Big Cat Conversations: Recent Episodes
Rick Minter
The People's Podcast on Big Cat encounters in Britain. In each episode Rick Minter discusses big cat sightings with different witnesses, finding out what they saw or sensed, how they felt, and how these cases fit a bigger picture.
Our first guest Miriam had a close-up sighting of a puma back in 1968 in Surrey, while on an archaeological dig. She explains how she and her mother watched in silence before in slunk off. The local police followed up and found footprints from which they took casts.
Miriam was recruited as a podcast guest at the recent event, Depicting Britain’s Beasts, when she visited the Nature in Art specialist wildlife gallery. Poems from podcast listeners were published in a document for that event, and the document is now available as a pdf file on the BCC website here… https://bigcatconversations.com/poetry/
Our second guest Gary Ridley is a long-term investigator in the county and runs the Surrey Panther Watch website. He takes us though some recent big incidents, including some credible footage which was scaled to suggest a black leopard size cat.
Gary is keen to achieve more public awareness on the presence of big cats, and he feels that the risks to pet cats and dogs should be faced up to, so people know to take precautions if a big cat is believed to be around.
Word of the week: fecundity
24 September 2025
Charlie our guest recounts 6 months of his life at the age of 9 back in 1973-74. Around his house in Ayrshire his family lived alongside a female big black cat, seen active in fields and woods and at one stage she was lactating.
Charlie regularly encountered the cat during spells when he escaped the ongoing stress at home. He describes its consistent behaviours, including its calls and its hunting. It took rabbits from his snares and he observed it resting in sun traps.
This episode tells a remarkable story of a large black cat, most likely a female leopard, out in the wild before the 1976 Dangerous Wild Animals Act. Charlie considers why the cat tolerated him in particular, as well as his family members.
Since recording the episode, Charlie has recalled one other memorable account of the big cat, which was not described in the conversation with Rick. Charlie explains it here... "One thing I didn't mention was the night it walked on the roof of my largest den it was fully enclosed with a door and a lift-up window and all closed up. It walked across the roof making the acknowledgement snorting snuffle noise. It stayed up there sitting or lying for a while. I then heard the soft pads on the leaves as she jumped down into the wood..."
In terms of the origins of the cat, Charlie adds this… “I think it was likely a released one, possibly when she was pregnant as it wasn't scared of people. Wary yes but not scared. It would happily eat rabbits etc with human scent on, so she was possibly used to eating meat handled by humans?”
Words of the week: gypsy warnings
1 September 2025
Our first guest Malcolm was an arch sceptic on big cats being wild in Britain. Then one night driving home in 2011 he encountered a big black panther on the lane outside his property in Herefordshire. It rushed off, doing a long leap through a high gap in the hedge. Malcolm then asked around and found that other people in the area had also seen a panther around the same time.
Malcolm is coincidentally about 3 miles away from Craig, a podcast guest from episodes 72 and 116. Craig joins us again for the second half, updating us on events in the area where he found the clawed carcass and set out trail cams. Craig has a recent trail cam photo to describe, captured in mid July 2025 - see copies on BCC website Refs & Links. Then the following week, at 7pm in the woods, he experienced a full-on hiss directed at him – a google search confirmed his view that it came from a big cat, most likely a puma.
Craig and Rick discuss the reports of both black and brown big cats, described over many years in this corner of Herefordshire and seemingly keeping to themselves…
Word of the week: GISS (General Impression of Shape & Size)
9 August 2025
Secrets of the hoax – real & imagined beasts
Our first guest Simon Lea had two close encounters with a large black panther at his farmholding in Oxfordshire. He later created the life-size metal panther that was positioned in Charlbury in a large garden close to the station. The ‘panther’ was spotted by train passengers and sometimes got reported as a real big cat, as previously discussed on ep 93 of the podcast. We hear the full story behind the Charlbury Panther from Simon.
Simon has just made a replica Charlbury Panther for the coming event, Depicting Britain’s Beasts – the art of British big cats, at Nature in Art gallery, Gloucestershire, 12-22 August, 2025.
https://natureinart.org.uk/event/depicting-britains-beasts-the-art-of-british-big-cats/?instance_id=977#:~:text=With%20evidence%20from%20DNA%20and,been%20moved%20to%20illustrate%20them.
Our second guest Andy Council is a Bristol based mural painter and graffiti artist. He discusses three of his British black panther illustrations which will be at the Nature in Art event in August. He explains how he came to use British big cats amongst his public artwork. One of Andy’s paintings is the Five Valleys Panther, based on big cat sightings in the Stroud area. Andy and Rick discuss sightings they have heard about in people’s gardens in that area.
Andy is interested in awareness raising through his art. He explains the importance of showing panthers, pumas and lynx in a British setting, and he describes the challenges of depicting a big cat in a modern street-art style.
Word of the week: tagging
16 July 2025
Our first guest Hugh Williams recounts his close encounter with a big cat on a Worcestershire hillside. He also runs the Mysteries of Mercia website which explores quirks of history and folklore in the midlands and Mercia.
As well as discussing his panther incident, Hugh mentions other big cat sightings he’s heard of and even a dogman description he’s received. He also considers the treatment of big cats in folklore, he touches on the black dog phenomenon, and he and Rick consider the black panthers reported in eastern Canada where Hugh is currently based.
Our second guest Graham describes his recent incidents involving a large cat in County Durham. He and his dog were growled at from close quarters one winter evening, then months later, just a week before this podcast recording, they came close to a black panther at dusk. Graham explains how he’s been coming to terms with the reality of big cats in the first few days after the experience. Both Hugh and Graham mention a feeling of ‘joining a club’ after their cat encounters.
Word of the week: liminal
22 June 2025
Cat Fight is the new novel from author Kit Conway which centres around big cat encounters in Kent, published in the UK in May and the US in June 2025. We speak to Kit about how Big Cat Conversations helped shape her ideas for the big cat aspects of the plot. The book has already been optioned as a future TV screenplay, and Kit discusses how she weaved big cat sightings into a novel about the developing frictions across a close community in south-east England. It is a rollercoaster of a story which explores people’s switch to wild behaviour on different levels.
Our second guest Gary describes some big cat incidents in Surrey, just 50 miles west of where Cat Fight is set. He himself has twice observed a black panther in a neighbouring agricultural field, viewed from the same spot in his parents’ house. Believed by Gary to be a black leopard on each occasion, the sightings were 20 years apart in 2003 and 2023.
Word of the week: rosette
Cat Fight book availability in UK:
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/463613/cat-fight-by-conway-kit/9780857506597
Cat Fight book availability in North America:
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Cat-Fight/Kit-Conway/9781668066348
Copies of Cat Fight are available for UK and for North America listeners to win by emailing ‘word of the week’ suggestions – details in the podcast.
Kit Conway, Cat Fight author’s website: https://www.kitconway.com/
1st June 2025
John explores the wild forests and farmland of his local Scottish borders area.
It’s a sparsely populated region where black panthers and lynx are quietly discussed by some of the locals. John takes us through various lynx encounters, including two of his own, and describes his three experiences with large black cats – one seen nearby from a slow moving train, and one unnervingly close at night.
John starts the episode by explaining how his military background helps his observation and tracking skills. He also discusses lynx reintroduction proposals which have been considered for his part of Britain.
John is a musician and with his wife & friends created his own outro track for this edition… Eyes Burning Bright.
Words of the week: orienting response
9 May 2025
John met a “black panther” during his evening dog walks four times in 1996 in Staffordshire. On the first occasion he was confronted directly by the cat at close range. As the predator was poised, there seemed no easy way out. John explains his thoughts and the subliminal messages he received at that moment, as he reached in his pocket and unlatched his Swiss army knife…
‘Big Cat Mystery’ outro track courtesy of Lancashire band DRIVE.
