Stig Of The Dump!

Neil's latest post for the CFZ (Centre for Fortean Zoology) concerns possible connections between the classic children's book 'Stig of the Dump', and the area of Blue Bell Hill in Kent, and some of its resident creatures. Read more HERE

Some unusual birds in Sussex

As noted by THE FIELD magazine of 1855:

Over the years there have been many records of unusual birds seen over the county. Some more remarkable than others.







On 24th February 1855 it was recorded in The Field magazine of an unusual incident which took place in West Sussex.






‘The Eagle Shot – For some time past a very fine eagle has been seen hovering about the neighbourhood to Balcombe, attracting general notice, and affording to many a knight of the trigger the hope that he might be the lucky shot. The eagle was seen on two occasions to pounce down on a rabbit and the spot, being watched, Mr Baines, of Crabbet Park, offered pecuniary reward to a gamekeeper to dispatch him. Some fowls were staked down and the keeper lay up for the envied bird. On Monday his decoy birds had the effect of inducing a visit, when a shot from the keeper, passing through his body, brought “his Majesty” to a standstill, without much injuring his plumage. The eagle, which measures eight-feet from tip to tip of wing, has been forwarded to London to be preserved and will afterwards remain at the Three Bridges station for one week for inspection.’






The Field also reported on another eagle (10th Feb’ 1855), stating, ‘Alfriston – The weather here has been very cold and there have been several flights of wild fowl, including many geese, ducks et al, some of which have been shot. A very large eagle of fine species has been seen flying about in the Levels. Some expert knights of the trigger have given him chase, thinking it will be a prize should they capture him.’






The same magazine of August 18th 1855 reported on a ‘Singular Bird – A Mr Stephen Gates of Crawley, was walking in his garden when he espied a depredator among his cherries, and fetching his gun determined to stop his career. It proved to be a starling with beautiful glossy black head, crest, and wings, and back and belly of pale pink, or as some describe it, salmon colour. It will be stuffed, and is considered a very rare and remarkable specimen.’

Gravesend and Thanet water monsters...

A chap named Gravesender notes, in The Kentish Garner of October 31st 1981, ‘I send an extract from p.159 of Pocock’s History & Antiquities of Gravesend & Milton, relating to the capture of some extraordinary monsters off the Kentish coast:-




‘At Gravesend on the 7th October 1552 three great Fishes called Whirlepooles were taken and drawn up to Westminster Bridge.

In 1786 a Fish of the Grampus kind was brought here by a fishing vessel, who found it at sea, floating on the water almost dead, its mouth was full of thready bones – and the like before the oldest fisherman at this place (Gravesend) had never seen. But neither of the above Fishes were any comparison to one that was taken at St. Peter’s in the isle of Thanet on July 9th 1574, and which Mr Kilburne says, “shot himself on shore on a little sand called Fishness, where for want of water he died the next day; before which time his roaring was heard above a mile. His length was 22 yards, the nether jaw opening 12 feet; one of his eyes was more than a cart and six horses cold draw, a man stood upright in the place from whence his eye was taken, the thickness from his back to the top of his belly (which lay upward) was 14 feet; his tail of the same breadth; the distance between his eyes was 12 feet, three men stood upright in his mouth; some of the ribs were 16 feet long; his liver was two cart loads; and a man might creep into his nostrils.”



Pocock adds, “Whatever absurdities there are in this account, the Rev. Mr Lewis has transcribed it into his History of the Isle of Thanet. I therefore give it my readers, but without desiring to vouch for the truth of any of the extraordinary circumstances of this monster”

A Battle With A Sea Serpent In Kent And Sussex

Accounts of strange sea serpents around the Kent and Sussex coastlines are scarce, although in the CFZ Yearbook of 2010 I highlighted several cases. The following is an interesting report which suggests that a vessel once shot at and injured a sea monster.


