Offham cat update

All the details are in of the sighting at Plumpton recently,the date was further back than i,d thought,the 1st week in september which is nearly 2 months ago now also the colour described by the 2 witnesses who saw it,grey browny black so not the jet black of our lovely Offham cat.Seeing as most cats described are black any different coloured ones are very noticeable in the records and we have the Bevendean sighting recently describing a black cat with brown mottling,is this the same cat?This is anyones guess but there are so many cats beeing seen (on the move)at the moment that any previous theorys on the year round rigidity of bigcat territorys are very much mistaken,a simple flick through the sightings register shows different coloured cats passing through where other ones have been seen,like the above.We also have a more brown one spotted at Telscombe this year very close to the black one, at times together that took up residence for the late winter months into spring and also the Milland sightings of black and brown cats.What is certain is that i do tend to get a rash of sightings every autumn and this begs the question ,are they on the move more at this time of year leading to them lying up in more exposed places and also moving through areas in the daytime which makes them more visible.The recent sighting at Midhurst common was a cat reported to be grooming itself in the sun and most animals at this time of year make the most of the weakening autumn sunshine to bask in leading them open to observation.The cover hasn,t died back fully yet and with far less people tramping about these factors can be discounted.Another factor that can be thrown out of the window with no further waste of thought is lack of food,there is a massive surplus of prey around at this time of year more than at any other.The rabbit numbers have peaked,the shooting woods are stuffed full of pheasants and the roe fawns are still only about 5 1/2 months old making them easy meat for a bigcat these young deer lack the full strength of the adults and they are far less aware,a point about deer numbers is that there is reckoned to be a bulging population of them at the moment,in some areas every copse and bit of wood holds a number of deer in them.A pity about the poor rabbits,we have a myxy epidemic at the moment,the worst seen for some years and with sick and dying rabbits lying about all over the place anything that eats them like the buzzards are having a field day,such easy meat is there for the taking.So we are back to the most likely causes that is that bigcats are moving around at this time of year to get themselves aquanted with their winter ranges along with young cats which would be on their own now for the first time and are needing to settle themselves in somewhere before the winter sets in good and proper.........