Fox picture/trailcam

Uneaten fox carcase

Pictured here is a newborn lamb killing fox that has been shot by a sheep farmer.Note that it has rotted where it fell,see how intact it is,nothing has eaten it apart from invertabrates .Bigcats are the only recorded animals (that i know of,apart from bears)that will kill and eat foxes.This is why we are so interested in fox carcases that show signs of being eaten and if they exhibit cat kill characteristics....

Lambkills/skull/22.6.10

Here,s the picture of a skull found away from the carcase.this decapitation of the prey is typical of bigcat kills,we see it time and time again.See Tillington sheep kills posted earlier.Also there,s an interesting batch of probable bigcat kills on the web from that goldmine of a group "Rutland and Leicestershire Panther Watch " nov 98 sheep kills near Melton Moybury(of pork pie fame)

Lamb kills/South downs/22.6.10

This is where it looks like a lamb has been pulled through the netting.Fleece can be seen on the ground and on the fence.The area in the foreground is flattened.Fleece could also be found behind in the bushes.We have been asked to keep the precise location under our hats for the time being.See next blog for further details and picture of the carcase.There is also on You Tube a video "sheep kills,possibly by a big cat,in Sussex investigation by bigcatdetective"....

lamb kills/south downs/22.6.10

Ireceived a call from a sheep farmer who,s had some lambs taken.Definitely not foxes, he said,as they,re at least half the size of the ewes.I showed up and straight away noticed several lambless ewes.I found a lambs foot and some fleece scattered about as well as the odd fresh bone.Walking the fence line the dogs marked several places where it looked like lambs had been pulled through the sheep netting(strange as bigcats tend to leap carrying their prey,however it was topped with barbed wire)Looking into the surrounding scrub a lambs carcase and two skulls were also found.The sheep as a flock didn,t look right,maybe ill at ease,they had a good 500 acres to roam in but didn,t have their heads down most of the time munching like they should be........

KGB Cameras

I,ve had a lot of emails asking what trailcam we use and why.For the past month we have been trialing an infrared digital trail camera from KGB Cameras.We opted,after about 6months research,for the M100 10megapixel model as the pictures zoom in very nicely to small details which is what we need.It,s waterproof,in camo colours and has a large lcd screen so setting up and framing shots is relatively easy.The 2gig card holds about 980 shots in superhigh quality and in an average week it takes 100 to 150 pictures,day and night,in bursts of three.Video mode is available.The battery lasts about 10days or so if you can wait that long to retrieve your pictures.It can be very exciting wondering what,s going to turn up.Everything,s adjustable including the sensor which is most important.The software with it is superb,picasa 3 which is compatible with blogger and a lot of other things,i,ve now switched all my photos to this software.The answer to a certain persons request to borrow it is "no,get your own!"as it,s out there 24 hours a day telling us what goes past it in 10 mp of detail.....UPDATE 1st feb 2010;Although i had no problems with my own one i,ve been receiving reports of a number of problems people have been having with theirs.The same faults keep on cropping up and so i can no longer recommend this make of trailcamera...........

deer carcase/19.6.10

visiting a place where fox carcases,sightings and a host of other evidence has been found over the years.the dogs marked this carcase hidden away in the bushes.it bears some of the hallmarks of a cat kill however the heart was still there and the bones weren,t rasped clean.i,ve included this though in the blog and a trailcam has been set.we await results....

roe deer pic/trailcam

this roe deer set the cam off,note the trail it,s on.not only deer but foxes,badgers,rabbits and hares use these paths to get from a to b.

nervous fox? video

some bait was put in front of the trailcam which this fox found the next morn.however it acted nervously and didn,t actually eat it seemingly alert to something else that was going on out of view.i might add that this is in an area,near horsham, where eaten fox carcases have been found 3 months apart and when set ,the trailcam has revealed no nightime pictures whatsoever which i think is extraordinary.

new fears over sussex big cat killings

there,s a good piece of investigative reporting in the argus newspaper online(btn&hove) on bigcats roaming the downs around telscombe dated 16.6.10 titled as above.checkitout!

bigcat sighting near river

name and site details have been edited because the sighting is the subject of an ongoing investigation:on the 8th june this year,around 3.30 pm,a chap "d",a country-type,one who knows the difference between a crow and a rook from afar,was walking back from the river adur with his dogs through a wood.as he neared a fallen tree,his gaze was turned by a sudden movement and he saw the rear end of a dark ,possibly black cat moving stealthily away to the right.the bluebells had died down and he could clearly see the long tail,legs and cat paws of the knee high creature.it was about 50yards off.his dogs had either not noticed it or were unconcerned as they showed no willing to chase it.amazed by his encounter,he phoned a keeper friend who told him that whilst bigcats had been seen in the area from time to time, it was unusual for one to be seen in the daytime.....i was told this today and was completely unsurprised.i was in the area last thur. though not in that exact spot since the week before.i,d worked out that very wood was a likely corridor for a cat to move from "a" to "b" and had already had a sighting at "a" last year and thought it possible that a cat would b at"b"also at some time or other.eaten foxes had been found nearby.the trailcam has also been on duty for the past month not a million miles away so the area has been under investigation already.leaflets have been given out ,i ,d done farmwork there in the past and seeing as my connections with the place go back as a child,local knowledge might of been some help.it almost feels like this cat is following me about as it seems to show up where i,ve just been......

