The Beast of Dartmoor | Big Cats In Britain ? | A Story From Bellever Forest Dartmoor
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 พ.ย. 2020
- Outdoors Inspiration, Outdoor Essentials - Shamus McCaffery, shares a shaggy dog story of big cats in the wild Dartmoor uplands. He recalls and reenacts the journey he took one night at Bellever Forest where he saw a large, black shape moving through the moorland. Accompanied by ever faithful canine companion, Petra the Dartmoor German Shepherd.
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Hi sheamus , just watched this video and kind of sent shivers down me , around 8ish years ago I was working at GCHQ bude , and on returning to bude around 4.30 pm ( and still summer ) after driving up from a gully , we turned a corner & I shouted WTF as a big black cat of panther stature was just meandering towards us , wish I'd had a dash cam 😫 it took one quick startled look at us then darted off into cover , we drove back and forth a few times but to no avail , now I know the shape of foxes , badgers and dogs , but as God is my witness this was a cat of substantial size with a velvet texture coat & a big head , a week later a family camping in bude were scared by a big cat ,, I believe these stories 👍
Blimey 😳 Thanks Martin 😊 That sounds like a real close encounter 👍
Several years ago i was driving home about 3am though Hemel Hempstead when a Black leopard bounded across the Road a cleared a 4ft high fence in one leap.Called the local police station who knew all about it since there had beenseveral sightingsWas told that the first inkling they get that a large cat is moving through the area is when people place notices on lamposts.Was asked not to report it to the local press, since the government is fully aware of their existence, but the official line is to deny it.They do not want to spread panic.
Fascinating 😊 It's a shame there isn't better documented evidence 👍😊🐶
Where did u see this cat!!! I live in Hemel!!!
That's wild
Thought your dog may have chased it or been spooked ???
Hi Shamus, I myself live locally in Tavistock. I grew up in Princetown for 24 years and my parents lived for a while out at Challacombe near Grimspound. and now live at Greyhound next to the carpark in Postbridge. I myself have also always been a non believer of big cats. however I also had a strange experience that I can't explain. I was driving to my parents from Tavistock on the B3357 and at Pork Hill carpark in the distance of my lights caught site of a object running from my right to left across the moorland over the road ahead of me and up towards cox tor. now it was moving fast. was light in colour cream sort of with a low centre of gravity and ran almost perfect not effected by the terrain taking long strides. to this day me and my partner have no idea what we saw. it was I'd say bigger then Petra infact bigger then our own alsatian Java who was a big boy in his prime. but incredibly fast. who knows. Jamie my brother in law on the other hand is obsessed with searching for big cats on Dartmoor. however I've tried to catch the hairy hand but not had any luck yet 😂
keep up the videos. they are great.
Hi Tom 😊 - I appreciate your on local FB groups, but your name is familiar. I'm sure we met a few years back in the Prince? Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment. The hairy hand is a bit tricky, unless you've 'had a few' on your way back from the Warren House, then it'll have your steering wheel! 😂
@@outdoorsinspiration9284 Possible. although I would most likely have been on Jail ale at the time 🤷♂️
yes very true. I can't say I've ever had a skin full at the Warren and then driven back. but I can see how it may work. strange that hey 😂
brilliant Tom!! my experience was also a brown/cream coloured creature , this is encouraging because most rumours are of black colour shapes
@@waynus2021 it was strange. as said i am a non believer however that night was strange. what ever it was in 34 years living on Dartmoor i have never seen anything even slightly like it before or ever since. what got me the most was the speed and how it seemed to just move unaffected by the terrain whatsoever. its hard to explain. but it was weird.
There is more than one beast. They are black panthers, I've witnessed 3 of them in the mid 1990s. I saw one from a school minibus, literally 4 ft away. It looked right into my eyes as I passed it. It's eyes peirced my soul. I saw it on the road around the Seaton area. People used to keep them as pets in the 1700s, the government began to charge people license fees. They were so expensive even the rich couldn't afford them, so they let them run wild. Another time I saw two from long distance in the Welland area, collumpton.
Hi we saw a blackcat yesterday at haytor at nigth when we were skywatching. We had parked our car and was watching the stars in silence when this big black cat walk rigth in front of our car. Weird enough it was followed by a fox less then a second later. That was an amazing sigth, but who is gonna believe us. Thank you for a GREAT video
That’s really interesting - what sort of size and description?
@@outdoorsinspiration9284 it was bigger then a collie dog all black and quick.
@@outdoorsinspiration9284 we could meet you there one day and show you where and tell our experience. This is the second time we see s big black cat. Stuff for a good video 👌😎🙂🙂
Fox was probably its cub
Yes they exist. A friend investigates sightings as part of their job for the authorities. They definitely are out there but it isn't "shouted from the rooftops" 👍
They exist my friend, and you're quite correct, they don't want us to know.
Lynxes have been caught on trail cams in Scotland. I was on the bus from Glasgow to Campbeltown when I overheard the driver tell a passenger that a big cat walked across the road in front of his bus==Why not put up a trail cam .
They are 100% real! I saw one myself in berkshire in 2006. It was on a clear sunny morning there was no mistaking what it was. It was the size of a large black leopard or jaguar. Very muscular body, long tail, round face and that fluid snake like movement cats have. The sun light was shining on its rear quarters and that part was a rusty colour, exactly like you see with a black leopard or jaguar when the sun shines on their fur.
