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

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

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