Caithness may be the Land of the Cats but do big cats roam the county?
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The name of Caithness derives from the Pictish Kingdom of Cat, where the Cat tribe lived, but the county may be home to larger cats who keep in the shadows.
Large felids, such as panthers, pumas and leopards, have appeared in the British press periodically and what better place for them to live out their days than in the Kingdom of Cat?
Podcaster Rick Minter's website Big Cat Conversations (BCC) has a new episode called Top corner cats – tracking the Caithness leopards in which a man, only known by his first name of Paul, talks about his experiences.
A summary of the episode says: "We hear from Paul, an investigator near John O’Groats in north-east Scotland. He re-tells several big cat sighting reports from recent years, and he explains his use of trail cams, night vision cameras, and lures.
"Last summer he followed up a local black leopard report, then found himself in a dense woodland with a growling cat just a few feet away. The scary incident took a twist later that night."
In the podcast Paul talks about the likely prey the big cats could feed on: "Every patch of forest has two or three roe deer in it. We have red deer coming in closer to the centre of the county."
He continues: "There's no end to the places the big cats could be in with the gorse and the forests – there's plenty of cover for them. When I was growing up I'd regularly hear people telling these stories about black cats in carious locations about the county and I never really doubted they were there."
He goes on to mention the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 which allegedly led to many people releasing large cats like leopards and jaguars into the countryside. Paul talks about the sighting of a large black cat near John O'Groats that may have been a leopard stalking its prey.
He decides to go and look for the elusive animal and after finding large paw prints near a field he tracks it to a forest where he ends up having a very close encounter. In the gripping tale Paul talks about being just three or four feet away from what he thinks may have been a leopard protecting her young. Though he beat a hasty retreat the sound of the growling he heard that evening still haunts him.
Rick Minter runs the BCC website and has hosted over 100 similar podcasts with sightings throughout the UK. He has also written a book called Big Cats: Facing Britain's Wild Predators which is still available to buy on Amazon or directly from Dunbeath-based publisher Whittles.
Rick says: "On the podcast we hear from big cat witnesses and investigators right across Britain. Parts of Scotland feature regularly because of ongoing credible reports, and Caithness is no exception, hence this episode.
"To me the highlight was seeing the photo of the nape bite impact on a roe deer which Paul came across. Fresh deer carcasses which suggest the work of big cats are noteworthy – they indicate the presence of these predators and show how the cats are culling deer and keeping them predator-alert and skittish, which in turn lessens the impacts of deer browsing on regenerating woodlands."
Rick says that the majority of big cat reports in Caithness match the description of a black leopard, but tan-coloured cats resembling mountain lions are also described. "The cats seem to live around us without causing many issues, but when the occasional landowner does experience problems, such as with regular sheep kills, I would like to see help and support provided."
If anyone would like further information about big cat sightings in Scotland Rick pointed out a Facebook group that can be found at: www.facebook.com/groups/BigCatsScotland
On the sceptical side, Egil Droge – a researcher of conservation at the University of Oxford – said in an article in The Conversation: "If there truly was a big cat on the prowl, the tell-tale sign would be repeated attacks on sheep. There are sometimes vague photos or videos of big cats, but never clear photos or videos – or clear photos of paw prints, which would be easy to obtain because prints don’t move."
If you have had a big cat sighting in Caithness please forward details to: david.scott@hnmedia.co.uk