That sounds incredible 😊 where were you?
@@outdoorsinspiration9284 Near junction 10 on the M4 near reading, berkshire.
@@naturephotography8837could it have been a dogman?
So true as well ' I've seen them there but on other people's videos
They're all over the country! I've seen two myself. One in Cornwall, which I watched for a good 5 minutes through binoculars, and one in Yorkshire.
Thank you Mally 😊🐶👍
@ken overton camera evidence please
thats not true though....
You are most fortunate!
I was not a believer too. Then I spotted a puma in Edgeworth Bury/Bolton, miles away from Dartmoor. Now I do believe. I do travel up and down the country everyday and have visited Dartmoor all the way up to John o Groats. Seen something in Scotland which was definitely a big cat, but nothing at the bottom of England yet. If I do I will be letting you know
My uncle apparently saw a big cat eating a dear on Dartmoor and he's not the lying type. When he saw that he ran the other way. I will have to ask him what spot of Dartmoor
I saw a big black cat near Avebury a few years ago whilst cycling the ridgeway, scared the living bejesus out of me!
I don’t suppose it stuck about long?
Ever thought of writing a book on Dartmoor archaeology? Or maybe a TH-cam series? I find this side of Dartmoor fascinating.
Thanks Aggy, I think if I were a bit 'brighter' I would 😂 Maybe one day in retirement 👍 Dartmoor is fascinating, it's not just about 'outdoors' it's about a relationship with the landscape and everything it brings 😊👍🐶
@@outdoorsinspiration9284 Honestly I think you've probably got enough knowledge stored away to educate us visitors to the area. As for the question of big cats , I'd say unquestionably yes! Not uncommon for affluent buffoons to buy these exotic creatures when they're fluffy and cute and quietly get rid of them when they become a handful. 🐈🐅
@@AggyGoesOutdoors Thank you 😊 You have to feel sorry for the wild animals that are bought as pets - at least dogs chose us (30,000 years ago) 🐶
We saw big cats as far back as the 80's and 90's in the Okehampton and surrounding rural area. I have no doubt there are still big cats up there now
Thank you for commenting, I do seem to remember a greater prevalence of reports back then... 😊👍🐶
@@outdoorsinspiration9284 It didn't even come as a surprise to me either. My dad and eldest brother both worked at Longleat in the late 70's and early 80's and both had been told off the record that big cats had definitely been released into the wild in different parts of the UK. Fascinating video, thanks for posting :)
Great video thanks 🙏
Thank you 😊
My dad and grandpa both seen one a day apart. My dad pulled over in his truck and seen a black panther walking up a footpath about 10-15 metres away so he’s certain what he was seeing. And then a day later my grandpa seen it jumping over a hedge I don’t know how far away it was but it was the same description as what my dad seen. This was roughly 20-25 years ago in st day Cornwall
Not Dartmoor but Shropshire. Partner is a game keeper for a pheasant shoot and he has to go out late evening to make sure foxes are not running rampage through pheasant enclosures etc. Because of this he knows his animals and regularly sees deer, badger, fox, rabbit etc. He has told me on more than one occasion that he has seen "eye shine" that does not conform to any of the "local" animals in the area. From the outline he said these animals are very big (much bigger than fox or badger) and are extremely weary. Also unlike a fox that will run in the open ground these animals slink off and vanish into the surrounding woodland. In his opinion its a big cat of some description but he has no idea what. I myself am sure that they exist in out countryside as there is evidence to prove this.
Hi from Australia 🇦🇺
We also have big cat sightings in the bush land .
Loved the video
👍👍🐨🐨🦘🦘🇦🇺🇦🇺👍👍
I recall I was running with you that night but we were separated on the tor and you retold me what you had witnessed when we regrouped. No doubt in my mind there are wild cats about!
Hi Sam - definitely on my own that night, other than seeing the farmer. I do like running on that tor 😊👍 and woof from Petra 🐶
@@outdoorsinspiration9284 yes you are correct we went back out the following week for a run and had a hunt around those rocks for a den! 🐱🐱🐱
@@GlobalWarriorSam711 That's the one 👍
Thanks for a really interesting video, not to mention the atmospheric photography. I'm pretty sure that you saw a melanistic leopard, as they seem to crop up everywhere in local papers and online groups. Since I had a fleeting sighting of what was probably one near Winchester, I've collected more than 200 accounts of big cats in Hampshire alone, the great majority of which best match black leopards; a few are sandy-coloured pumas, or smaller European lynx. Devon is always being mentioned as a hot-spot for sightings. They don't seem to eat sheep in Hampshire as far as I can see, but the countryside is heaving with small deer (roe, muntjac, and fallow in the New Forest) and loads of hares, foxes, and badgers, so they don't go hungry. Some small dogs and cats have gone missing as well, and they have been seen to take pheasants and even pigeons if they can catch them.