Words of the Week: beauty in the beast
17 April 2025
Bonus feature - British wolverines?
Our first guest Darren was asked to despatch a troublesome fox in south Wales in 1998. In the snowy conditions he actually saw a puma though his gun sights – he re-lives the high emotions on the winter hillside as bright green eyeshine stared back.
Rick and Darren also consider the prospects of a big cat being trapped, and they discuss an event in 2011, when the police and the Home Office verified a plaster cast as from a puma-like big cat.
For our second guest we return to Exmoor Zoo, meeting owner Danny Reynolds. He briefs us on the new female black leopard, Bagheera. She is a lively three year old, who enjoys playful stalking of the visitors and keepers.
Exmoor Zoo also hosts two wolverines, last known in Britain 8,000 years ago, or has this podcast found that they are back somehow? We discuss some footage which might hold the clues, with some extracted stills on the Big Cat Conversations website. Danny and Rick discuss the traits of wolverines, a big type of mustelid, both in the wild and at the zoo.
Words of the week: talon & Gulo gulo
26 March 2025
Andrea is a podcast listener in Victoria, Australia. She didn’t expect to experience big cats on her land. But she explains how events and sightings have indicated she has visiting pumas, which seem to predate kangaroos, wallabies and rabbits.
She looks after two pure dingoes, which have reacted to calls and movements of what appear to be a nearby big cat. Andrea discusses life with the dingoes, and her heightened awareness of new hidden predators in the local bushland.
In the final section, British and SA tracker Mark Graves returns to discuss key issues which have cropped up in recent episodes, including the ‘clawed’ carcass, alarm calls from birds when predators are around, and why big cats’ fur can change in colder conditions. Rick describes two recent black panther-leopard reports from witnesses, and Mark explains how big cats drag their larger prey items.
Words of the week: ‘upside down country’
& piloerection
3 March 2025
We return to Cumbria for latest news of the mother and cub black leopards, being experienced by Liz on nearby land to her property. In autumn and winter sightings Liz has noticed longer fur develop on the mother, as well as alarm calls from magpies harassing the cats. Liz and Rick discuss the challenges of getting evidence from this ongoing case.
UPDATE: Between recording and then releasing this interview with Liz, she reports that her husband has now had two evening encounters with the mother.
Our second guest, Neil, describes a situation as a 14 year old, when he and his dad stumbled upon what appeared to be black panther cubs being recovered from the wild in Devon in an official covert operation…
Words of the week: winter coat
8 February 2025
Two retired police officers report their big cat encounters and incidents, including black leopards & lynx. We conclude the episode with comments on the January 2025 lynx release & capture saga from Paul Macdonald of Scottish Big Cat Research.
Andrew our first guest from County Durham recounts his encounter with what he believes was a black leopard, when walking his dog in 2003. Through his police activity he then learnt about similar big black cat reports nearby, and his interest in the subject grew.
Nick from Kent nearly hit a big black cat in his vehicle when driving on police duty in the back lanes of Kent, in 1994. Nick raced out of the car to pursue the animal and soon realised the folly of his actions. A colleague then had a nearby sighting, which they felt may have been the same cat, while another contact shot a lynx in error, as it was flushed from woodland when he was out shooting foxes.
16 January 2025
Word of the week: truncheon
Our end-of-year extended episode features Mandy from Worcestershire and Jon from neighbouring Herefordshire.
Mandy explains the events which led to her setting-up a big cats Facebook group in Worcestershire, as a hotline for reports and discussion. Her own sighting was a close-up view of a black leopard type of cat, and instantly drew her to the subject.
Jon watched a puma slink through his garden one night in 2003, close to the house he was renovating. His initial shock and concern turned to respect for big cats, as he and his wife experienced three different large cats in and around their remote garden until they moved in 2018. Jon kept a ‘big cat diary’ throughout that time – he takes us through the events for this episode.
Word of the week: estrangement
12 December 2024
Tommy had two sightings of black panthers in the north of Exmoor as a teenager in the 90s. His first viewing was of a mother guiding a small cub, which made a lasting impression on him.
Tommy recounts a local vicar’s sighting of a big black cat at the time, and he explains how local teenagers related to the Exmoor Beast legend. Later in his army career, Tommy heard fellow soldiers admitting to seeing pumas on Ministry of Defence land in Northumberland.
Word of the week: Inquisitive
17 November 2024
Liz describes several encounters with a black leopard visiting the farmyard where she and her husband feed the farm cats. She has been watched and advanced on by the large cat and is now fully alert to its potential presence.
On one occasion Liz noticed a small panther like cat dart out of cover to catch up with the big cat, and realised it was a cub rushing to its mother.
Liz reports how the farm cats change behaviour due to the bigger cats’ presence, and she explains how she and her husband adapt their life, living in anticipation of their new stealthy neighbours.
Words of the week: teddy bear
25 October 2024
Craig our guest returns after episode 72 when he re-lived his Exmoor big cat encounters in the 1980s.
Now based in Herefordshire, Craig explains the big cat reports and potential activity occurring in his own village, right where he walks his dogs. He has been followed by an animal with large piercing eyeshine which alarmed his dogs, and he has recently found two fresh deer carcasses, one freshly devoured, and the other was still warm, had a severed windpipe, and showed claw marks raked down the muzzle and throat.
Craig also had a close view of a puma crossing his path in the Black Mountains, near Hay on Wye, in 2023. His photos and videos of these incidents, showing his immediate reactions, can be viewed on the podcast website…
https://bigcatconversations.com/refs-links/
Word of the week: kleptoparasite
4 October 2024
Our first guest Graham recounts a close encounter with a large black cat on the Isle of Skye during one of his fishing trips. We discuss how a cat like a black leopard could have arrived on Skye and how well such a cat could go unnoticed in the island’s wild terrain.
For our second guest we catch up with Scotland research coordinator Paul Macdonald. Amongst recent highlights he describes two clips of footage shown to him at a recent rural show stand, and a report of a roadside puma carcass being recovered by a military crew.
Thanks to Scottish folk singer Shona Donaldson for Beast o’the Bin.
Word of the week: Fieldwork
12 September 2024
In this Summer edition we discuss pumas encountered in the wild on the England & Wales border in the Wye Valley, but we also visit a special sanctuary for re-homed exotic pets, also in the Wye Valley area.
Our first guest Grant, explains how he and friends were advanced on by a puma when they were out lamping foxes one night. Grant describes the intense eye shine and what happened as the cat got closer…
Our second guest Lindsay has experience with large cats from South Africa. Now she runs Wildside Exotic Rescue, where pumas, lynx and a serval are amongst the rescued animals cared for. She explains the challenges of looking after the cats and the other animals, and she reflects on the consequences of people owning and needing to give up their exotic pets. The pumas are sometimes fed deer, and will be involved in a special scientific experiment to help big cat studies in Britain…
Visit www.wildsideexoticrescue.co.uk/ to learn more about Wildside and support the work of Lindsay and the team there.
Words of the week: scientific controls
22 August 2024
Steve our guest trains his working gun dog, a springer spaniel every morning at dawn. We hear of four occasions when he’s encountered a large black cat in his local Cheshire countryside. For one of the sightings the animal had a pronounced limp. On the BCC website (Refs & Links, Ep 113) Steve compares his sighting to the footage of a limping large black cat filmed in Scotland last year.
Steve and Rick also discuss the footage of an alleged large black cat filmed in Steve’s area of Cheshire in January 2024. The footage was shown in the media at the time and is now on the BCC website to view.