From Bygone Kent magazine, Vol 6, No. 9, 1985, featured in an article named ‘Submarines, A Ghost And A Sea Monster’ by W.H. Lapthorne, ‘Each year during the silly season the media revel in fresh sightings of Nessie, the legendary Loch Ness Monster. Yet the sea monster encountered off the North Foreland in 1917 was far from legendary and more than just a product of a “wee dram”. In July 1917 the ‘Paramount’, an armed drifter from Ramsgate attached to the famed Dover Patrol, was cruising a mile from the Long Nose Spit, between the North Foreland and Margate. Suddenly the sharp eyes of the look-out sighted a large snake-like creature rearing out of the sea ahead of them “hard on the port bow”, a creature which the startled man later described as being “like some gigantic conger eel about fifty-feet in length, with a long scaly body, a large spiny dorsal fin and dark olive green in colour”. At the approach of the oncoming vessel the creature inquisitively raised its head, as the craft steamed past at a steady eight knots. At a distance of 300 yards the skipper gave the order to open fire on the curious but seemingly inoffensive beast. Six shells were fired, the last of which struck the creature in the dorsal fin. After thrashing violently on the surface for a few seconds it sank from sight in a welter of blood. Years later in 1957 a sequel to this narrative came some miles down Channel at Seaford in Sussex, when local fishermen reported having their nets ripped to pieces by a strange sea serpent some fifty-feet in length, with a long scaly body bearing traces of a deep seven-foot scar. The same thing happened again in 1968, when the incident was reported in a national daily and described as the Martello Monster, as it took place off Martello Tower No. 74 at Seaford, but this time the assailant remained unseen below the surface.’

A rain of fish...

From the Philosophical Transactions of 1698 comes this weird tale of the day it rained fish:

'A letter from Dr. Rob Conny, to the late Dr. Rob Plot, F.R.S. : On Wednesday before Easter, Anno 1666, a pasture field at Cranstead near Wrotham in Kent, about two acres, which is far from any part of the sea or branch of it, and a place where are no fish ponds, but a scarcity of water, was all overspread with little fishes, conceived to be rained down, there having been at that time a great tempest of thunder and rain; the fishes were about the length of a man's little finger, and judged by all that saw them to be young whitings, many of them were taken up and shewed to several persons; the field belonged to one Ware a Yeoman, who was at that Easter sessions one of the Grand Inquest, and carried some of them to the sessions at Maidstone in Kent, and he showed them, among others, to Mr Lake, a bencher of the Middle Temple, who had one of them and brought it to London, the truth of it was averr'd by many that law the fishes lye scattered all over that field, and none in other the fields thereto adjoining; The quantity of them was estimated to be about a Bushel, being all together.'

PARANORMAL KENT - OUT NOW!

Kent - The Garden Of England. Rich in history, steeped in folklore. Beautiful, tranquil...and running alive with ghosts, witches, monsters and ghouls! PARANORMAL KENT is a brand new book from monster-hunter Neil Arnold, who, after writing PARANORMAL LONDON, has now delved into obscure and sinister mysteries from the south-east of England.

PARANORMAL KENT is no ordinary book on the supernatural - although it contains some bone-chilling tales of ghosts, new light has been shed on some classic spook tales, including a solution put forward to explain the urban legend of the ghost of Blue Bell Hill, plus fresh stories from England's most haunted village - Pluckley, plus adventure's into Kent's oldest buildings such as Dover Castle and the castle, cathedral, shops and various pubs in historic Rochester.

The book also takes a look at the mystery of crop circles, the superstition of witches - burned on many a Kent heath - and even zombies, said to prowl the ancient woodlands and fog-bound marshes. And then there are the strange creatures cast from the Ark - a menagerie of monsters no zoo could accommodate, from serpents around the Kent coast, to hellhounds on the Pilgrims Way, mystery cats, hairy humanoids and weird, flying critters.

This ancient county finally gives up its paranormal secrets with bizarre tales of alien abduction, fairies and dragons. And not forgetting the occasional space-ape, stick man, flying jellyfish, spectral vehicle, ghostly horse, phantom ship and rampant gargoyle thrown in for good measure!

PARANORMAL KENT is available from Amazon and all good book stockists and published by The History Press.

The Mermaid of Kent and a few strange things in Kentish waters...