Thank you 😊
I'm from Dartmoor, and I hate to say it really, but I've seen large cat footprints before, and also (on a separate occasion) high scratch marks along with drag marks leading up to a dead sheep (upsettingly it's head was taken clean off aswell), I'm petrified of big cats so I kind of wish I hadn't seen those things, but I have, indeed, seen them! =] Stay safe out there, my advice would be always take another person or a dog with you, as apparently they (big cats) are generally shy and scarper at noise), just in case! :)
I had an almost identical experience near Maidstone in Kent. I saw a large Jet black animal with a long curved tail dart across a field in front of my car. I googled big cat sightings in Kent and there's a site dedicated to the subject, many of which were close to the A249. I'm absolutely convinced of what I saw. I was with my wife and kids at the time but they didn't see it
Certainly sound like it, Andy 😊👍🐶
@@outdoorsinspiration9284 indeed. Love your posts, keep up the great work
@@andycoombes161 Thank you 😊
Last summer I stepped into my back yard early hrs I looked to my right there was a huge cat it looked at me and jumped the fence and vanished it looked like a bridle domestic cat the size of a medium sized dog very muscular now I think I suffered a bout of pschosis cats like that don't exist
Thankyou for sharing.
I was camping in the Lakes with friends several years ago. Having probs with my tent, i created a tarp set up with a hiking pole and went to sleep. I was awoken in the dead of night to the sound of heavy breathing and footsteps about 2 feet from my head. As I sat up swiftly, whatever it was ran off. At the time, i assumed it was a sheep, but sheep dont tend to bolt for the hills like this creature did, they normally run a few yards and stop. Whatever it was, it sounded powerful and very interested in me, but i'll never know.
This was so good. Thanks
Thank you 😊
I’m convinced that I saw a big cat whilst on a military training exercise on Salisbury plain a few years ago running away in the distance, large but slim, sandy coloured and had a long tail.
Hello Joe 😊 Salisbury Plain is quite an expanse isn't it. Mind you, I sat in a trench on the plain one night when my mate swore blind he saw a double decker bus drive past us 😂 Thanks for watching 😊👍🐶
I heard this from my grandad. Quite a while back, in a scrapyard in Sheffield, a leopard mother scared a bloke into a car and coppers had to come look for the animal and later found it with its cubs
A lot of owners of scrapyards used to keep them as pets...
I saw a Puma around 10 years ago in the wilds of Sussex. I had good cover (hedgerow), wind towards me, looking down into a clear bright grass field about 20 metres away a Puma (straw coloured) was stalking along a gully. I watched it for a 30 seconds, before it stopped looked left and right, then slid into a hedgerow. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough to get my phone out because I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing and my initial excitement turned to primal fear (no longer top of the food chain).
There's a point in the video where I stopped - it was actually for around 15 seconds (the video doesn't show it all) but I watched something move straight across my field of view - I put it down to being deer, but I just said that so I didn't look like a Wally for the video 😂😊👍
Back in 2010 I lived in a small town called seaford, during a hike through the downs and past the seven sisters river. My father and I saw some swans hanging out quite happily. We passed them and decided to visit them on the way back. About 5 hours later, we head back, no swans, only feathers, lots of them, it was oddly quiet and still, like all the wildlife had all up and left.
due to muddy ground there was lots of marks, among them a giant paw print.
The bottom pad was half moon shaped, and the 4 upper pads were round, no claw marks above the pads, this was a cat print, and a big one at that.
We went to an office that was in the downs (a ranger or caretaker I think. They were responsible for the management of the surroundings) and showed the photo of the print on the camera phone, he asked for the location and immediately sent out some people to take a cast, apparently they were building a case file for this animal for some time, but no one has managed to ley eyes on the thing.
I'm sorry but I have no followup.other than my father when walking at night saw eyes on him reflected by his torch once.
Another is in a colliery village close to a large Dene and farmland, local newspapers were regularly reporting on black cat sightings by walkers and train drivers. A teenage family member tried to hunt it with his air gun fortunately his father put an end to it :-p
Blimey! it sounds like a recipe for disaster if folk are attempting to hunt it down, probably best left for the police. Your paw print sounds fascinating 😊👍🐶
Seaford east Sussex? I live about 4 miles away. There's a lot of sheep attacks around here they put down to dog attacks, I know what it really is.
@@bairdawen2658 Its easier to claim on insurance for a dog attack than a big cat. I was told this by a farmer a few years back.
I live in shropshire and twenty years ago my nephew five or six at the time ran home scared saying a big black cat growled at him when they both startled each other.
@@bairdawen2658 i farm a bit further north in marks cross there out there alright never seen one but you do smell them in the woods there musk is so different to native fauna and you do find bracken bent down where they lie and scratched trees but sheep no to big for them its rabbits there taking and it depends on weather some years there more active then others i think they've always been here a native species of cat mix of wildcat and european lynx that hid in the last wild places as for the bigger ones reported there likely escapees doubt they survive long and another common one here is wallaby there a right pain when they get in the crops boars can do alot of damage as well the way they root up soil
Private zoo in Cornwall had a leopard escaped and was captured.
But roomers said thats not all that escaped. Many videos with evidence in Dartmoor and Bodmin.
Awesome video by the way 👏 💯
as always great vid thanks again shamus
I really have been enjoying your videos. It's like watching a show on the history channel.
Thank you Joe 😊 That's a really fantastic compliment 👍🐶😊
These are really well presented videos!
