Big cat seen from stationary train ECML Newark

[fsmr]

Isn't it strange that, in these days when nearly everbody has a mobile phone with a camera, nobody ever gets a photo?

Not true but in this case, his phone caught the cat but without the scale that 3d human vission gives, the picture prooves nothing
Bit like taking a distant pic of a deltic in a blank field with no track, or lineside features, you wouldnt know if it was half or full size unless there was something to scale it on. Your brain works that all out but a camera looses it. We have loads of long shots of cats in fields
of course spotting a domestic cat 1/2 mile away tends to rule them out, esepcially when the livestock are spooked by it or a horserider who is alerted by the horse looking at it

Often even police marksmen with tele sights have been unsure of the size and doubt their own eyes until the cat walks in front of a tractor (case on Newport levels south wales 10 years back, they couldnt open fire due to proximity of the farm house behind)
Anyway mate not a debate on big cats existing or not

Just would like any sighting reports from passengers or staff in confidence especially anyone on the early morning Tues Hull to KC yesterday south of Newark
ta

 

[PinzaC55]

As with a UFO I would be more impressed by any kind of photo than none at all.

 

[DXMachina]

As with a UFO I would be more impressed by any kind of photo than none at all.

Here you go then

Youtube footage of black big cat walking along rail line in Scotland - so its not even off-topic for this forum. Compare the size of the animal to the sleeper spacing for a clue as to actual scale.

 

[34D]

they do like to follow used and dissued railways as they provide green corridors and plenty of cover and food

Rail enthusiasts too then?

I hear that one time, although I can't confirm this, someone reported seeing something much rarer than any number of Mystery animals: it was Live Departure Boards one morning, and it said "East Coast: A Normal service is operating, no disruption." Although it may be an urban myth.

Urban myth. Unless we're going back to pre OLE that is.

I know someone who had their car written off by a rabbit. It was quite funny as in the box labelled ' Whose Fault was the accident' he filled it in 'The rabbits'

Like it

 

[PinzaC55]

Here you go then

Youtube footage of black big cat walking along rail line in Scotland - so its not even off-topic for this forum. Compare the size of the animal to the sleeper spacing for a clue as to actual scale.

Thanks. In that example the cat is walking along the top of the rail so comparing the web of the rail then the cat is no bigger than an ordinary cat (IMHO).

 

[michael769]

Thanks. In that example the cat is walking along the top of the rail so comparing the web of the rail then the cat is no bigger than an ordinary cat (IMHO).

Th picture quality is low enough that that could just as easily be a dog (which is what I personally suspect it was, from the way it moves).

 

[LE Greys]

Th picture quality is low enough that that could just as easily be a dog (which is what I personally suspect it was, from the way it moves).

Looks quite feline to me. I'm reckoning either very large domestic Cat (like my mother's which measures 2ft 6 from nose to tail tip and weighs 16lbs) or Kellas Cat, meaning a Wildcat hybrid, although that would be quite unusual that near Glasgow.

 

[DXMachina]

I think that the last few responses amply prove what was already said before I even chimed in: That photographic proof of a big cat is technically impossible due to the difficulty of distinguishing between 'very small' and 'far away'

 

[LE Greys]

I think that the last few responses amply prove what was already said before I even chimed in: That photographic proof of a big cat is technically impossible due to the difficulty of distinguishing between 'very small' and 'far away'

I was trying to use the rail gauge (which is always 4ft 8½ obviously) as some sort of scale, although compression makes that hard to see. The width of the rail is also partly useful, about 1½-2½in at the top. In terms of a large animal with paws over 3in wide, doing a tightrope act along a rail is possible, but wouldn't look like that, and besides, why bother when there are perfectly-adequate sleepers to walk along? The typical 1in wide paw of a domestic cat could do it easily, and they would be much more likely to bother, being smaller. Of course, it's hard to do, but give it a go.

 

[PinzaC55]

I think that the last few responses amply prove what was already said before I even chimed in: That photographic proof of a big cat is technically impossible due to the difficulty of distinguishing between 'very small' and 'far away'

Quite the opposite. You know how thick a rail is and the cat is standing on top of the rail facing forward. If you blew the photo up in photoshop and scaled it off using the rail as a reference you could work it out exactly.

If you saw a photo of a mouse in a field with no reference for height/length would you assume the mouse was "normal" ie 2 inches long or a "Super Mouse" 3 feet long? There's no Urban Myth about giant mice.

Watch this funny response by Neil Degrasse Tyson on UFO sightings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSJElZwEI8o

People see what they want to see.

 

[LE Greys]

Quite the opposite. You know how thick a rail is and the cat is standing on top of the rail facing forward. If you blew the photo up in photoshop and scaled it off using the rail as a reference you could work it out exactly.

If you saw a photo of a mouse in a field with no reference for height/length would you assume the mouse was "normal" ie 2 inches long or a "Super Mouse" 3 feet long? There's no Urban Myth about giant mice.

Watch this funny response by Neil Degrasse Tyson on UFO sightings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSJElZwEI8o

People see what they want to see.

Quite right. Perhaps we could call them CBAs - Could Be Anything.

Didn't we used to have a thread on this?