G. Howell’s A Kentish Notebook of 1891 records the following stories:



The Gravesend Mermaid


‘Real Wonders!’ At Gravesend – Exhibition August 1825 – ‘A Gravesender visited these wonders (in relation to beautiful dolphins, a learned pig etc) in company with his children and saw the Mermaid, which, he says, “was about 2-ft high”, and had one arm, the other having been cut off and sold. The woman who exhibited it, declared to me it was no imposition that it had been inspected, very minutely, in London, by professional gentlemen and that it was pronounced to be a Mermaid.


A Kentish Swordfish


November 10th 1888 – Capture of a swordfish at Sittingbourne – Long Reach, Milton Creek, caught by a bargeman , 5-ft, 2” from tip of tail to tip of sword. Possibly in pursuit of a whale seen at Gillingham – trying to find its way to the Mediterranean or the Atlantic.


A Sea Eel


1761 – A sea eel, 6-ft long, 20 inches round and weighing 30lb was lately taken in a shallow water, where it had been left by the tide at Whitstable…


A Conger Eel


October 1760 – A conger eel was lately taken in the River Medway near Romney Marsh, which measured 7-ft, 6 ½ inches, and in circumference 2-ft 9” and ¾ with a weight of 56 lbs.


Sperm Whale


February 1762 – Sperm whale 61-ft in length at Broadstairs.


December 1764 – A Spermaceti whale was thrown ashore on the flats at Seasalter, nr Whistable – 54 ft in length, 38-ft in girth at its broadest point.


Autumn 1854 – forty to fifty young whales at the Thames at Gravesend – proceeded until (?). One struck by steamer paddle. All travelled down river.

Of Kentish Marten-Cats

Whilst trawling through local archives I found the following text, from The Kentish Notebook, August 3rd 1889 in reference to the Marten Cat in Kent.







Marten-Cat (June 15th, 19th) – An interesting description of the marten-cat, by the Right Hon. Lord Clifton, appears in the Rochester Naturalist of January 1884, from which I extract the following remarks on the occurrence of this rare animal in Kent:


“With regard to Kent, it never occurred to me to ask about marten-cats, till the other day, when one of my father’s old keepers, G. Mannering, informed me they were not uncommon in the woods round Luddesdown, particularly Red Wood, in the early part of the century, but in the Cobham and Shorne Woods they were unknown. Edward Wells, who was keeper first to Captain Markett, and then to my great-grandfather and grandfather told Mannering that he had killed them, both on the Meopham Court Estate and in Red Wood. A stuffed marten-cat was preserved for some time at the Darnley Arms, Cobham. Mannering states that they were particularly fond of lying on the top of pollard beech-stubs, where was brushwood. I can well believe this, and should also think that they found harbour in ivy-covered trees, and in squirrels nests in the yew trees, which abound in Red Wood and neighbouring woods. Curiously enough, about ten or twelve years ago, a beast very like a marten-cat was twice seen in that district, once in Cobhambury Wood, and another time crossing a field towards that wood. All the men who saw it described it as something between a fox-cub, a ferret, and a small dog. No such description would apply to a badger or otter, letting alone the dryness of the locality for an otter. On the other hand, an escaped (foreign) genet, a large sort of weasel-like animal, was once caught in Chattenden, and another was reported to me from near Chatham. The pole-cat would be nearer the description, but I do not think that men accustomed to foxes would liken a pole-cat to a fox-cub. The pole-cat is also quite as extinct here as the marten-cat, unless it be true than an animal, seen last year at the lay-by (heaps of material excavated for the Higham and Strood tunnel) near the little Hermitage, was a pole-cat. Mannering, who was born in 1815, can just remember a pole-cat being caught alive at Brewer’s Wood Brickyard, close to the Cobham and Rochester Road. The pole-cat is a very marsh-loving animal, and it may be that it is still found in the reed beds of the Hundred of Hoo. Anyhow, Cobhambury Wood is a place far more likely to harbour a stray marten-cat than a stray pole-cat. The pole-cat delighted in old walls, stacks of faggots, ditches and banks, etc, etc. It is not so much a woodland animal.”