Steve also recalls seeing a Scottish wildcat in Scotland and the black panther and lynx reports mentioned on his fishing trips in Scotland.
Word of the week: observant
27 July 2024
Our first guest Richard recounts a sudden episode of big cat reports from his time as a local police officer in Wiltshire. One of the cases involved a threatened domestic cat.
In the second part we catch up with tracker and wildlife guide Mark Graves who was first on ep 95. He explains why some photographed footprints and plaster casts are evidence for big cats in Scotland and in Dorset, and he discusses a call which matches a leopard vocalisation, recorded recently in a Devon woodland.
We also reflect on a recent press report of a camper experiencing a black panther advancing towards him in a Derbyshire campsite. Mark gives feedback after speaking with the witness.
Finally, Mark and Rick consider how distinct the British big cats may be, tuned as they are to the UK environment.
Words of the week: character release
3 July 2024
We hear from Andy and from Gail, the different witnesses mentioned by Nick on his farm in episode 109. Andy and Gail speak about their own various big cat incidents during their farm visits, and they have each had one close up account…
Andy confronted a large black “panther-leopard” one evening at the barns. Gail was on her way to the campsite portaloo when she watched a big black cat sitting in the early morning sun.
The cat-like footprint photographed by Nick for episode 109 (BCC website, Refs & Links page) may match the scale of the cat described by Gail.
Word of the week: coexistence
8 June 2024
In this Cumbria update we discuss new DNA evidence with Sharon Larkin-Snowden following her input to episode 101.
In October 2023 Sharon found a freshly consumed sheep carcass. Without realising, she also disturbed a big black cat at the scene. Later she swabbed the carcass for any saliva present, for a lab test. She and Rick discuss the DNA result which came back from the University of Warwick
Sharon and her husband Ian describe their further investigations, including their use of a drone and thermal camera, and the family’s savannah cats provide some background sound effects.
Our second-half guest is Diane from near Wigan in Lancashire. She has twice witnessed what she believes is a black leopard when dog walking. Diane was interviewed on Sky TV’s Hold the Front Page at the podcast’s big cat stand last September in Cumbria. She and Rick discuss their experience of working with TV comedians to help mainstream the topic of British big cats.
Words of the week: forensic swabbing
14 May 2024
Nick runs a farm in the English midlands which is now transforming to wildlife friendly woods and meadows. Amongst the farm’s wildlife are sightings and signs of big cats.
Nick recounts people’s big cat encounters in the area and he describes the suspicious prints and the potential big cat lay-up spot found on his farm.
He runs the farm in the knowledge that big cats have become part of the local wildlife, using the network of woods and the new wildlife habitats he helps to establish. He feels the cats feast on rabbits and will help keep the deer skittish, which will prevent over-browsing of the younger trees and emerging woodland.
Words of the week: Lay-up spots
19 April 2024
Eliza and two of her Cubs group friends came close to a black panther “with ears like a teddy bear” in their local Country Park in Spring 2023. The location is a big greenspace, busy in the daytime with families and visitors on the edge of town, adding to the shock and surprise felt by Eliza and friends.
Eliza and her mum Sarah join us to discuss the difficulties of young people being believed when they report a big cat. Sarah and Rick consider the challenge of awareness raising on big cats, especially for adults supervising young people on outdoor activities.
Words of the week: tail talk
26 March 2024
Wayne is an angler in Essex. He describes 3 close encounters with big cats at fishing lakes. On one occasion he met with a leopard warning him off just meters away on a lakeside path. The nearby muntjac deer might owe its life to Wayne’s presence, as he stumbled upon the scene between the cat and the deer. He got close enough to see the big cat’s markings…
Words of the week: leopard popcorn smell
5 March 2024
Janet is based in a remote corner of Argyll. She was unaware of the area’s long history of big cat reports until events kicked off close to her house in 2023. She explains the warning calls and the sightings she experienced locally and coincidentally when visiting Aberdeenshire.
Janet is a professional photographer and explains how she is adapting her range of camera kit in preparation for big cats, especially in darkness and low light.
Word of the week: guttural
9 February 2024
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…
Words of the week: nape bite
17 January 2024
Adam’s Grandfather’s once had a big cat sighting in Sherwood Forest and now, decades later, Adam has just experienced a large black cat in the same area - we hear the details in this episode.
Adam also discusses several big cat encounters he’s heard of from friends and contacts in Nottinghamshire and Shropshire, as well as some perfect footage of a puma he was shown. As an ecologist he meets people in remote parts of the English midlands who are in prime positions to witness wildlife. He also considers the niche available for big cats in the British landscape, and he explains how a lifetime of observing wildlife can bring the odd surprise.
More notes for the episode at: bigcatconversations.com/refs-links/
Words of the week: niche & vigil
27 December 2023
We hear Sue’s experience after 10 years’ worth of big cat sightings and incidents around her stables in Essex.
Her daughter and sons have had close sightings, and in one of Sue’s encounters she was next to a black panther in the stable yard at dusk.
Sue describes some severe impacts on two of the horses after close confrontations with a big cat, and she explains the ongoing extra costs she is faced with in feed and vets’ bills, managing the stables alongside the varying visits of big cats.
Words of the week: foxlights predator deterrent
11 December 2023
Charles reflects on his two encounters with a black panther or leopard, 21 years apart, both while caravanning and trekking in Cumbria.
For the first incident Charles was in touching distance of the big cat as he entered his caravan awning and discovered it there – Charles recounts the moments he found himself closed in with a panther beside him…
Word of the week: catstycam
19 November 2022
We catch up with Cumbrian investigator Sharon Larkin at the end of the Westmorland Show where Rick and Sharon were meeting witnesses and visitors to the big cat stand.
Sharon explains how she follows up reports on her Facebook page, Big Cats in Cumbria. She describes several of her own encounters with large black cats and she justifies why she believes these are leopards, including the one she photographed near Gretna in 2014 as it spooked cows and consumed a rabbit.
South West investigator Paul Ramsden visited the show and also chipped in, comparing Cumbria’s big cat landscape with his home base in Gloucestershire. He and Sharon recount their highlights from people’s reports at the big cat stand at the show.
We are also joined by Ian, Sharon’s husband. He describes his own big cat sighting and he and Sharon reflect on the family’s experience living with the subject and owning two cats bred from servals…
More show notes, photos and messages are on this link… bigcatconversations.com/refs-links/
Words of the week: savannah cats
30 September 2023
For our centenary show we met with 25 contacts in a Herefordshire pub, to talk big cats, sample the local cider, and eat celebration panther cakes.
We heard sighting reports from Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Dorset – two of which were genuinely ‘close’ encounters. David, one of the witnesses, also described the perfect footage he’d been shown of a black leopard in Herefordshire.
Mark Graves led a discussion on tracking and ‘where next?’ for investigating big cats, and we heard different views on how best to use a sum of £5,000 for getting more evidence.
When we discussed big cats in our culture, Fleur reminded us of Roman finds in Britain in which the Greek god of wine and dance Dionysus is accompanied by a panther…
Look out for Youtube extracts of this episode 100 to be linked on the Big Cat Conversations website and YT Channel in late August 2023.
Word of the week: spoor
19 August 2023
Phebe has been following-up big cat reports in different places for 30 years. She’s been trusted with local information on big cat incidents, and has witnessed a lynx in Hertfordshire and two black leopards together in SW Wales.
We hear of her own cat encounters and some memorable information she’s received from friends and contacts experiencing big cats. We also discuss whether the reported cats may be staying close to the sources of their first releases, or if other suitable areas are becoming a sink for them.
Words of the week: exotic animals
29 July 2023
Gareth is a reporter for local papers in Derbyshire and joins us as another journalist guest on the podcast, following Tristan in episode 94.