Thank you 😊
Great to see that you’re not allowing wet weather to deter you. Well done Shamus. 👍🏼
Thank you 😊 and thank you for noticing 😂👍🐶
Yes, even in miserable weather, you make it look enviable for the viewer. Lucky you to be there.
Superb content and my favourite place. I hope you will continue with your films. Petra is awesome!
In 1995 I was at university in London and was dating someone whose family lived out in Devon. He and I went for a trip to Dartmoor one day with them, it was cold and wet, I think it may have been in the early spring. As we were walking around the tors, I think it might have been at Great Links Tor, we came across a sheep carcass. It was apparently new. However, it was primarily skeleton, and there was wool laying about on the grass around it, just fluffs, like snow. The carcass had been licked clean. I could tell that it hadn't simply decomposed over a long time leaving the skeleton because all of the connective tissue was still fresh and on the bones as well as most of the head. My boyfriend told me that it was a big cat kill, and to be vigilant. He just said it in a matter-of-fact manner. I am foreign and was new to the UK at the time. I come from a place where there are pumas naturally and this looked right for that kind of kill. I was surprised because I thought that there were only friendly animals in the UK. This was before digital photography, so the picture that I took is somewhere, buried deep in a photo album in self-storage probably. I went on to start a career where I am considered to be an expert witness and I was not given to flights of fancy then, so this is an accurate description of what I saw.
Great video - thanks for sharing your sighting and insights....
Oh this is so interesting, thanks for this awesome channel. New sub here from the South USA. ❤️🙏 God bless
You very kind, thank you 🙏🏻
In 2007 whilst hunting on farmland in Torbay with a friend we both saw a big black cat, Puma sized patrolling the margins of a field , at the time there was plenty of Pheasants about to be had, it jsut slinked off into the bush.
Hi Jeremy 😊 Now coming from you, I know that's entirely credible 👍 🐶
Thanks for an interesting story Shamus, great viewing as always ,👌🐾🐾🐺🐆 .
Thanks Andy - It's our lockdown special 👍😊🐶😂
I was a non-believer until one morning in 2009 driving along Itton Road just north of Spreyton on my way to a day's fishing at 4:30. I saw something I thought was a fox in the road. As I got closer it was too big and something was wrong with the colour. Next thing, in one bound it went through the bushes at the side of the road, and all I remember was seeing the tail which was long, strong and about the thickness of my wrist. I was sure I had just seen one of the fabled big cats. I now believe, and it takes a lot to convince me of anything..
Great report 👍 Were you convinced immediately, or did it take a while to sink in?
@@outdoorsinspiration9284 It was virtually immediately, the tail was the main thing that convinced me. Nothing in this country has a tail like that.
I think I saw something simular whist out walking my dog in kent countryside very early on summers morning.
Wasn't 100% sure but on research afterwards there had been a couple of sightings around the village within a few years. Who knows?
It works quite well as a 'mystery' doesn't it Mike 😊👍🐶
Hi there, love Belliver woods, Ok, back almost 20 years ago, i saw a puma on the moors not belivere but a different location, i watched it for quite a few minutes, totally in shock but 110% positive what id seen, (mobiles were not around then). Crystal clear day in summer, I went back to exact place id seen the puma day after and was able to take photos of the paw prints using a normal camera and used a cigarette pack for size ref,, I took the pics to Danny Bamping and he said they were puma prints, this led me to working then at the old Sparkwell zoo when Mr Dawe owned it as deputy Big Cat n wolf keeper,, Where i continued to learn all about various big cats etc,,,Just 3 years ago i had a further sighting with my hubby of another puma few miles from my 1st sighting... So yes they are out there,, As for find other evidence etc, how often do you see foxes, badgers etc, rarely but they are out there,, so keep your eyes peeled x
Listening too what Ben Mee at the zoo has to say, he was convinced he had a Puma run in front of his car soon after he had taken the place on. The frequency of sighting animals is a really good point, my father spent many years living in the Malayan Jungle and saw evidence of tigers only once - footprints near to where he had camped for the night. Thanks for taking the rime to watch this and comment, I really appreciate that. 😊👍🐶
Great video by the way 👍👍. The problem with drawing reference to how often you see foxes an badgers etc is that yes they can be elusive but they can be seen night after night with a night vision camera literally night after night, and the same goes with trail cams, but I guarantee you could go out on a hillside with a view over a valley for miles and miles every night of the year and you would never see a big cat, even in the areas of supposed regular sightings and you would not film or see one, because they just dont exist here, the evidence just isn't here every account is hazey and never backed up by clear photo or video. You can buy cameras now with crystal clear resolution that can cover huge areas and zoom in for miles, the reward for filming a puma or leopard roaming wild would be well worth the purchase and time an effort. So if you live in these parts I urge you to set one up and prove people like me wrong and get some undeniable proof. I don't deny watching this cool video that this area would be ideal for an apex predator to exist without coming into contact with anyone, but they would still leave all the signs of them being there and wouldn't be aware of a well placed camera
@@MrDanybe I've seen 2 decent videos one shot by a constable in England 🤷♀️
@@anneg5720 where are they though ? Because alls I've ever seen are grainy footage of domestic cats
I was in Dartmoor last week up near the Teign and found an animal scat the size of a big dogs but full of rabbit fur. It definitely wasn't badger or fox....and I'm pretty sure domestic dogs don't eat whole rabbits... ......Many years ago I spooked and was spooked by a big cat of some sort in Dorset. I've had an interest ever since.. Great Video and storytelling by the way.
