Mysterious Big Cats Conference
There was a conference recently on the subject of the mysterious big cats that have been seen over the last few years around the country.
The conference took place at the village pub in the tiny village of Marston Trussell in Northamptonshire, just inside the border with Leicestershire.
Marston Trussell is on the River Welland, and is close to the delightful market town of Market Harborough.
One of the organisers was Robert Trubshawe, author, publisher and expert on folklore matters. There were a number of delegates from other parts of the country, including students of Fortean subjects.
Leicestershire and its neighbouring county of Rutland have had many sightings of these large animals, generally thought to be leopards.
When we lived at Purbrook, an exotic animal was killed in a traffic accident on Hayling Island. It turned out to be a swamp cat.
There is little doubt that some of these animals do live in England now. The consensus of opinion is that they are the descendants of exotic pets turned out by their owners when they grew too big for comfort.
Posted by colin on Sunday 7th May, 2006 at 7:36am