Gareth has had a long-term interest in big cat encounters and has glimpsed one himself. He explains how big cat stories get high hit rates in the media, so local newspapers welcome news of people’s sightings.
Gareth describes some key big cat events in Derbyshire, including the release of lynx at the former Riber Castle zoo, the long-running Carsington Beast reports, and a farmer finding his dogs confronting a lynx.
Gareth also reflects on the time he received a hoax report and photo, and Rick refers to some recent big cat cases in Derbyshire and a TV show episode due in Summer 2023 which features Derbyshire big cat cases.
See our Refs and Links page at https://bigcatconversations.com/refs-links/ for details of the May 2023 YouGuv survey on people’s belief in big cats living wild in Britain.
Words of the week: media algorithm
7 July 2023
In the first half we hear from Jayne – she caught sight of a black panther with several of her jogging fiends one morning this year in Somerset. Other friends had previously told her of their alleged reports at the Glastonbury festival area.
In the second half, Mark Graves returns after episode 95. He reflects on a recent day spent with big cat investigators in Gloucestershire, and he explains how he survived a crocodile attack during his time in South Africa.
Words of the week: aposematic colouration
17 June 2023
George is a retired gamekeeper in Herefordshire. He recounts his sighting of a local black panther, and many years before, a puma in a forest near Bodmin in Cornwall.
George also discusses his regrets at shooting an adult black panther as well as what appeared to be a young one, in recent years in Herefordshire – local farmers were experiencing sheep kills at the time. George explains why both the shot cats matched the description of a leopard.
George considers that from his experience, farmers and keepers may tolerate big cats if they avoid sheep predation.
Word of the week: DNA
26 May 2023
Former South African farmer & wilderness guide Mark Graves briefs us on living with leopards in South Africa, where he has guided Kruger National Park visitors and trained trackers on leopards and the Big 5.
Mark takes us through some of his close observations of leopards and he explains the moments when he once had to face and retreat from an advancing lioness. Now based in Britain, Mark discusses the large cats reportedly living here, and considers how we can live alongside them.
Word of the week: anthropomorphism
5 May 2023
Tristan is senior reporter at the Bristol Post newspaper where big cat stories are rare. In contrast, he routinely heard of people’s big cat incidents in his former role with the Western Daily Press.
We hear highlights of the big cat accounts he reported on, and learn how he realised big cat sightings were a genuine part of the rural scene. Then one day, a large stealthy black animal arrived in his own local fields…
Word of the week: clickbait
14 April 2023
Steve our guest has spent half a lifetime investigating big cat reports in southern England – he takes us through key events in Oxfordshire in recent years, including the search for a puma body, the secrets of the Charlbury panther, and a big cat caught in a cage trap which then went missing.
We learn about his time volunteering at a big cat sanctuary in Colorado, and hear how he links with his local police contacts. His own sightings include watching a black panther emerge with a friend, who just minutes earlier had mocked Steve’s interest in the topic.
Word of the week: misidentification
25 March 2023
Alex our guest has had several big cat encounters in South West England, one of which involved a black panther creeping up behind him. He reflects on these experiences in this episode. Rick and Alex also discuss the challenge of raising awareness of large predators while minimising the fear factor.
We also hear about Alex’s most recent sightings in south Devon, and discuss the interesting results on his trail cameras.
Word of the week: cryptic
6 March 2023
A panther and cubs next to a fishing tent, gamekeepers’ attitudes to big cats, a large cat carcass by the A9, admissions of lynx releases, and recent dashcam footage from West Highlands – we hear of these and other snippets as Paul MacDonald updates us on recent big cat highlights from Scotland.
We also hear some modern folklore, as The Black Beast of Bin, a poem from 1994, written following big cat sightings in the Huntly area of Aberdeenshire at the time, is sung specially for the podcast by Scottish folk singer Shona Donaldson.
Words of the week: Origin stories
12 February 2023
Andy and Claire explain why they are committed to tracking and learning about big cats in the Stroud area of Gloucestershire – we hear about their findings so far, from tree scratches, potential big cat calls, scat, carcasses of potential prey, and tantalising trail camera shots.
Words of the week: AI poetry
24 January 2023
Louise describes three different large cat encounters in Scotland, including meeting a lynx in her local woodland in Angus. As it noticed her, she felt vulnerable and time became fixed at that heart-stopping moment.
11 years later a friend and neighbour of Louise had an encounter near the same location, on the edge of town – showing that such predators can be closer than we think…
Words of the week: A clowder of cats
8 January 2023
Lewis describes being confronted by a black panther in the Chilterns area back in 2006, on the edge of the Prime Minister’s Chequers estate. Lewis was with three friends messing about in the snow by moonlight, when the panther emerged. Lewis describes events as they fled from the hill.
Our second guest is the experienced investigator Paulo, who runs the Big Cats of the Chilterns FB page. He updates us on recent trends of sightings across the Chilterns area, and we finish with details of a fresh big cat incident very close to Paulo’s home in mid December 2022.
Words of the week: call blasters & hunting decoys
22 December 2022
We hear from Bernard, an experienced stalker in the south of Ireland. He watched two adult black panthers resting in a field one evening in October 2022, as he walked his dog. There seemed to be a third smaller cat with them.
Bernard takes us through the incident and tries to make sense of the remarkable scene.
We finish with news of the big cats poem & limerick competition.
Words of the week: a destruction of cats
6 December 2022
Rob explains his boyhood interest in the Exmoor Beast and roaming local woods for signs of big cats. Now living in British Canada, Rob encounters different wild animals on his regular mountain hikes. He describes his recent close observation of a dark coloured Canadian lynx, and his family’s confrontation with a growling stalking cougar.
Rob explains why he carries protective bear spray and knives in his rucksack after seeing black bears close to his hiking trails, and he discusses how local people adapt to living alongside cougars and bears.
Rob finishes by commenting on recent night-vision footage taken in Devon and available to view on the Big Cat Conversations website, Refs & Links page for episode 86.
Word of the week: slesse
22 November 2022
Bob received big cat reports in the 1990s during his career with Warwickshire police – it became more real on duty one night when he saw a black panther himself.
John our second guest also served with Warwickshire police - he investigated a crashed car incident one night in 2003 when his police dog Russ let him know there was something about, as a panther emerged on the scene…
John discusses his experience working with dogs in the police and currently with Cornwall Search Dogs, and he and Rick consider how dogs could be deployed for tracking big cats.
Words of the week: scat detection dogs
3 November 2022
Don saw a black panther or leopard in Derbyshire in 1989 at a time when local farmers and police were reporting sightings of a big black cat in the Derbyshire press.
Don retained his interest in the topic and brought a thermal camera in 2022 to film local wildlife and hopefully a big cat. Within a few weeks he noticed one of the blobs on his thermal footage was cat shaped, and larger than any foxes and badgers he had filmed. Seeing the shape again Don concluded he was indeed filming a large cat. It is judged to be around 109 cms from nose to rump.
Don discusses the thermal footage on this episode. A selection of the video recordings and stills taken from the videos are on the Big Cat Conversations website, under ep 84 of the Refs & Links page.
Word of the week: monopod
13 October 2022
We join investigator Paul Ramsden for a visit to two big cat sighting spots in Gloucestershire. We look out along the edge of the Cotswold hills and then go deep into a hidden valley woodland.
Paul explains how mammals including big cats would use the woodland and he considers prime places for trail cameras for filming any large cats. Rick describes past panther, puma and lynx reports in the area and Paul recounts his own past big cat sighting that happened in Dorset.
