Black Cat Pictures from Baycliff, Cumbria, 2994

 Wednesday, 21 July, 2004 16:08

From:

"Jennie Dennett" <Jennie.Dennett@kendal.newsquest.co.uk

To:

earegister2003

"pix coming shortly! I've had to get our photographers to re-save them as the file sizes were too big for e-mail."

"Hi Terry
These are the pix taken by quarryman Mike Hodgson at Baycliff. They were taken in April but the guy has only just come forward with them. They're on film (we've got the negatives) and taken with a little instamatic.

"As you'll see the cat is quite far away but the ears are quite clear. I measured the rock the cat's sitting next to in pic 2 and it was 50cm high.

Look forward to hearing your expert view."
Jennie
01229-588989 (or Fridays 01539-710175)

Terry Hooper wrote:

"Dear Jennie,

I thought I'd best put this in writing so everything is made clear.

I have taken photo A [tree to left,cat in mid view in front of rocks]and enlarged and printed it to A4.

First point;is it the print or is there a fence beyond the rocks? It probably is my print but if there was a search for fur might be in order. moot pointprobably! If the rocks are the size you say then this is a largist cat -my tallest seated only comes to about 40cms. Are we sure the cat was just seated and not,erhum,"manuring" the area?

Photo B isn't that brilliant,though. 

Photo A, as I say, is the best. Obviously melanistic [black]. Any idea how tall the grass was at this spot as that would help size assessment? Ears seem to be wide set and low;I checked with head shots of [1]puma and [2] panther/leopard. The powerful shoulders of the leopard cannot be seen due to angle. The head-set is interesting, ditto shape. If -IF- this is not a hoax then I'd have to say it looked like a black leopard but as you'll understand there are a lot of "ifs" and "buts".

If the photographer can get snap shots of any future dead lambs in situ,in close up [showing wound] and roughly draw lamb shape and show where wounds are it would be helpful. My comment would be,officially: "This could very well be a photograph of a black leopard based on the information given.

It is a VERY tantalising set of photos." Unofficially,"Why can't these cats have lighter coats!" Definitely like to keep up-dated on this. If I can get a copy of the article eventually,great! Postal address [PLEASE don't give my phone number out as I'm inundated with writing this paper*] can be given. I'll let you know if I get any feedback -ANYTHING sounds really good you CAN pass on my number! (*the paper is titled:THE RED PAPER:THE EVIDENCE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF LARGE NON-NATIVE CATS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 2004. (Due for release circa OCTOBER, 2004 )

Thanks for the photos!"

Terry

Jenny Dennett:

Hi Terry
Here's the Gazette report.

This is the full version on the website - a shorter piece went in the paper on p1.
Best of luck with the paper, I look forward to reading it.
Any chance of an exclusive?!

Jennie

Article

IS THIS picture the long-awaited proof that big black cats are on the prowl in Cumbria?

Mike Hodgson took this snap at his Baycliff quarry near Ulverston when he suddenly encountered what he described as a spaniel-sized jet black cat walking through the grass 55 metres/60 yards away.

After numerous reported sightings of the non-native predators across Cumbria, Mr Hodgson is the first person to come forward with any photographic evidence.
“I was just locking up the quarry at about 5pm and I saw this thing looking at me,” he said. “So I got out the camera I have with me for taking pictures of stone and took it.
“It was bigger than a domestic cat… really quite a good looking cat with a long tail, well fed and looked happy. It wasn’t frightened of me.”

The 55-year-old quarryman then stowed away his snapshots which were taken in April for fear of ridicule. He only retrieved them this week after another, more lingering encounter, with the black cat last Thursday when it stayed in sight for a full five minutes.

Mr Hodgson is sure what he has on film is no domestic pussy.

“I know what I saw. If it was a normal cat I wouldn’t have bothered getting my camera out.”

The Westmorland Gazette’s photographic team was happy Mr Hodgson’s negatives were bonafide. But the question of whether the black shape in the picture is really a ‘big’ cat is harder to answer.

In the three pictures captured by Mr Hodgson, one features the feline sitting in front of a big rock 21m/23yds away from his lens. The rock - which reaches the cats’ head - is 50cm/20” tall but since it is impossible to tell exactly how far it is from the rock the measurement can only serve as a rough guide.

Bristol-based black cat specialist Terry Hooper, who compiles the official exotic animals register, said a big domestic cat in sitting position would be around 40cm tall. A male black leopard would measure around 50cm and beyond.

Mr Hooper also compared the photos to head shots of pumas and black leopards (which are different types of the same species as black panthers).

He concluded: "This could very well be a photograph of a black leopard based on the
information given. It is a very tantalising set of photos."

However Mr Hooper added that there were too many ifs and buts for the shots to offer conclusive proof.

The pictures have sparked fresh questions over the death of seven lambs near Baycliff at Sunbreak Farm, Bardsea in April. Each was found with teeth marks on its neck.
However farmer Richard Parker was still sure dogs were behind the attack while Mr Hooper said there was not enough evidence to determine if it could have been a black cat.

In the last four years, The Gazette has reported more than thirty sightings of the elusive creatures across South Lakeland, Furness and North Lancashire, with particular hot spots just south of Kendal and along the M6 between Shap and Kendal. Recently in Furness one was seen strolling across Walney Bridgeat night. Back in 1995 at Grizedale Forest two police officers parked-up for a mug of coffee even saw two juvenile big black cats at the same time.

The best proof of their existence so far comes from Gatebeck near Endmoor in October 2000 when a dentist took plaster casts of two massive paw prints found in her garden.

“Cumbriais the perfect environment for these cats,” said Mr Hooper. “They have deer and rabbits…I think there are five of them in and around Cumbria.”

Certainly in Baycliff plenty of support could be found for Mr Hodgson’s confidence that he had captured on camera at least one of the creatures in their midst.

“I looks bigger than a normal cat,” concluded Helen Barlow of the Baycliff Farm Shop. “I have certainly never seen any exceptionally large domestic cats round here that it could be.”

Meanwhile her entrepreneurial husband Martin was already thinking ahead to the marketing opportunities offered by a ‘Beast of Baycliff’.

“These are big cat steaks,” he quipped proffering a tray of juicy rump steaks.

2022: I have a much better computer and editing stuff now to state that enlarged this looks like a black domestic feral? Could well be one of the "Hooper Cats" based on size but NOT leopard or puma

Note: as almost two decades have elapsed this report is deemed publishable