At the ‘Free Museum and Reading Room’, Gillingham, the Secretary meeting-place of the Gillingham Naturalists’ Club (Secretary Mr. S.J. West), there are two splendid stuffed specimens of the marten-cat.'






Article submitted by ‘Observer’

Neil Arnold's HAUNTED ROCHESTER GHOST WALK

From Sunday November 28th and every last Sunday of the month; 7:30pm - 8:30pm Neil Arnold will be conducting ghost walks through historic Rochester, in Kent.
For more information visit: HAUNTED ROCHESTER

Neil Arnold talks ghosts, ghouls and monsters

From the  KENT NEWS

Puma spotted at Tunbridge Wells

Read more HERE

Two Kent wallaby reports from October 2009

From Kentonline:

1) Wallaby seen crossing road at Pluckley

2) Family ghost-hunting at Pluckley photograph wallaby

Red-bellied lemur escapes from Sussex zoo

28th Sept' 2010:
A red-bellied lemur has evaded capture since escaping from an East Sussex zoo into nearby woodland.

Staff from Drusillas Park, in Alfriston, have joined police and fire crews in the search for the animal.
Zoo manager Sue Woodgate said the small primates were not aggressive animals and posed no danger to the public.
She said the lemur - called Kirioka - had been spotted several times in abandoned rooks' nests in the woods but attempts to recapture him had failed.
Kirioka was being introduced to the walk-through enclosure Lemurland on 22 September when he escaped.
Ms Woodgate said: "Unfortunately, in this instance, Kirioka had not completely adjusted to his surroundings.
"He is only a youngster and when another lemur approached him, Kirioka fled up the barrier fencing and pure momentum took him through the electric deterrent."
She asked members of the public who spot Kirioka not to approach him but to contact zoo staff.

Animal rights group PETA hit back after the death of 'Two-Tone'

From KENT ONLINE

Angler catches piranha in Folkestone pond!

June 2010

Angler pulls piranha from pond.
Press Assoc.
A feared piranha has been caught in a British pond, thousands of miles from its common habitat in South America. Angler Derek Plum, 46, caught the fish, regarded as the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world, at Radnor Park in Folkestone, Kent. The 1lb 4oz catch was identified as a red-bellied piranha, whose diet consists mainly of fish, insects and worms.Mr Plum told the Sun newspaper: "It took about 15 minutes to reel it in. When it emerged, it was thrashing around and was going crazy. The other fishermen were yelling 'You've caught a piranha'. I couldn't believe it." The Environment Agency said it was probably placed in the pond once it became too large for its tank after being kept as a domestic pet.Experts say that while piranhas would not survive in UK rivers, the introduction of non-native species poses a serious threat to native wildlife. Fish species commonly found in the pond include carp, tench and roach. Reaching up to 14 inches long, the piranha is mainly found in the Amazon River basin in South America and is infamous for its razor-sharp teeth and for hunting prey in packs. In shoals, the piranha ambushes its prey, stripping the flesh of large animals such as anaconda snakes or even jaguar within minutes.Paul Foot, chairman of the Folkestone and Shepway Angling Club, said someone was seen emptying a bin into the pond the week before the piranha was caught. He said: "It's 100% kosher because our secretary, who is a professional angler, saw it. Our pond gets dumped full of goldfish and the odd koi carp because people cannot afford to keep them. It's unusual that this fish survived because the weather has been so cold."Someone was seen during the week emptying a bin into the pond so it's possible that it had only been in there a few days. Unfortunately, our pond does get used as a dumping ground for people's unwanted pets."

Super gran fights off giant fox with a shovel!

From THIS IS KENT

Daily Mirror coverage of Two-Tone's death

Daily Mirror 17th August 2010

'Two Tone', Britain's biggest carp, is dead.

'Two Tone', the record British carp of Conningbrook lake, in Ashford has been found dead, possibly due to old age. More, from the BBC

Eagle owl on loose for eighteen months finally recaptured

From Kent Online

Crocodile's in the living room!

From Kent Online

The case of the 'sinister' skull!