Words of the week: a glaring of cats
28 September 2002
Clare met a black leopard watching her from a ditch in a Somerset lane back in 1993. Her family’s dogs and horses had been spooked at the time, sensing a possible predator nearby.
In a wide-ranging discussion including the wonders of the Zanzibar leopard and the search for the supposedly lost Thylacine, Clare discusses her experience working with leopards, puma and lynx at a zoo, and lessons she learnt about the traits of these cats for their behaviour in the wild in Britain.
Words of the week: electromagnetic shielding
14 September 2022
Darren Millar the Welsh Parliament Member for Clwyd West believes the Welsh Government should be researching big cats – we hear from Darren at the Denbigh and Flint Show in August 2022. We then hear from Carla who witnessed a black cat as big as her labrador dog in mid Wales in early August – when she returned to the spot the next day she was hissed at and fled the scene.
Finally we hear from Michelle – she drove past a big cat’s body over 20 years ago and had a black panther sighting near Carmarthen in south west Wales in 2007.
Words of the week: Magnus cattus
29 August 2022
Charlie watched a lynx sunning itself at the edge of his village in Kent, then two years later he had a close encounter with a puma on the other side of the village.
Charlie compares the wild Kent puma with one he witnessed in Alberta, Canada, and one he studied at a big cat sanctuary.
Charlie also discusses how he is naturally fearful of panthers due to the black colour, but he explains why the most dangerous local animal he’s encountered is a deer.
Word of the week: Klandagi
8 August 2022
Kayleigh our first guest was driving when she and her dog both reacted to a large black panther in front of the car near forestry land in south west Wales in March 2022. Kayleigh feels that large black cats are now quietly accepted as part of the South Wales environment in some remote areas.
Our second guest Adam was walking in the Rhonda area in south Wales with a friend in winter 2022 – they noticed a large black panther run down a track and make two attempts at sheep as it got disturbed. Although his friends scoff at the report, Adam is keen to understand more about the hidden big cats of South Wales.
Word of the week: phenomenon
19 July 2022
Chris is a metal detectorist in North Wiltshire – he has had 3 big cat encounters including a puma descending a tree and warning him. We hear from an experienced detectorists as he explains highlights of his recent finds, including close views of three different big cats, and deer carcasses which have been examined for tooth pits…
Word of the week: Cat-tecting
4 July 2022
Our first guest Martin describes seeing a black panther move towards his son who was cycling in front of him and unaware of the animal. In terms of public awareness, Martin is concerned at the fear that any big cat information signs could create.
Our second guest John had a lynx come close to him in a Surrey woodland – he explains how he remained calm and avoided a possible confrontation. Earlier this year, close to the first sighting location, he saw a smaller lynx which bounded off, keeping away. John compares the two cats’ different behaviours and in discussing his close encounter, he is keen to avoid any alarmism.
Word of the week: resilience
20 June 2022
Carole from Aberdeenshire was feeding farm feral cats in the 1990s when a sleek black panther turned up. In the following weeks she had four sightings of two different large black cats in the area, and took a photo which resulted in a distant blob. She has received many reports of similar cats in the region and has investigated carcasses of their suspected prey. She has also seen “Kellas cats” and thinks these could represent a mutant felis cat which roams parts of Britain.
Word of the week: ailurophilia
5 June 2022
Mark our first guest watched a large black cat on his train journey in Cheshire, while Billy, our second guest, got a good view of a black panther from the front of his freight train in Yorkshire – he found other drivers had also seen such animals. Our guests describe both the close-up and the changing views they got from a moving train.
By coincidence, both guests are interested in the topic of sasquatch, so compare their experiences with the study of North America’s great mystery creature, and consider how big cats and sasquatch can challenge our comfort zone.
Word of the week: General Impression of Size and Shape (GISS), (see also episode 14)
22 May 2022
Charlie Bones is a long-term investigator covering East and West Sussex – he guides us through big cat reports from this area of South East England, starting with his own encounter in 2000.
Charlie explains how he thinks the cats use the Sussex landscape through the seasons, based on the trend of reports he receives and his knowledge of the area’s terrain. He also discusses the quirks of the large black cats reported, suggesting there is more than one type of extra-large black feline …
Word of the week: the Weald
2 May 2022
Jonathan is ex-special forces, retired from the police, and an expedition leader who has encountered large predators across different continents. In the first half of the episode he describes his experiences overseas in the wild and explains how to stay confident amongst large carnivores.
In the second half he re-lives his confrontation with a black panther outside his house in south Derbyshire in 2013 – a big cat could have explained the strange behaviour of local wildlife and pets at the time, and the spooked reaction of dogs to an invisible presence on the nearby nature reserve.
Word of the week: ADVOKATE
17 April 2022
Craig encountered a black panther on Exmoor just before the main 1980s reports had begun in the area. He saw it when lamping foxes and later disturbed it in a sheep field eating a predated ewe. 15 years later he and his wife saw a similar big cat in the same area.
Craig briefs us on farmers’ reactions to a big cat on Exmoor in the 1980s, and he reflects on the current big cat situation, from what he’s seen and heard about from his Herefordshire base today.
Word of the week: Shippon
3 April 2022
Amanda watched a black panther rush into position, then pursue a deer in Somerset in December 2021. She describes filming the final moments of the chase, and explains how she and her partner checked for large cat tooth pits on the eaten-out deer carcass found a few days later.
We also speak to Will who watched a big cat close up, stalking deer in Gloucestershire in 2002 – Rick describes other reports in the same location that Will was unaware of.
Words of the week: landscape of fear
20 March 2022
Leopard specialist Sanjay Gubbi describes his work tracking, monitoring and camera-trapping leopards in India, and helping people live alongside these stealthy predators.
Sanjay gives us highlights from his new book, Leopard Diaries and re-lives the moment he was attacked by a fleeing leopard which got trapped at school buildings.
Word of the week: dvipin
7 March 2022
Our first guest Rich explains his thermal camera view of a big cat during his military training on Dartmoor. Our second guests Gareth and Ray discuss a black panther sighting during their family break in France. Ray has unrivalled experience of French and British big cats – he also describes his view of a black panther from his motorhome in County Durham.
Word of the week: Fusca
18 February 2022
Jane and Ade are based at a chicken farm in Nottinghamshire – a black panther arrived on the scene in December 2021, witnessed several times so far, patrolling local fields and lanes.
We hear from Jane and Ade about their encounters, the reactions of their huskies, and how Ade’s thermal camera helps survey the local fields at dawn and dusk. He explains how he has twice filmed what he believes to be the cat.
Word of the week: thermography
2 February 2022
In part one David McEwan briefs us on key sightings from south Scotland in 2021, in part two Frank Tunbridge offers highlights from the 2021 big cat reports he received.
Both guests also reflect on Jim Corbett, the tracker, hunter and naturalist who wrote about man-eating tigers and leopards in north India in the middle of the 20th century, while Frank also discusses Kenneth Anderson’s experience of tigers and leopards in southern India in the same era.
Word of the week: ghooming
17 January 2021
Our guests Annie Brazier and Shelly Coles discuss recent big cat encounters in Norfolk and in Ireland, as well as a shot cat from 2019 in Herefordshire. Annie and Shelly are both centrally involved in big cat sightings Facebook groups – they discuss the influence of Facebook on big cat reporting and they consider how the topic of big cats can affect people’s mental health.
All photos, illustrations and videos discussed in this edition are available on the Big Cat Conversations web site:
https://bigcatconversations.com/refs-links/
Word of the week: ocelli
1 January 2022
Frazier watched a big black cat hunt for geese in marshland at the Suffolk coast in November 2021 – he describes the spectacle of the autumn arrival of geese on the marsh, complete with the lurking predator.