Great story, even better photography. Thanks Shamus.
Thank you Trevor - I appreciate you taking the time to watch 😊👍🐶
Yes, even though it appeared such a dark day
I agree, I noticed the good editing myself!
Dartmoor has a lot of Mountain lions there as they get spotted a lot out that way
🦁
Brilliant story! I would love to think there were big cats out roaming the country side. Definitely believe it could happen. Closest I’ve got is when one broke out of the zoo and was running about the hills
Great video, enjoyed watching this 👍
Loved the video!! Thanks for sharing. Mike
Thank you 😊 Much appreciated 👍😊🐶
I enjoyed this. Sounds like you saw one. It seems there are more and more sightings now, and most are likely big cats. I personally know one person who saw two while out riding a horse (black cats). I have heard a big cat in a woodland at dusk and it was terrifying. Scared the hell out me. If you listen to recordings of a Leopard 'growl' (if you want to call it that) that's what I heard that evening.
I'm starting to think that with thousands of reports over the last few years from all sorts of different people surely they cant all be wrong..
Hi. New to the chanel. I used to live out the back of Moretonhampstead around 2006. On the way to work early one morning I sore something brownish in colour jump over a hedge in front of my car. I remember seeing its tail. It was around 3ft long. Very strange
Lovely story Shamas! I wonder how many dear live on Dartmoor that have never been seen. If they want to hide they are very good at it.
Look forward to more tales from Dartmoor.
ATB-Phill 🙏
🐕 Woof
Thank you, Phill 😊 It's a good point 👍😊🐶
Another well-made film.
Hi Shamus and Petra. I really enjoyed this video. Lovely outdoor shots (of Petra) and location, Story really well told and very interesting. Thank you.... Tom
Thank you Tom 😊 The weather hasn't been on our side really 👍😂👍
I very rarely comment on any videos I watch, but, I’ve really enjoyed watching your videos the last few days. Especially because of the little bits of info I’d otherwise not know, your positive mood and of course the lovely (and v well trained!) Petra. Just thought I’d let you know I think your content is great 👍
Hi Hannah 😊 Thank you very much, I really appreciate your kind comments. and woof from Petra 🐶👍😊
As always love the videos.
Thank you Bryan 😊🐶👍
I used to live on the moor, walking and camping for hundreds of days and nights. I'm a sceptic. Take the puma theory. They have a range as large as the park, so there should be signs of them from end to end. They leave a number of traces:
- Very distinctive tracks
- Distinctive scat in open areas and clearings
- Dozens of carcasses a year, for a breeding pair
- Caches of food
- Tree scratches
- Above all, they have distinctive, piercing vocalisations that can carry for over a mile.
Dartmoor isn't Alaska - it's only 365 square miles. There are 33,000 residents in the Park and 160 farms. Almost every inch is covered by walkers, wild campers, farmers, army training, rescue teams, land managers, naturalists, bird watchers, photographers, dog walkers, forestry workers... You really would expect someone to have seen or heard some unambiguous evidence by now.
As you'll be well aware, our senses are easily tricked at dusk or in mist, and we are very poor at judging size in these conditions. If there's an explanation, it's surely that?
Enjoyed that Shamus, thank you 👍🏻
Thank you 😊 I had to get it off my chest, so to speak 😊👍🐶
big cats used to prowl the whole of our country, once upon a time, when we were civilised, and not prone to kill what we did not like, or trust
I heard a big cat moving in the woods behind my friends property back in the 70s. My instinct told me to retreat indoors immediately. I found out some years later that when the licensing laws changed for big cats, back in the 70’s, rather than pay, some irresponsible owners just let them go free. I believe there must be some big cats roaming uk. There was a yt vid on Dartmoor, where the happy campers came across a sheep that looked to me as if it had been consumed. So, yes, I think we have big cats in the uk.
This is so well made great story teller and camera work ,thank you for sharing .😊
Another amazing video mate love it
Thank you so much 😊😊😊👍🐶
Shamus. Love Dartmoor and loving the content of your channel. Again thanks for sharing the knowledge and keeping us entertained with such stories. I have always wondered whether there would be a possibility or substance to the tales of such animals over the years. I would love it to be proved maybe one day. All the best to you and take care.
Thank you, Mick 😊 It would be lovely to see something conclusive wouldn't it 👍 Thank you for commenting 😊👍🐶
I remember in the 80's and 90's the "Beast of Bodminmoor. A jaguar or a panther they believed , mauling sheep
They never got to the bottom of that either 😊👍🐶
The Puma in Exmoor zoo billed as the beast of Exmoor died a couple of weeks ago.
@@as400techman Dammit, now we will never know!
Fascinating story, like Dartmoor there have been various sightings of big cats here in the Chilterns, I neither believe nor disbelieve as not seen it myself but it’s possible. As you say, from what you saw, your unable to rationally explain. Let’s hope that any Dartmoor big cars don’t have a liking for Apple Crunch, because I don’t think they will listen to “not for big cats” 🤣 take care.
