Ashdown forest fallow deer killed by bigcat video

Ashdown forest deer kill/pawprint/scat

As can be seen in the picture(to view a video of this investigation click the you tube box at the bottom of the page or go to You Tube and search "bigcatdetective")there are a lot of leaves down on the waters edge whereas elsewhere along the stream there aren,t.This is synonomous with the deer struggling at the stream crossing with the cat in tow and together both of them scraping the leaves off the top of the bank and only goes to show that sometimes the deer do struggle a bit while they are being caught by a cat.Fallow deer,however,are a little tougher than roe,a lot bigger and stronger even the skin on their neck is thicker.The estimated time of death is in a dark period when a bigcat would not be relying on it,s eyes so much as it,s other senses.As for the scat,to be honest,i,m not sure what animal it came from but it did have a lot of rabbit fur in it and was very green which would suggest the animal ate a lot of intestine some 6 hours or more before it came out.I really need to find a scat expert for this sort of thing or somehow hone my skills in it better for myself as it,s a very rare carcase where there isn,t some sort of scat lying very close to it.The pawprint i,m pretty damn sure came from a bigcat,everything about it seems right,i know it,s only a partial 1 but this whole scenario i have posted on this fits the bill.That is bigcat lies in wait for deer,usually in family groups at this time of year in this case older hinds with kids and yearlings to boot, to cross the stream,it would know by sound alone which 1 was the youngest,the cat being downwind launches itself from the cover of the fir tree grabs the deer by the throat and uses gravity as well as strength to subdue it,dragging it into the stream,the cat is unlikely to use its claws on the deer as it would be struggling itself to remain upright.Fallow deer,even young ones, have immense strength,where i come from we nickname them wood cattle.The deer struggles with the cat or is it visa versa causing the leaves to fall by the waters edge with the cat bracing itself against the bank making the very deep(for a cat) pawprint with above it the scrape in the mud as the cats foot slips down the bank and the deer once killed, being very heavy,can only be dragged to a flat bit of bankside for the cat to eat it.If the cap fits,wear it.I,m waiting for other opinions on this as i can only lay on the table for public consumption by my peers the evidence gathered by myself and the other researcher,season it with some pictures, add my own garnish of thoughts, all dished up in a basin of a plausible scenario..........

Ashdown forest deer kill

The picture shows the remains of a young fallow deer carcase found yesterday on private ground deep in Ashdown forest by the landowner.After investigation by myself and another researcher who lives there we concluded that it,s the work of a bigcat.It would appear that the deer was ambushed as it crossed a stream and was throttled in the usual manner,there were 2 possible ambush points but the most likely was on the nearside bank and faint disturbance of the leaf litter underneath the fir tree to the right of the picture indicated that the cat could of lied in wait here for the deer to climb up the bank when it would of been at it,s most vulnerable and was killed/draggged to be eaten on the farside bank.There was no evidence of the deer being caught(ie.neck fur) anywhere else but on the nearside bank and it,s inconceivable that a cat would of caught it further in the wood and dragged it into the stream.A scat sample was taken for analysis and also a partial pawprint on the nearside bank, where we believe the deer was grabbed, was photoed and a cast was taken.The stream lies in a deeply wooded valley amongst an area of thick mixed woods mostly with an understory of copse,rhododenron or holly with free draining soil of sand intersperced with clay deposits with vast numbers of deer of all shapes and sizes,in other words prime cat country.There have been a multitude of kills in previous years,only in winter,have been mostly fallow and also killed by streams,it,s possible that the cat in question specialises in ambush techniques of this nature.To watch a video on this investigation go to You Tube and search "Ashdown forest fallow deer killed by bigcat by bigcatdetective".I shall keep this post short and sweet while i gather the rest of the information......

Firle beacon/sheep carcase

The morning after the bonfire of the night before finds me the other side of Lewes with the need to walk off the previous nights activitys.1st stop Mt.Caburn where the cats have been spotted on a number of occasions,a search round only revealed that the sheep had left the sidehill so a quick move down the road to Firle beacon gave the chance to look round where a plausible sighting was noted way back in august.I did check it out briefly back then but now is far different what with the summer flowers gone and the skylarks silent.Walking halfway up the sidehill just below a clump of hawthorn,a weather worn sheeps skeleton lay on the turf(pictured)What,s so bigcatish about that i thought?Then noticed that it,s skull was missing.A good look round showed up another in a nearby gulley,again,the rest of the bones were intact minus the skull.This one was hidden away a bit.Well it was hard work to track down the farmer,impossible in fact because i didn,t on this open access land so i have no way yet of knowing the situation surrounding these deaths also the date to see if it coincides with the sighting but the skulls missing is interesting in itself.Bigcats are well known for sometimes removing the skulls of their prey........

Sheep kill/19.8.10

So often at this time of year i visit a place that earlier on in the year was a hive of activity to find no signs at all of the cat that was once there.Not so today,i arrived at the farm to be told that a cat had been seen only last week,big,black and leapt across the 10 ft wide track with ease.What,s more the local foxes had been noticeable by their absence the past fortnight and the farm dogs in the yard had been acting strangely.I was asked to have a look round and also could i keep an eye out for a missing ewe?Some walkers had left the gates of the sheep field open the week before last and a few ewes had wandered off into the cornfields,not yet cut because of the recent rain,they got them all back bar one.Well being a small place with a tiny wood it wasn,t long before i,d covered all the ground and ended up in one of next doors fields which were lush and had greened up nicely from the rain and so would of been tempting pasture seeing as they run no stock on it.After a while i,d found the sheep in the corner near the fence sadly laid out and what was left could of filled a bucket.If the cat had killed it and i can,t see what else could of,it looks like it,s taste for mutton has returned,lambs had been taken in the spring and last winter ewes also but none in years previously.It would seem that not all bigcats take sheep,in fact only a minority do so,they may have formed the habit early on in life or only take them when hard pressed for food but i,ve an inkling(and if it,s the same cat it,s been around here since 04 and would be at least 7 by now)that it,s often something they do when they either slow up a bit or are injured and so resort to the easiest pickings available.The location and names have been witheld at the request of the farmer concerned........

Jacob sheep carcase

This carcase was found along with a bigcat pawprint in Ashdown forest by a local researcher there...........

Fox,mostly eaten 14/5/10

I can find no signs of the Horsham cat at the moment,neither from on the ground evidence nor from the good old,garden variety of eyewitness account by people so i,ve gone back through the archives to show the remnants of this fox i found back in may amongst the bluebells.Strangely enough that farm holds ample foxes now with plenty of evidence of their activities like pigeon kills and fox scat everywhere that is purple, with the blackberrys they have been eating.

Fox,partly eaten.1/2/10

This fox was found in the next parish to the one blogged amongst the bluebells found a couple of months later......

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"....

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....

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....