Words of the week: macan kumbang
11 December 2021
In the first of two episodes featuring big cat reports of France, Michael describes watching a black panther creeping through summer pasture at the edge of his village in the Pas de Calais in 2020. We discuss why France has panther and puma reports and whether such cats could be breeding, or are released pets finding their feet in the French landscape.
Words of the week: bêteséphémères
27 November 2021
Frances explains what happened when she noticed a puma following 3 schoolboys in southern Lanarkshire, Scotland. She then cautiously asked around her village and learnt that big cat reports were nothing new.
Word of the week: solipsism
12 November 2021
Black panthers, assumed to be black leopards, have been reported in the Wirral in Cheshire for over 20 years – our 2 guests describe some of these past sightings and explain their own encounters.
Ben met a black leopard in woods in the Wirral peninsula in 2021 – he explains how it changed his outlook on the nearby countryside, while Matt witnessed a similar large cat in a close-by location 18 years ago. Now, as more reports emerge from the Wirral, Ben and Matt try to understand the routes of any black leopards in the area.
Words of the week: occupancy survey
22 October 2021
Paul MacDonald describes the discovery and lab testing of an apparently large cat’s carcass found near Bannockburn in 2020, and then discusses how the mapping of witness reports in south Scotland has identified key places to investigate. We then discuss the recent night-time cat footage in Larkhall, Scotland, with the houseowner Derek, asking whether it was a puma on the pathway, or a domestic cat on the fence, and how it influenced his family and neighbours.
Word of the week: riparian
8 October 2021
Author Nick Albert wrote about sensing and then seeing a black panther near his family’s West of Ireland home in his series of books Fresh Eggs and Dog Beds – we delve into those incidents with Nick in this episode, and we also hear from Dave, who had a black panther cross the road in front of him near peat cuttings in County Kilkenny in August 2021, coincidentally on his way to collect fresh eggs!
Word of the week:aclaíocht
24 September 2021
Three guests chat through their big cat sightings at a Herefordshire pub – Dave D watched a panther jump a gate back in 1996, Sam saw a panther on the edge of the Brecon Beacons in 2018, and he may have snapped a grainy trail-cam photo of a lynx, while Dave Starkey updates us on his big cat novel Tonmawr and a possible sequel, following his south Wales sighting. They discuss how they strive to understand more about the animals they encountered…
Words of the week: spectral sensitivity
10 September 2021
Tom re-lives his close encounter with a black leopard like cat near Stroud town centre in 2015, and his sighting of a similar looking cat which stopped the traffic when he was driving up a Cotswold hill in 2016. Rick and Tom also discuss some of the notable big cat reports in Gloucestershire during 2021.
Word of the week:Corinium
28 August 2021
On 1st August near Wexford, Ireland, Lar filmed a large black animal wandering past his house in the neighbouring field – still raw with emotion speaking on the podcast, he explains how he quickly sensed it was a large black panther, how he feels as a father of young kids, and how the Ireland big cats Facebook group has helped him assess the whole experience. Lar also explains why he thinks this could have been a recently escaped big cat.
Word of the week:beithioch
13 August 2021
Mark a Suffolk taxi driver explains his close up sighting of a black panther one evening, and how he now gets reports from customers about the topic, while Jo, a town councillor from Dolgellau, recounts her two sightings of a black panther in mid-north Wales. Both guests relay other snippets on local big cats they’ve heard from friends and contacts.
Word of the week: Eryri
1 August 2021
James guides us through the forest environment at night in deepest Shropshire, keeping watch for the eye shine, movement and vibes of a big cat…
Word of the week: habitat
17 July 2021
Zoologist Darren Naish explores the traits of larger cats in Britain and Europe from the Pleistocene times, and considers lessons for rewilding and the adaptations of any large cats in Britain now, whatever their origins.
Twitter link for our guest Darren Naish: https://twitter.com/TetZoo
On the Prowl book discussed in the episode: http://cup.columbia.edu/book/on-the-prowl/9780231184502
Word of the week: tetrapod
3 July 2021
Our three guests have each witnessed big cats north of London in and around Hertfordshire and Essex – Matt encountered a black leopard on land where he is a deerstalker, while Andrew was awoken from his hammock in the night by his dog sensing a big cat, and Simon viewed a black panther when walking his dogs in Epping Forest. And Simon’s wife was a sceptic until they chanced upon something important when travelling in Scotland…
Words of the week: wicked problem
19 June 2021
British wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas explains his techniques for filming wild animals up close, including his specially designed Beetlecam, and he re-lives the process of photographing a male black leopard in Kenya with his custom-built camera traps.
We also talk about his recent black leopard book and the highlights amongst other wildlife he has captured on camera.
Words of the week: shadow spots
6 June 2021
Our guest Anne ran a stud farm on Anglesey where a black panther frequented her land for over a decade - she had detailed sightings of the cat stalking, experienced close encounters at night, and had armed vigilantes on her land in search of the animal.
Anne explains the main events and describes her mix of emotions when living alongside a North Wales panther.
We also consider an unusual type of wild prey that any big cats on Anglesey could be taking.
Words of the week: diet analysis
23 May 2021
In our extended 50th edition, Gareth Patterson from South Africa offers highlights from his experience living with lions, tracking elusive elephants in the Knysna forest, and experiencing local leopards.
Also, Gareth discusses how the Fynbos ecosystem of Knysna still keeps some deeper secrets.
Audio is a little soft at times so headphones recommended.
Website for our guest Gareth Patterson, containing links to his books and documentary clips on lions and elephants: www.garethpatterson.com
Word of the week: Otang
8 May 2021
Andy roams the creeks of mid Cornwall and fishes local lakes – in two of his three sightings he had close calls with a panther at night, and now he follows up reports of both black and brown big cats. Our second guest Mark was secretly hoping to snap a big cat on a trail camera in North Cornwall - we hear how he got on…
Big Cat Mystery outro music by special permission from Drive.
Word of the week: boilies
23 April 2021
Janet noticed the neon eyes and the shadow spots on a black leopard, highlighted in the sun, as it leapt away from her and her dogs in County Leitrim, while Donal watched a black panther lit in his headlights as he stopped in shock when driving in the Wicklow mountains.
Word of the week: drumlin
9 April 2021
We hear from Rod who saw a big cat in 1986 during his former police work in Kent, but it wasn’t until Clare Balding’s testimony on BBC’s Ramblings in 2021 that he felt vindicated – our second guest Laura in Kent had a black panther arrive next to her in the garden at night in March 2021. She’s been advised to call 999 if it comes again…
Words of the week: Iain Hunter tribute
25 March 2021
Mat hid in the toilets after seeing a panther on a dawn walk in a country park near Nottingham, while Tom saw what he believes was a puma seizing a fox at dusk in a country park at Leicester – Mat and Tom explain their close encounters and both describe the response of their accompanying dog.
Words of the week: Occam’s razor
11 March 2021
Matt Salusbury selects some highlights from Suffolk big cat reports, then John a landowner describes his three different sightings of a puma, a black panther, and two lynxes at play. We are then joined by Chris, who also saw the two lynxes after doubting John’s account.
Words of the week: Black Shuck
26 February 2021
Cameron Nicoll explains the ideas that shaped his film Rare Creatures, on the big cat sightings of the Kintyre peninsula, and local resident George describes his close encounter with a black panther, which his dog detected first and growled at. George views big cats as a new part of Kintyre’s identity – adding to its sense of wildness.
Watch the film here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5Hn-kOqU3o
Word of the week: mystery
12 February 2021
John takes us through several big cat sightings around Epping Forest, an ancient forest now busy with visitors on the north edge of Greater London, and we also hear from Mike who collided with a black panther driving on the A13 near the M25 in Essex.