Haha 😂 Well if it's not for dogs, then it's certainly not for cats; big or small 😊👍🐶
Informative as always Shamus. In February 1989 the body of an Asian jungle cat was found at Ludlow in Shropshire after apparently being hit by a car.
They're out there I've no doubt although I haven't personally seen one.
Thank you, John 😊 I had to google Asian Jungle Cat - Looks beautiful 👍
Nice film of Dartmoor thank you.
Thank you, Claire 😊
Ive seen 2 puma / sandy coloured bigcats several years ago, on seperate occaisions in Somerset.
Brilliant. Ian
Thank you Ian 😊👍🐶
Really interesting thank you and a reminder that I havn't been to Bellever in a while and should visit. I am convinced I saw a puma between Bodmin and Lanivet about 10 ish years ago, it was climbing up a bank as we drove past. The spaniel reference made me laugh, mines a PITA, I'll let you work that one out! 😂
Haha 😂 I have a German Shepherd called Petra who's a PITA 😂 - TFS was a lovely spaniel, bless him 🐶
Interesting story Shamus, i'm sure i seen something on the news years ago about big cat sightings on Dartmoor but you never know mate ...enjoyed that ...cheers Stevie
Thank you Steve 😊👍🐶
Great story shamus 😀
Evening Graham, Thank you 👍😊🐶
Hi mate. I'm a bit late to the party, but I hope all the comments you've read, from the length and breath of the country just on this video, have convinced you there are big cats in the UK.
I saw a black leopard type cat near the Clent hills, 5 miles from Birmingham, in 2019. Made eye contact with it from 5 -10 metres before it, well, leopard crawled into the undergrowth. As another commenter put it, it looked into my soul too. There are some FB groups that interest themselves in these cats. They also have numerous reports of sightings. There's a doc out there called Panthera Britannia that you might find interesting. I could believe the odd escapee of stray but I think the only conclusion that can be drawn is that not only are these cats here, but they're breeding. Possibly even hybridizing...
Thanks for your well thought out comment. I’ll be looking up Panthera Britannia 👍
There is enough anecdotal evidence out there to believe there is a breeding population of big cats . Due to their elusive covert nature I’m wondering if it’s possible that there are ancient populations out there that have always been around . Highly doubtful I know but the mystery is alluring. Out on Dartmoor, alone when a mist descends can feel unnerving at times , in those stretched out seconds closing in on shadows and forms before their true nature is unveiled my imagination can run wild
Nice thought though 👍😊🐶
@@outdoorsinspiration9284 thank you I’m checking that doc out! Enjoyed this so very much!!! 👍
Checking out this doc thank you 👍
Very interesting, I'm not a believer but that would probably change if I thought I had seen one😁👍
Hi Shamus..I'm a great fan of your videos....you and the beautiful Petra rock. A bit of a tangent from big cats but have you ever had any strange experiences with the Hairy hands of Dartmoor. 😀😀😀
😂 only when I forget to shave them 😂 The hairy hands disappeared with the reshaping of the road camber and drink driving laws 😉
My step dad swears he seen s big black cat in our local woods in somerset.
And I believe him 👍
Thanks Dean 😊 Sightings often seem to be near woodland don't they 😊👍🐶
which woods was that? I live in somerset it would be interesting to know!
@@ljs185 small woodland called Herne hill in ilminster
Red deer are exmoore ,fellow and roe also some sika in Dartmoor.
There is loads of documented deer body's and pets killed and even people attacked and sightings but the gov don't wanna scare people but it happens. Police have been called put loads and one time the army was set out to hunt a big cat in 1984
There are Red Deer on Dartmoor, not many and you need to know where to look - but they are there 😊👍🐶
@@outdoorsinspiration9284 where abouts iv lit wild camped on Dartmoor for like a year and Never seen any and I live in dawlish. Iv only seen sika roe an fellow around and the reds are in exmoore and then there more up north
Whilst driving home through a Cheshire lane (don`t know exactly where as I was just following my sat nav and don`t know the area). I had my main beam on and traveling at around 30mph fine weather but very dark. I could only see what my main beam lit up. Anyway I noticed this big dog sized thing run across the lane about 30 -40 yards ahead of me and I was level with it just as it entered the undergrowth on the right side of the lane, and got a good look at it as my side window was open. The animal was pitch black and didn't look like any dog i've ever seen ( I have two big dogs and kept dogs all my life) The weirdest thing about this sighting for me was not the shape or size of the animal but the way it moved. The first thing i noticed when i saw it was not its features but the way it ran or loped in a kind of pouncing action. No dog moves like that. I didn`t see its face as it never looked my way and I could only estimate its size as at least as big as a large German Shepard (I have one and know how he looks) or even bigger but it had a longer tail. I couldn't swear to what it was other than it had a black shiny coat, large and muscular, a long noticeable tail, and moved effortlessly in a kind of wave like motion as though pouncing. its hard to describe its motion as i`ve never seen an animal move like that. TBH I wasn't scared by it, it didn`t seem at all bothered about me as it never even looked my way, just ran (in its weird way) across the road and carried on off into the darkness. If I had to make a guess i would say it was probably a panther or something similar. This happened on 17.09.21 at around 23.30 somewhere between Cheshire and Irlam. BTW this all happened in the space a a couple of seconds.