cats and railway lines

cats using railway lines either used or disused is well documented.they are quick and easy thoroughfares between hunting grounds and lying up places.they are well drained,mostly clear and the banks can offer plenty of food like rabbits and suchlike.also a cat can move from one area to another without being seen in the surrounding area as they are often lined with trees and bushes.used railway lines offer also hassle free laying up cover as noone goes there nor are any pets for fear of electricution,so there,s little chance of disturbance.ideal cat habitat includes inpenetrable woods or scrub like gorse and thorn connected with thick,wide leftalone hedges affording them cover to ambush prey.dusk and dawn are the most likely times to be seen although most sightings tend to be between 10am and 5pm.this is when people are most active which would account for this.it could be that a lot of these daytime seen ones are either disturbed from their lairs or young ones unused to the world at large(autumn usually sees a huge rise in sightings)it would appear that a cat would have a daytime lair sheltered from the seasonal weather(sun in summer,wind,rain and snow in the winter)but that which affords a good choice of escape exits.it can then move off at dusk to hunting areas after it,s had a drink.it will stay in this area for a while,maybe 2 to 3 weeks and leave before the local game gets too wise to them(educated as they say)it seems that rabbit holding places where the rabbits don,t come out till well after dark have been well "educated "by some sort of dusk type predator and so would be all the harder to catch.foxes,with their very large ears are quite capable of hunting more than baby rabbits by sound alone as i,ve heard on dark nights myself.although able to hunt at night most cats(possibly ruddercat excepted)would need some kind of moon to see by and it,s no coincidence that the moonless nights of the month see the most dusk and dawn activity......

rudder cat attack

around aug 08.a mr p and his wife were walking their greyhound in the evening which went into the bushes and came across a cat.the cat was ferocious and scratched the dog badly on the foreleg.the dog then briefly had hold of it and the cat ran off in full view and was seen to be about "the size of a large fox with a large head and pricked ears,longish rough fur,medium length.very thick ,medium length tail with the legs also".the cats shape could be described as a box shape,square,not athletic.they rushed the greyhound to the local vetinarys as his leg was badly swollen.he was found to be running a temperature of 107f and the leg had become infected(common with cat scratches)gladly,in time,he made a full recovery.this happened at west hoathley in the valley,near church lane opp.finch lane.these peoples description matches ,near perfectly ,a rudder cat.it would of been nigh on impossible for them to make a description like this up out of research on the net as these sort of cats have never been described in such detail.they account for maybe 1 in 2000 cat sightings and are usually said to be lynx-type but with a longer tail as people tend to "fill in the gaps"with things they don,t know and tend to find it harder to remember the smaller details.they were amazed such an animal existed and wondered if it was a product of some sort of feline/frankenstein experiment.who knows?

tillington sheep kills

fri 9th april 2010...we arrive at the village church to meet our contact.a nice chap,ex-military and retired but very community involved.after a cup of tea and cake he introduces us to a lady up the road who tells us about a sighting in the summer 6odd years ago. she and her husband saw a big black cat walking down the middle of the road at dawn.she describes it as a zoo-like animal about 2 1/2 ft tall by 4 ft long with a long tail.we then go next door to meet a lady farmer who tells us the following:2 weeks before christmas her husband comes indoors and says that one of their ewes had been killed with it,s belly eaten out,the ribs had been chewed down and the head was missing.it was in the field that backs on to the garden.a day or two later another ewe was killed and partially eaten in the same way.the next week after that another.in all, in the space of what ,i think was 11 weeks ,5 sheep including a pedigree ,prized southdown ram were killed in near identical circumstances,the last at the beginning of march.at the beginning of feb. they set up a large fox cage trap and baited it with half a lamb.after some time,one night they were woken by a terrific noise and went outside,torches ablazing,to find the trap lying upside down and bashed about.the bait had been taken.these traps are extremely heavy and,when set for foxes,are not lashed or weighed down,something very powerful had been in it.this person was obviously very distraught at losing her sheep in such a way through no fault of her own.these attacks coincided with the coldest bouts of winter weather seen for decades and seeing some huge pawprints in the snow realised the apparent size of the animal......

rudder cats tail

here the tail is seen to be otter-like in appearance hence the name "ruddercat" .rutland and leicestershire pantherwatch dated august 98 show what could be one"lynx-type cat seen daylight just smaller than a labrador,shiny brown with foot long tail and pointed ears".i spoke to a chap 2 weeks ago at a lurcher show who seems to have seen one in west hoathly 2 years ago.this will be posted later .....