Although the practice of ‘witchcraft’ has often been inaccurately portrayed in the media, some cases of alleged ‘black magic’ have hinted at dark dabbling. In many cases where diabolical summoning has reputedly taken place, animal skulls have been discovered, as if such forms have been used for sacrifice or eerie decoration. During the 1970s in my home town of Chatham (long before chavs were born!) in Kent, a stir was caused by a peculiarly morbid discovery in an old chimney at a house in Luton Road. The story made the local Evening Post who reported ‘Sinister skull is a mystery’ stating, ‘The sinister looking blackened skull, with two brass cups, came to light as Mr Cornacchia was fitting a new fire place at his home…it must have been in the chimney for at least twenty years.’
The biggest mystery however was not the fact that such an oddment had been found, but as to what animal it had belonged to. The skull (see image) was of some size. The newspaper stated, ‘There is difference of opinion about the mystery skull. Mr Cornacchia’s thirteen-year old son, Enzo, took it to school where a teacher identified it as belonging to a wild boar. But another expert at his sister’s school thought it was a tiger. And at Rochester Museum they say firmly: “It is a bear, you can tell by the teeth”.
So, dear readers, as this case is over thirty years old, and the photo rather hazy, I hope you can solve the mystery as to what exactly had a skull this size. The teeth do not appear to suggest a wild boar.
The newspaper concluded, ‘Animal skulls are popular accessories among witchcraft devotees. Rams are most widely used, but there would appear to be nothing in the rules against bear skulls. Mr Cornacchia has no immediate plans for the skull. At the moment he is keeping it in the garden.
“It is not very pretty” he said.’

PARANORMAL LONDON - OUT NOW!

Neil Arnold's new book, 'PARANORMAL LONDON' (published by The History Press) is OUT NOW.

Featuring a veritable feast of bizarre stories pertaining to high strangeness around the capital. From the Highgate 'vampire', to UFOs, from ghostly goings-on to big cats, and other mysterious animals. 'PARANORMAL LONDON' is a strange, often supernatural safari through the concrete jungle, stopping off to look at the London 'mermaid, Mr Davy's monster, phantom assailants - Spring-Heeled Jack, the London 'monster', the Hammermsith 'ghost' and the 'vampire' of the West End.

The book features a menagerie of ghostly birds, spectral cats, hellhounds and ethereal bears such as the horror of Hackney Marshes! Roll up, roll up for the magical mystery tour - with, the Surrey 'puma', the beast of Bexley, the Cricklewood lynx, and the Edgware tiger.

Exhibited also are the phantom ape of Hampstead, the Brentford griffin, dragons, monster rats and the flying jellyfish of Wimbledon!

And not forgetting tales of freak storms, insect swarms, fish from the sky, dancing coals, pennies from Heaven, fairies and monsters on the London Underground.

PARANORMAL LONDON...where the wild things are.

Available now from Amazon and all good bookshops, or directly from The History Press

Possible jackal sighting in Ashford

On Thursday 24th June at 3pm, a couple walking in a deer park not far from Ashford, observed what they believed was a jackal.

The animal was in view for several minutes as the couple, visiting Brabourne, were on a stroll looking for deer. The animal appeared around thirty metres away, stopped to glare at the witnesses and then walked away.

The animal was knee-height, had a mottled dark brown coat, large ears and a long tail with a white line running down to the white tip at the end.

The male witness stated, "It was no fox, at first I thought it was hyena-like in its coat colouration and I looked at pictures of a dhole, and although similar I believe it was a jackal. It matched all then pictures I saw on the internet."

The purple herons of Dungeness

Link HERE

Angling Times mention the 'beast' of Blue Bell Hill

Daily Mail talks 'big cats'....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1282333/Leopards-big-cats-ARE-loose-Britain--just-dont-tell-soul.html

Snapping Turtle found in Faversham

Story from KENT ONLINE

Bigfoot in Kent ?

Of course not, but it looks good...!

Photo by Neil Arnold

A Kentish monster ?

Not really. This interesting carcass, which incidentally, was stiff as a board and light as a feather was found in the Medway Towns. It's clearly a fox carcass, but interesting to note that maybe, just maybe...elsewhere on the planet this creature may be considered something more sinister. There have been several images across the internet over the years, of a similar creature which people like to call the 'goatsucker' or Chupacabra. A majority of these bodies turn out to be nothing more than the carcass of a coyote, dog, or in this case a fox.

