September 26 2022 (p.2) - The "Phantom Cats" Of Great Britain!
Deep in the forests of England and Scotland, Folklore and Urban Legend speak of Large, Puma-Like Cats that roam the countryside.
Generally believed to be escaped zoo animals or exotic pets, these "phantom cats" have actually been caught alive on multiple occasions. For example, in 1980, a live Puma was caught in Inverness-shire, Scotland.
In 1983, Eric Ley, a farmer from South Molton, England, claimed to have had lost as many as 100 sheep at the hands (paws? Teeth?) of a large cat over the span of three months. Royal snipers were sent out into the surrounding area to hunt down this big cat.
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quick aside, please just read this excerpt from the wikipedia article
Despite extensive media coverage and both professional and amateur hunting for the creature, which in one unfortunate case saw a cryptozoologist have to be rescued after spending two nights stuck in his own trap...
That is infinitely hilarious to me and Idk why fsdkljdfs
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No significant evidence has ever come from this case either proving or disproving the existence of this "Beast of Exmoor", as it's come to be called.
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"[the cat was] as big as a middle-sized Spaniel dog..."
-William Cobbett, quoting the experience of a young boy he had met (1760s)
Alleged Puma sighting in England captured via Drone.
I thoroughly believe in this one. Ofc there will be escaped big cats in the UK countryside, where else do unscrupulous owners release their forbidden pets?
Agreed, I personally think that there's a super reasonable explanation for this one, but I love the idea of ghost cats so much that I'm just gonna choose to believe