 

[Tiny Tim]

So, in summary, what do we have:

1. No confirmed sightings.

2. No clear photos or video.

3. No bodies.

4. No other evidence that stands up to scrutiny.

And what we don't have;

1. Any big cats.

 

[ex-railwayman]

Yeah, I've often believed in the story of 'big cats' living in rural Britain, however, in over 40 years that there have been sightings, nobody has once taken a photograph of a dead cat, which would provide concrete proof as to their existence, and these animals don't live forever, they must die of old age, if, not another reason, life expectancy in the wild is reported at between 8 to 13 years, so, how come they've never been spotted after dying.

Cheerz. ex-railwayman.

 

[DaveD7]

Hi all,

I'm the chap who reported this sighting. There's not an awful lot left to add othertha than the fact I did get at least 20 seconds of a look at this thing. It was a golden yellow colour (Labrador colour) and for scaling purposes it was traversing a green crop field thus allowing me to gauge it's size from the tractor lines. At first I thought "that's an odd coloured deer" but the animal changed direction by 180 degrees twice as if going back to double check a scent before continuing on its original path. It was this movement that indicated the bulk and musculature of the animal. The animal stopped and I reached for my iPhone in hope. Realising that this could possibly be a big cat I actually chose to disturb a fellow passenger and I asked him what he made of "that" in the field. At this point the train started to nudge away and the animal looked toward us, At this point I noticed its distinctive white chest before it continued on its way again with nose to the ground. My fellow passenger only got a couple of seconds to but he said (and I quote) "I don't know what the heck that is but it certainly sauntering."
All I'll say is this - this animal was golden, long, heavy and low. And at 200m that's all I can confirm. I have cats at home and I recognised similar behaviour, I have deer, and fox visiting the back field at my home. I'm a decent amateur photographer and I'm a professional systems analyst so when I see things like this I know to look for who is actually walking this "dog" etc. This animal was different enough to prompt me to disturb a total stranger from his Telegraph. As for what this animal was, it was either a couch sized ownerless guide dog or a lone golden deer with thick legs and a long tail.

 

[fsmr]

Thanks for backing this report up Dave
To be honest, i am really not interested in the knockers as i have had in over 20 years of research, enough close up and interactive reports from very level headed people including zoo keepers at feet away to say that there are some Mountain lions (pumas) and black leopards at large in the UK
When you have cats walking done the side of cars with company directors locked in and the windows up phoning for help in terror (Leicester airport Jan 2011), or for that police officers radioing for help and reversing back at speed (Suffolk in late 90s) then we either have a situation where clearly there is no misidentification
I have reports on file by drivers as i have said, some for obvious reason looking at some of the responses on here don’t want publicity
The EWS crew at Cossington on the Midland mainline were stationary looking down at a black leopard the size of a very large dog, but clearly a cat
obviously they were hallucinating then and should have been removed form service
You could argue the subject is in with UFOS but then these are not tricks of the light, aircraft or distant planets or secret future aircraft,
These animals were released fact
They are still kept on the black market in the UK illegally Fact
The UK is the ideal place for these cats to survive in terms of climate, and food
Pumas and black leopards are some of the most adaptable animas on the planet for food eating anything form frogspawn and fruit through to full grown deer and will also take carrion road kills
And for the record, we have always stated to the press that the footage taken in Scotland of the cat on the rail head is clearly a large domestic not a black leopard
The animal seen at Narborough crossing the line by the platform and observed by a number of passengers took up the width of the rails so clearly was not a domestic

 

[LE Greys]

Hi all,

I'm the chap who reported this sighting. There's not an awful lot left to add othertha than the fact I did get at least 20 seconds of a look at this thing. It was a golden yellow colour (Labrador colour) and for scaling purposes it was traversing a green crop field thus allowing me to gauge it's size from the tractor lines. At first I thought "that's an odd coloured deer" but the animal changed direction by 180 degrees twice as if going back to double check a scent before continuing on its original path. It was this movement that indicated the bulk and musculature of the animal. The animal stopped and I reached for my iPhone in hope. Realising that this could possibly be a big cat I actually chose to disturb a fellow passenger and I asked him what he made of "that" in the field. At this point the train started to nudge away and the animal looked toward us, At this point I noticed its distinctive white chest before it continued on its way again with nose to the ground. My fellow passenger only got a couple of seconds to but he said (and I quote) "I don't know what the heck that is but it certainly sauntering."
All I'll say is this - this animal was golden, long, heavy and low. And at 200m that's all I can confirm. I have cats at home and I recognised similar behaviour, I have deer, and fox visiting the back field at my home. I'm a decent amateur photographer and I'm a professional systems analyst so when I see things like this I know to look for who is actually walking this "dog" etc. This animal was different enough to prompt me to disturb a total stranger from his Telegraph. As for what this animal was, it was either a couch sized ownerless guide dog or a lone golden deer with thick legs and a long tail.

I wish I'd been there with my 400mm lens handy!

 

[Butts]

The only real wildcat you are likely to see from a Train is in the far North of Scotland-

Felis Silvestris Grampia or Scottish Wildcat to you and I.

Mind you if you go on the old puffer from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth that goes through or very close to The West Midlands Safari Park so in addition to cats you may have giraffes et al :roll: