn't work out what it was.

'We weren't sure what it was - it reminded me of a marmot (a large ground squirrel). It was up on its hind legs with its nose in the air.'

'If I went within about eight feet of it, it would run up one of the drainage pipes. But if I waited for about five minutes it would come out again,' he added.

The area where they spotted the animal lies just 13 miles from Bodmin Moor - the scene of many sightings of strange creatures over the years including the wildcat Beast of Bodmin.

But at just a few inches high, this latest Cornish mystery can not exactly be described as a beastly. Yet it certainly is unusual.

Prairie dogs are normally found more than 4,000 miles away in grassland areas of America and Canada where they live in packs. For one to be discovered in the UK is rare and the only explanation can be is that it has escaped from captivity.

Experts at Newquay Zoo, where the photographs were identified, said there was no doubt they showed a female, black-tailed prairie dog. Stewart Muir, managing director, said: ‘It is unusual but it is not as uncommon as people think.

‘Prairie dogs have been kept in captivity for here for a very long time, since the 1800s.
‘They usually live in big colonies and they dig a lot so it is easy for them to escape and live in areas in the wild.

‘The reason they do so well in our country is that they are native to North America, which is temperate climate.

‘They are not dangerous animals and they are strictly vegetarian.

He said that although he has never heard of one in Cornwall they do sometimes escape and colonise areas of the UK. ‘It is most likely that this one has escaped from a private collector.
They would not make very good house pets but they would be easy enough to keep in the garden. But then they do dig, and escape.

‘There are no plans to capture the creature - he seems to be living there quite comfortably.

‘One of two are not likely to have much of an impact.’

Earlier this year one was discovered underweight in a field in Lincolnshire where it was found nibbling on sugar beet.

It was taken in by animal lover Julie Stoodley after the RSPCA caught it. She said: ‘They need warmth, lots of attention and a specific diet of grasses, hay and root vegetables.’

www.dailymail.co.uk