In the UK there is much scepticism to the existence of so-called 'big cats', especially when no bodies of such animals seem to turn up. However, apart from kills on roads, fox, badger, and other native species remains, are difficult to find unless you know where to look, as in the case of this fox which was found under an old shed. The carcass appears rather ghastly but the creature was only around two-feet in length and had a few people fooled!

Strange Creature Found On Sussex beach ?

You decide, more HERE

A Hideous Sussex Monster

Sussex notes and queries; a quarterly journal of the Sussex Archaeological Society, Volume 14, page 43, 1958 records a strange creature recorded from possibly the seventeenth century ‘At Birdham, near Chichester in Sussex, about 23 years ago, there was a monster find upon the Common, having the form and figure of a man in the fore-part…’

But, as Alan W. Bates 2005 work Emblematic Monsters: Unnatural Conceptions and Deformed Births…’ adds, ‘…having two arms and two hands, and a human visage, with only one eye in the middle of his forehead; the hinder part was like a lamb. A young man in the neighbourhood was supposed to have generated the monster by bestial copulation and that the rather, because he was afterwards found in the like beastly act with a mare; upon discovery whereof, he fled out of the country. This young monster was nailed up in the church porch of the said parish, and exposed to public view a long time, as a monument of divine judgement’

If 'big cats' are myths....

After the statement from organisation NATURAL ENGLAND that all big cats are "a myth", it's interesting to note that in March 2010, Kent Big Cat Research received twenty-seven reports of large, exotic cats throughout the county. This suggests of course that either every witness is hallucinating, or NATURAL ENGLAND are completely wrong.

In March 2010 there were sightings from Blue Bell Hill, Lordswood, Densole, Lenham, Canterbury, and Ashford. These mainly concerned reports of black leopard, the most recent coming from a Jules C, who on March 25th at 8:00 am, whilst on a train from Ebbsfleet to Canterbury, stated that, "..on the other side of the tunnel between Boxley and Blue Bell Hill, near train track I saw a big, black cat from a short distance. It resembled a black leopard."


In early March a black leopard was observed by a male motorist, a Mr Wright and his girlfriend. At 6:00 am they travelled down North Dane Way in Lordswood in the Medway Towns and saw a big black cat bound towards the undergrowth. Mr Wright was convinced it was a black leopard as he'd seen a similar one in 2000 in Hempstead.



On march 12th a woman named Anne observed a black leopard in a field at Lenham, near Maidstone. It was 2:15 pm as she travelled on the M20 London bound and saw the cat which she described as being, "very long in the body".
On March 10th a lady named Eve saw a black leopard whilst travelling on a train between Canterbury and Selling.

Cats such as the leopard use railway lines not only for navigation but of a night they provide perfect food and there is a lot of shelter in these areas.
During the same month there were two sightings of a black leopard made by a Jason Roberts from Reinden Woods in Densole.

In 2010 Kent Big Cat Research has already received seventy-three reports of large cats. On 2nd January a member of an angling society from Marden was walking along a field at 4:15 pm when a big, black cat bounded across the field fifty yards away. The cat was around five-feet in length.The witness was quite shocked by the appearnce of the animal as he never previously believed such animals existed.

Five days later a Mr Head reported to police a big black cat which he observed whilst sitting on a train at Swanley station at 9:00 am. The witness noticed a creature on the embankment opposite the Kent bound platform. As people began to move along the platform the cat crouched low. It had piercing green eyes.

The following day on the 8th a black leopard was seen at Pheonix Place in Dartford and on the 15th January a Mr Jackson observed a massive black cat at Shottenden. The sighting took place at 2:15 pm as the animal walked into a field around fifteen yards away. On 31st January a black leopard was observed by a couple in Meopham who were sceptical to such sightings. It was 2:00 pm when they spotted a big black cat on a woodland path which sauntered off into the woods.