Words of the week: wood pasture
29 January 2021
Laura describes her three black panther encounters in north Hertfordshire, each of which seemed a different cat, while Lian our second guest runs the County’s big cats Facebook group, with ongoing reports of panthers, pumas and lynx.
Word of the week: exotic
15 January 2021
Ann, her son and their dogs disturbed a stalking panther on their evening walk in November 2020 – it was poised for attack as they watched events unfold…
Rick and Ann discuss several other reported big cat encounters across Gloucestershire in recent years.
1 January 2021
Word of the week: safari
One night in the Derbyshire Peak District, Billy our guest had some unexpected company as he did his rail-line inspection.
Billy also explains why big cats might find railway lines convenient for food supply and for travel routes.
Word of the week:ABCs
19 December 2020
Annie re-lives several close encounters with a panther in Somerset in a nearby quarry in 1993 – a reminder that big cats were experienced many years past, and close to where similar reports happen now.
Annie now lives in southern Ireland and briefly considers big cat reports across the republic and Northern Ireland.
Word of the week:chatoyant
5 December 2020
Tim was amazed to see a black panther in fields neighbouring his house in Berkshire in 2020 – he’d previously seen one on Salisbury Plain in 2004, while our second guest Maria watched a tan coloured puma carrying a rabbit in its mouth in Gloucestershire, then sensed it lurking in the dark and spooking her dogs, in July 2020.
Both guests explain setting up trail cameras in the hope of filming the cats they encountered.
Words of the week: green bridges
21 November 2020
David Hetherington, author of The Lynx and Us, re-lives the moment he was watched by a lynx in Switzerland and explains how the vivid wildlife and lynx photographs for his book were captured by Laurent Geslin. He considers when the lynx died out in the past in Britain and discusses how lynx reintroduction projects have been carried out in parts of Europe.
7 November 2020
Word of the week: lucerve
Maria in Cornwall saw a lynx leap away in her woodland, while Rob in Gloucestershire drove past a lynx walking along a roadside ditch - both our guests explain how these encounters changed their view of the British countryside.
30 October 2020
Word of the week: stochastic
Matt Jones explains the challenge of filming large cats in Devon and Cornwall with trail cameras – one of his photos is discussed in the coming documentary Britain’s Big Cat Mystery, and we also hear of his sighting of a panther-like cat in October 2020.
17 October 2020
Word of the week: pardus
We hear from Amy-Louise who did an emergency stop to avoid hitting a large unusual puma when driving in Hampshire, and then from Joel who was shocked to see a tall black cat in reed beds near Hastings – Joel contrasts his sighting with a wild puma he witnessed in Texas.
Words of the week: landscape connectivity
2 October 2020
Our first guest Paul watched a black panther in Essex for 15 minutes in August, struggling to take photos at dusk – we then visit Exmoor Zoo’s black leopards, and hear why local police sometimes ask if they’ve escaped.
Words of the week: chuffing and prusten
18 September 2020
In our first half David Anthony Starkey explains how glimpsing a big cat in south Wales led to his new novel about British black panthers – in the second half we feature Red in Tooth and Claw, a play about big cats in Britain by Simon Bovey, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
Words of the week: art represents reality
2 September 2020
We speak to Lord Tyler who called for the 1995 government study on potential big cats in the Bodmin area, and to Eric Ley about sheep predation on his Exmoor farm in 1983 and the community’s response, which started the Exmoor Beast legend.
Word of the week: cat nip
20 August 2020
Our guest Josh disturbed a large feline shape in the dark on a break in Anglesey – it made angry calls and stalked him as he returned home with his dog. He later observed the speed and power of the animal…
Word of the week: Tapetum lucidum
6 August 2020
Our first guest John witnessed a “freckled” black panther in north Devon in June 2020, suggesting inbreeding in the cat, while our second guest Dan was confronted by a panther on Dartmoor whilst on his Navy night-watch training.
Dan and Rick also discuss folklore associated with Britain’s big cat sightings.
Words of the week: vitiligo and tulpa
24 July 2020
Our first guest Richard once shot a medium-large sized cat in southern England but wants to film a big cat now, while our second guest Andrew and his dogs were followed by a panther by the river Severn in May 2020 – local investigator Paul Ramsden discusses this case on location with Andrew.
Word of the week: stalking
9 July 2020
Béa our guest from Dorset was shocked by a large cat high in a tree – she rushed for a camera as it leapt from branch to branch, and we also hear from Scott Bainbridge about New Zealand big cat sightings.
Word of the Week:arboreal
27 June 2020
Angela describes her close encounters when dog-walking in Somerset big cat hot-spots over 30 years, and we also hear Clare Balding’s surprise sighting of a panther in Herefordshire in 2014, recorded on BBC Radio 4.
Word of the week: pareidolia
12 June 2020
Wendy explains her puma and jaguar encounters in Columbia and checking for puma tracks in Cornwall - she recounts her former zoo work and her experience on deeper connections with owls, bears and big cats.
We also hear from Gloucestershire’s Frank Tunbridge about recent local big cat reports and his thoughts on the influence of lockdown on wildlife and big cats.
Word of the week:cursorial
28 May 2020
We discuss big cats and horses with horse trainer Richard – he has seen a black panther in Warwickshire and a puma in California, while our second guest Rachel describes the impacts of a large cat attack on her horse in Herefordshire.
Word of the week: catamount
14 May 2020
With black panthers reported in many States of America, Michael Mayes, author of Shadow Cats considers the case for undetected black jaguars, black pumas and other candidates.
Michael also compares the stealth of large cats with another mystery animal reported deep in the wilds of America…
Word of the week: cryptid
30 April 2020
John our guest watched a mother and cub at close quarters in Shropshire, making him determined to photograph a big cat - he got his wish 5 years later in a Herefordshire wood.
Word of the week: melanism
18 April 2020
Rhoda and Jay discuss searching for wildlife, people and big cats, by using tracking skills and senses, and thermal drones.
Jay describes a black panther seen against the bright landscape of China clay in Cornwall, and Rhoda reflects on skills learnt from her time with Kalahari bushmen.
You can also watch the shorter version of this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=12&v=bxcSVqSI65Y&feature=emb_logo
Word of the week: ecotone
3 April 2020
Craig recounts his time as a countryside ranger at Forfar Loch in Angus when he twice encountered a jungle cat. Several visitors also glimpsed the cat(s) and were more fascinated than fearful.
Rick the podcast host compares his experience seeing and hearing a jungle cat in Gloucestershire.
Word of the week: meso predator
21 March 2020
We join Alyn and Neil as they stake out the Forest of Dean and find a large wild boar carcass, eaten-out and despatched by a wild predator. They explain a recent big cat sighting through their thermal camera, describe cub sightings (check photo on the BCC web site), and discuss how tracking gets you closer to nature.
Words of the week: diagonal walking
March 5 2020
From a Forest of Dean pub four guests discuss their big cat encounters.
We hear from local residents Meri and Walter, Tim from Gloucester and James from Shropshire. They compare their different panther sightings and consider whether we should be fearful of these alpha predators in our woods…
Word of the week: Topography
23 February 2020
John our first guest farms in Wiltshire where he lives alongside black panthers – they’ve been resting in his barn and strolling across pastures…
Neil our second guest farms in Cornwall amongst local reports of big cats. He describes two past attacks on his ewes which show the hallmarks of a large cat.
He now has trail cameras on his land and is alert to the prospect of a silent Bodmin Beast passing by.
7 February 2020
Words of the week: prey switching
Our guest Paul recounts his big cat encounters at Glenfinnan and then at Arthur’s Seat near the heart of Edinburgh, where the police also documented a big cat. Paul also re-lives his experience confronting a mountain lion in the Canadian Rockies.