rudder cat

this is a photo of what seems to be a type 3 rudder cat,lynx-like with a longish tail.they are a bit larger than a fox,about 16" at the shoulder,stocky and box-like in appearance.their gait when seen is mostly ploddy,domestic cat style with the head large in proportion to it,s body

and with large ears.the legs are thick and the tail also,rather like an otters.the fur,even in summer,is long and shaggy and usually brown or, like the one i saw near steyning bostal crossing the road,sandy ,rarely cream but not unknown.when people have described a confirmed sighting that matches this they are always amazed that a cat like this even exists.who knows where they originate from?they are the rarest cat to be seen,however i believe the west hoathly sighting to possibly be one.....

territory and tree scratches

bigcats seem to live in territorys for much of the year, although different species territorys overlap or contain each other.this ensures these mostly solitary animals can live without conflict over food or lying up places.females have smaller ones and, like leopards in africa,it,s probable that a male cat would have 2 or three females inside his own.they patrol not only the outskirts but also certain trails within,periodically marking as they go to let other cats, who may be passing through,that "this is their land".they mark mostly by urination,sometimes by scats and also,it seems at important places,by tree scratches highly visible and embedded with scent from the pads.this may also serve to show the strengh and status of the cat,particularly males.this is why sightings given to us are so important because we work out territory size and types etc in that area.

nosey badgers

more infraredpics from the trailcam.don,t quite know what the one up the tree is doing.could be looking for insects or maybe just being nosey.whatever it is ,i.m glad i didn,t put the camera 2ft up that tree,given the power of their claws .

badger

this is a picture of a badger picked up by our infrared camera.following a succesful 3week trial,it is set up somewhere in sussex nigh on permanently.many thanks to the landowner concerned for their help .

british bigcat

seen here note the stocky body and the leopard style jaw.the tail extends back also......

british bigcat

this cat here is said to have removed a double figure carp from a pond.note the massive ears and ,if you can make them out,piercing green eyes.the jurys out on this one given the size of the vegetation behind it but the body shape is spot on.

long-legged cat

pictured here is what i believe to be a long-legged cat.taken in derbyshire walking along a 5 ft wall.note the very small head,long legs and long tail.i saw one myself in west sussex after the floods of 2000 and they are unmistakeable.typical sighting reports read "looked like a black cheetah"or have the above description.they look very similar to the much documented "kellas cat" a wildcat/feral hybrid but have a more athletic build and a longer tail.they share with them,however,a common ancestry,i believe......

fox carcase

this fox carcase,found by my 4year daughter,was in the field next to the wood where the scratches were found near offham.the head was in the hedge nearby.neither badgers nor dogs will eat them,so i,m told ,however bigcats have been documented chasing foxes and even seen with them in their mouths.at a later date i will publish these sightings with their references.this was found in may.also that month i found another fox carcase 30 miles away and in january another half a mile away from that.these are all hot spots for bigcat sightings incidentally....

tree scratches 30 cm up

great green bush cricket

making a lovely sound on summer evenings these massive crickets are found all over the hills to the east of brighton but very rare in other parts of the country.a favourite food of kestrels i,ve heard them stop clicking if the bird blots the sun out over them....

devil,s dyke pawprint text

the pics show devil,s dyke and the pawprint found there.we had been following up half a handful of sightings on the downs north of brighton spaced out over a three week period.they all seemed to describe a large black leopard-like cat.on the 4th jan. i had a call from a local lady who,ed said she,d seen a cat jump through the barbed wire fence.i got there with the frost starting to thaw and followed the line she said the cat took and,on the opposite side of the field found this single pawprint.similar to one,s i,d seen before i sent them for verification.gerald legg of the booth museum,brighton replied"it certainly looks like a cat print,looks very similar to a cast i took of prints i found on newtimber hill a few years back.where did you find it?he asked.amazingly it was found at devil,s dyke,the next hill to the west.at 2.5 times the size of a tame cat,s prints and no claw marks,bryan hale,bigcat researcher for 20 years and author said"looks similar to prints i,ve seen in north spain of a lynx"

devil,s dyke pawprint

what,s it all about?

this blog will detail the goings on involved in bigcat investigation as well as the world about us.as i,m interested in the study of wildlife as a whole ,i,ll include my thoughts and conclusions on animal behaviour together with the evidence to support these theories however gleaned.criticism is welcomed weighted with your own evidence.anything else i think will be of interest to certain people will be included......

tree scratches

these tree scratches were found on a hazel tree in a small wood,noone seems to be able to prove to me what caused them(with photographic/document proof)some were made about a year ago and these fresh ones were made at the end of april this

year(2010)i really don,t know exactly what made them and i don,t think a bear would of!a big cat usually marks vertically,higher up and not so enthusiastically.

new sightings

attended a lurcher show last sunday and handed out over 80 leaflets.a lot of people i spoke to had seen a bigcat of some description at some time or other and were very willing to share their experiences.made notes........