Good Story, thanks for that. ATB
Thank you Steve 😊👍🐶
interesting content, great effort and time put into yr videos, very enjoyable, thaNkyou PETRA
Thank you 🐶👍🐶
Thanks for showing us around Dartmoor a bit more Shamus - I think you should have dropped this video at Halloween :) Good story and looking forward to the next video - no wonder you keep a ruddy big dog close by when sleeping out on the moors..... :)
Haha 😂 thank you 😊 Petra 'sparks off' at anything that comes near my camp site. 🐶👍😊
Around ten years ago me & my wife were walking in broad daylight between the Staple Tors & Roos Tor when we both saw what appeared to be a black panther. It definitely wasn't a dog as it moved exactly like a cat. It slowly moved around for a while with sheep grazing in the background. When it went away I said to my wife did you just see that. She said it looked like a panther. I said that's exactly what i saw. I thought it was funny how the sheep didn't run away even though they weren't that close by. We didn't tell many people in case we were ridiculed but its strange that so many other people have seen these big cats.
Thanks Martin 😊 The trouble 'rationally' is that sightings are all you get, never a photograph, caught or dead animal... Better still a nest with kittens - But that never happens, which is why I struggle with it 😊👍🐶
@@outdoorsinspiration9284 I don't blame you, however panthers and other cat breeds are masters of stealth. There have been times when professionals know a cat family is in a territory, and even with camera traps, bait and other tools they have taken years just for a few seconds of footage on a camera trap.
There have even been breeds thought to be extinct only to be found by accident later. And these are lands with tens of cats in them.
So can you imagine how well one of these cats could hide when they have the whole of Dartmoor to use and no competition to worry about(other predators).
@@captaincaveman177 - I totally accept that on an individual cat basis 😊 But for a genetically sustainable community of cats that's another matter. 😊👍🐶
A friend of mine see 2 lynx in a Field in Coalville Leicestershire And extremely reliable source
Have a look at Rick Minter-Big cat conversations. He runs a pod cast for people who have had sightings.
A few years ago after walking across Cannock chase I passed through a farm yard after dark. Mrs farmer was just getting into her car for a night out. Looking at me suspiciously she started telling me not to go down a dark narrow track as a panther had been spotted.
To which I replied that's a coincidence I've just bought the box set of the pink panther series! Unsurprisingly I received a sort of sideways look that could be interpreted several different ways.
I survived the rest of the walk not a sign of a dismembered sheep and my body
un nibbled.
😂😂😂 Thank you 👍
I definitely seen a lynx back when I lived in Yelverton. Driving back from Plymouth to Yelverton many years ago (est year 2010) on the main road about 12.30am. Thot it was a fox, so slowed right down. I shock the cat was slowly walking across while luking directly at me. Got closer to the point where I was basically opposite. It froze up, qsaw it was a cat and 3x as big with mean eyes luking right at me and those ears which I never forget. I knew I saw a lynx luking cat, cudnt help but research when I got back home. Definitely a lynx, didn't think much of it at the time as big cats have been reported. Just thrilled I had a chance to c a lynx cat. Definitely excite on the Dartmoor cuz I seen it meters away.
Hi Shamus, another quality video 👌Apparently we get a lot of black cat sightings up here in the Lake District! 🤷♂️
Thank you Stephen 😊 There seem to be sightings all over the country, but nobody ever gets conclusive proof of what they are 😊👍🐶
They were talking of re introducing wild Lynx to control the deer population but I think that’s been shelved now. Who knows what’s roaming round out there!!
Hi Shamus, I think there was something in the Devon press about 10 years ago about a sighting, if I remember correctly there was a blurry photo of a black animal in a corner of a field. As always a cracking video. Stay safe down there 😊👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Thank you Shane. They are always blurry photos though, that's where I kind of lose faith in it all. Take care 👍😊🐶
Was just looking at this photo on the guys Facebook it is blurry but definetly think it’s real I think he’s seen it a few times and gone looking for it again but you’ll never see them if you’re out there oooking
I have been there, my wife and I were driving home at about 9.30 one night when we came across our big black lab in the road, before I could get out the car it turned and looked at us it had the eyes of a panther, it turned and just leaped over the hedge by the road and disappeared across the field, the next night the evening gazette was full of big cat sightings all around our area. You never know what’s out there do you?
Blimey! That sounds like quite a sighting 😊👍🐶
It was rather scary to be honest, I just looked at my wife and said did you see that she just shouted get me home, I don’t tell many people as they take the pi++
We are not far from Colchester zoo I wonder if one escaped, the had a wolf pack get out a couple of years ago
@@lewisgardner1660 - Zoos are very responsible about these things though. A Lynx escaped from Dartmoor Zoo a few years ago, he was eventually trapped and caught after dining on a few local sheep. The zoo owners were very concerned for the safety of the public and the welfare of the animal 😊
If I remember correctly they had to shoot a couple of them, I can’t remember how they got out tho
I subscribed because of Petra. 💘
Thank you 😊 and Petra says woof 🐶
Hi Shamus, would like to say thanks for the great videos, ive really enjoyed your episodes, and im sure we've spoken on the hills, im regularly on Dartmoor also camping and doing my music videos and meditations with my handpan, aswel as climbing and Bouldering there with my boys i live just over the coast way in Ilfracombe, great having such a contrast of scenery and landscapes in close proximity, ive lived here for 5 years now originally from Lancashire born and bread, most of my life spent in the Lake District and Scottish Mountains, i spent some years as a outdoor pursuits guide and ML, Love the outdoors, your videos have been the best ive seen presented and i look forward to seeing more, and hopefully our paths may cross for a good chat on the hills again soon.