Paul now investigates reports of big cats in the Scottish Borders and networks with local people to understand the nature of the cats.
Word of the week: naturalise
24 January 2020
Peter our guest explains the challenge of living with a freshly released black panther around his property in southern Spain. (An area which is not part of the Iberian lynx’s range).
As he realised a panther was making regular visits close to his home, Peter had to adapt to the animal itself, and the different views of his guests, local people, hunters and the police…
Words of the week:Xeric, Xerocole
13 January 2020
Cumbrian sculptor Shawn Williamson recounts his view of a panther spooking deer in the back lanes of the Lake District. He explains how panthers and big cats inspire some of his sculpture making.
Rick and Shawn also discuss people’s elemental connections with wildlife including big cats and even the Tasmanian wolf or Thylacine, which itself has a historical link with Cumbria, as Shawn explains.
Words of the week: General Impression of Size and Shape (GISS)
28 December 2019
Lincolnshire witnesses Wendy and Angela discuss the quandary of spreading the word about local big cats amongst sceptical neighbours.
Wendy was growled at by a puma when she disturbed it stalking feral cats. Her friend Angela is 12 miles away and has encountered black big cats, seeing a mother and young one night.
Word of the week: Feral
15 December 2019
Our guest Peter Taylor suggests that rewilding helps nature and the human soul. He meets Rick at Wild Place, a new outpost of Bristol Zoo. Here brown bears, wolves and lynx can be viewed in a British woodland setting.
Peter considers how Eurasian lynx could be re-introduced in Britain but only with support from local communities. Rick and Peter note that spontaneous rewilding has already happened in parts of Britain where large cats are a hidden part of the ecosystem.
Watch the video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qseZzVejfyM
Words of the week: Intra-guild predation
1 December 2019
We meet Gareth who lives in Gateshead district in north-east England. He describes how he had a surprise view of a puma stalking a deer on holiday in Florida a few years back. He then explains what happened early one morning in October 2019 when walking his dog in his local park, when he witnessed the same type of animal.
Gareth and Rick consider how a puma might pass through residential areas like Gateshead, and other north-east sightings are discussed. Gareth also wonders why, several years back, he and colleagues never found anything when rushing out of their office into adjacent woodland, to sounds which they thought were a woman in distress…
Word of the week: Introgression
13 November 2019
An in-depth discussion on the panthers and pumas reported across Australia with author and researcher Simon Townsend from Victoria.
Simon explains why he feels the Australian panthers match black leopards and are not outsize feral cats. Tawny coloured cats resembling pumas are also reported, which Simon includes in his accounts of witness reports. The discussion ranges over the origins of these cats, the likely prey carcasses which Simon examines, and attitudes of remote communities. Documentary makers are now on the case with Simon, revealing another side to the Australian Bush.
Words of the week: Macropod , Marsupial lion
31 October 2019
We discuss how big cats use heathland as their territory with Jonathan McGowan, and hear about two of his encounters in Dorset and the New Forest. He scouts out suspected prey remains of deer in these areas, looking for tell-tale tooth marks on the bones.
We then hear from Dr Andrew Hemmings in the lab at the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester. After receiving these skeletal remains from Jonathan and others, students gauge the tooth marks to identify those which match the scale and pattern of puma and leopard carnassial teeth. Andrew discusses how tooth-pit analysis can contribute to the evidence base for big cats in Britain.
Words of the week: Citizen science
16 October 2019
Matt Everett describes holding the gaze of a black leopard after he confronted the animal from his car on a sunken Somerset lane. The incident inspired him to create the forthcoming documentary Britain’s Big Cat Mystery. We hear some of the highlights and challenges from making the production.
Our second guest Paul explains his sighting of a black panther in deepest Dorset and the reaction of his dogs on rushing back to the scene. Paul explains how you become more immersed in nature when searching for signs of big cats.
Word of the week: Stealth
3 October 2019
An in-depth interview with Nigel Spencer reveals how he and his late father supported police follow-up work on big cat reports in Leicestershire & Rutland. Nigel recounts his own sighting of a puma in Essex and summarises key big cat incidents from Leicestershire including from farms, quarries, stables and gardens. Our second guest Emma from Leicestershire explains how she is now extra-cautious when walking in the countryside after retreating from the scene of a panther consuming a rabbit or hare in fields close to her house.
Words of the Week: The Recorder Effect
22 September 2019
If you thought Buckinghamshire and the Chilterns was a tame area of countryside close to London, maybe think again…
We hear from Darren who kept close watch of his dog when he realised a young puma was nearby in scrubby land by an airfield – he felt the mother could be close by. Darren is a councillor and discusses the pros and cons of acknowledging the presence of big cats. We then discuss the recent history of big cat sightings in the Chilterns with Paulo. He grew up in North London but was inspired to learn about Chilterns big cats by his teacher who claimed to have seen some. Paulo takes us through highlights of recent reports, discusses what we can learn from the leopards of Mumbai, and reveals how he accidently called up a leopard through the sound of his chainsaw.
Word of the week: Varmint
8 September 2019
Gloucestershire’s Frank Tunbridge recounts his own close-up encounter with a big cat in the Cotswolds – he watched it snatch some rabbit bait at dusk and it later crept behind and gave him a warning growl. Frank then discusses the stealth of cats like leopards and pumas and refers to the writings of Jim Corbett who tracked leopards and tigers in India last century.
We hear highlights from some of the witness reports Frank receives, and the questions these beg… Are the big cats here sometimes targeting domestic cats? And are some of the panthers seen in Britain assumed to be black leopards but possibly something else…?
Word of the week: Digitigrade
1 September 2019
Our two different guests explain the challenges of sheep farming when a big cat makes a visit. Gordon ran a small sheep enterprise when he was based in south Wales. A silent predator would sometimes take one of his ewes (also called yowes) or a tup (young male). Gordon explains how he made adjustments to life on the farm as he realised a large cat was making occasional visits. Our second guest Jean runs a croft in North Scotland. At certain times she and especially her neighbour lose yowes to a large predator on their crofting land – they feel they are experiencing a rogue big cat, and a black panther gets reported in the area...
Word(s) of the week: Obligate carnivore
1 September 2019
We hear from Coryn near Stroud in Gloucestershire who explains her several sightings of a black panther across the valley from her house. She managed to film some snippets of the cat and she explains how it was scaled. Find out what happened when she later saw the same or a different black panther much closer.
We also speak to Dave, 20 miles away, who was out lamping one night when he noticed an animal watching him from the other side of the field. As he moved closer and checked its eye shine he started to realise it wasn’t the fox he’d assumed…
Word of the week: Preternatural
August 2019
Most witnesses of big cats in Britain claim to see one cat. This would match the fact that most species of wild cat are mainly solitary in their lifestyles. In this episode each of our guests watched two cats together. We meet Di who watched a mother and cub black panther as she walked in her local Somerset countryside, and then we hear from John who came close to two adult pumas (also called cougars and mountain lions) as he cycled to work down a back lane early one morning in Gloucestershire.
Word of the week: Crepuscular (and Dimpsey)
August 2019
We hear snippets from big cat witnesses in and around Exmoor as we visit Exmoor Zoo and the North Devon Show. A zoo keeper explains her encounter with a wild puma, while a retired butcher describes his view of two panthers isolating their prey in a flock of sheep several years back in Exmoor. We speak to Endymion and pay tribute to the late Trevor Beer, the naturalist and writer who researched big cats in Devon, and we hear from Alex who had a brush with a panther on the high moors. The Exmoor Beast lives on…
Word(s) of the week: Confirmation bias
August 2019