Just a small request of personal interest and maybe an idea for a future video, could you review your filming gear and equipment, and a little on the editing process, id be really interested in that, camera and audio quality is briliant.
Cheers
Daz 👍
Hi Daz, Thank you 😊 I think you're right, we may have spoken 👍 I'll try and put something together on filming; ill probably save it for the depths of winter when something needs to be done indoors 😊👍🐶
My relative just told me they saw one twice it was very long looking, slinky. In Cheshire.
Hello,
Allow me introduce myself, I'm Steven Gregory I'm 33 year old, or years young depends on how you look at it, anyway, I Live in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, a Little Sleepy village called "Ruardean" pronounced "Ru ar dean" anyway, I have seen a Black (Melanistic) Leopard on 4 separate occasions all over the Forest of Dean.
Maybe he/she is same one but hey, I've never got close enough to check, but I seen have 4 I know that!!!!
I'm a well and truly believer, the hair sticks up on the back of my neck every time, it's a like Sixth Sence I know some thing is watching me and I would to Love to know more.
All The Best
Steve
Thank you Steve, it must be quite unnerving. Thanks for taking the time to tell us about this 😊
I don’t believe there are big cats living in the wild in the uk, because as you said; where are the carcasses of their prey?
However my late sister was also someone who never believed in the big cat theory. One day she was riding her horse, with a friend down a bridlepath on the moors. Both horses spooked and turned on their haunches and bolted back down the path. My sister fell off and was adamant until the day she died she saw a big cat Jump into the lane and out the other side. Her and her friend were both very experienced horse riders; and both horses were what you would consider bombproof as well. That was back in the late 90’s or early 2000’s and I can’t remember where it was. But I do remember the western morning news did a article about it. And the same weekend someone claimed to have seen a big cat near Okehampton.
Blimey! I remember a big cat story on the moor in the late 90s but that was in the South (Wrangaton).
I have to laugh a little. Unfortunately, my English is really bad and I am now translating the text here with a translator. In your headline I thought you were showing excerpts from bad weather in Dartmoor, where bad is also very relative and in the headline you write something about it had rained cats. :-) It's great that you seem to have such a beautiful area on your doorstep. Greetings from Germany ...
Yep I’m sure I’ve seen a cat over there a few years ago (but don’t tell my girlfriend cos she will never go again) 🐈😀
In that case Shhhhhhhhhhhhh 🤫 😂🐶👍
Good story, I have also had a sighting that I just couldn't explain, I've grown up around the dartmoor and am very familiar with everywhere and have been in a lot of remote areas but the sightings I've had are 1. The lane that leads to white works about 7 am very quite but I turned round and was looking into the end of the lane and witnessed a large black panther like large cat skulk across the lane, stopped in the middle and then looked at me and bounded off into the wooded area. 2.i have seen a wild cat, bit like the wild Scottish cats flee from me as I was walking from burrator to nuns Cross just before you leave the wooded area to the Moor. I'm very interested in sightings. Keep up the good video content, really keeps me interested thanks.
Thank you Paul 😊 Interesting, other than one house in Whiteworks that's residential, there are no properties at all there, as you know. Whiteworks is only a short (straight line) distance from Bellever - When was this? 👍
@@outdoorsinspiration9284 must have been about 2004 as far as I can remember but it's something I follow as it interests me
@@peags666 - Thank you 😊
Great video! From years gone by many farmers tell story’s of sheep carcasses with far more damage than a dog could do! Even sightings, ask some local Dartmoor farmers and commoners and you’ll hear some great story’s! The truth... who knows
Thanks 😊 Just remember, you don't have to outrun the Leopard, just so long as you outrun your running partner 😂 I've got photos of really dismembered animals - but to be honest a fox, or several can do a lot of damage as well. 👍🐶😊
All this 'evidence' of sheep carcasses is normally dog, and a lot is messed around with to look worse than it is. I recently watched a so called big cat expert on a bbc doc with Chris peckham, the 'expert' showed us a sheep carcass which had had its ribs smashed to bits and a huge wound which he said ' this damage is from the big cats paw, they swipe at its prey a do this type of damage' this is comical because youd just about do damage like that with a fully swung axe, I imagine ha. Its accounts like these which make a mockery of the 'evidence'
@@MrDanybeI know that documentary (got it on video) and that animal in question/under expert examination, had the "correct" claw and tooth marks as you'd expect, on a cat kill.
There have been many many carcases that bare the hallmarks of Cat kills, and scratches on trees, droppings, etc. Not to mention the Cats themselves; road kill big cats (one of which was examined at a vet clinic), Lynx that have been shot by game keepers, and the film of big cats which show a large cat and the size of the animal has been verified as a big cat, the two Panthers that escaped from a zoo in Devon, and the numerous animals released by there owners. The evidence is there mate.