In February 2010 there were numerous sightings around Canterbury and Ashford. A black leopard ran out in front of a vehicle near Wye on the 20th at 6:00pm, there were also several sightings from Sevenoaks of a black leopard. In April there were sightings of lynx from Sussex and Romney Marsh, puma from Canterbury and Dover, and black leopard at Hawkinge, Gravesend, and near Bromley and Bexley.

Maybe NATURAL ENGLAND, if they admit to such animals roaming the wilds, would have to re-name themselves UNNATURAL ENGLAND! Sightings date back across Surrey, Kent, and Sussex to the 1500s. A majority of animals sighted in the countryside are not connected to zoo escapee's as the organisation stated. Hundreds of puma and leopards, mainly cubs, were released in the 1960s and '70s and what we are now seeing are their offspring. Also, previous centuries prove that animals escaped and were released from menageries. In 2007 Neil Arnold wrote a 400 page book, MYSTERY ANIMALS OF THE BRITISH ISLES: KENT, a result of his twenty years of research into such animals. Proof that such animals are reported quite regularly across the south-east.

How many strange, and rash statement's will these organisations issue over the next few years ? If some organisations refuse to believe in such animals, it may be wiser to not issue any statements whatsoever. With their type od scepticism is it any wonder that NATURAL ENGLAND and similar groups only receive a handful of reports each year. The vicious circle of repetition continues...

An old strange encounter in Sussex...or was it ?

Neil's latest blog at the Centre for Fortean Zoology

BIG CAT'S 'A MYTH' - so say NATURAL ENGLAND

So it's official - 'big cats' in the UK wilds are a myth, or so says NATURAL ENGLAND.
If such a statement is true, then why even release it ? Any organisation called NATURAL ENGLAND is certainly not going to admit that large, exotic cats such as puma an lynx inhabits the woods of Britain. Sadly, this ignorance could backfire if a child is attacked in the future by a large cat which may have been injured after someone has shot it.

Reports of large felids in the UK countryside date back centuries. Despite the ignorant scepticism, evidence is in abundance, from the hundreds of reports each year from eye-witnesses, to evidence such as paw-print casts, and kills on livestock.

There is no mystery as to why they are there, an explosion of animals came about after cubs and adult cats were released in the wilds during the 1960s and '70s, mainly after the introduction of the 1976 Dangerous Wild Animals Act. A majority of the animals seen in UK woodlands are NOT zoo escapees, which only occur on a rare occasion.

So-called authorities need to wake up and officially monitor such animals in the wilds. Although not a threat to humans, these are still wild animals, but they do elude humans with ease and mainly hunt at night. Prey in the UK is perfect for such animals but as long as organisations such as NATURAL ENGLAND continue to dismiss the evidence, it seems that such animals will forever be condemned to the murky world of UFOs and ghosts, when in reality there are viable populations of black leopard, puma, lynx and smaller cats in Britain.

Coming Soon..to a bookshop near you!

PARANORMAL LONDON...A NEW BOOK BY NEIL ARNOLD.

They say that in London you're never more than five-feet away from a rat. After reading PARANORMAL LONDON rats will be the last thing on your mind.

A surreal safari through the concrete jungle will introduce you to a menagerie of mystery as we meet hellhounds, the spectral ape of Hampstead, the Highgate 'vampire', ghostly bears, mystery 'big cats', ghostly birds, and more...

Roll up, roll up for the magical mystery tour...UFOs, phantom airships, spectral stone throwers, fish from the sky, flying jellyfish, phantom assailants...

PARANORMAL LONDON...WHERE THE WILD...AND THE WEIRD THINGS ARE.

Coming soon to a book store near you.

'Beast' of Blue Bell Hill seen again ?

In 2000 Neil Arnold twice observed a black leopard on the outskirts of Blue Bell Hill, and again in 2008. On 5th March 2010 at 6:30 am two witnesses travelling from Lordswood observed a large, black cat which bounded across the North Dane Way road from Lordswood, into undergrowth, heading towards Capstone Country Park. The male witness, who was driving, was certain the animal was a black leopard as he'd seen a similar animal in 2000.

The Surrey Puma...

The Surrey puma has remained, alongside the 'beast of Exmoor', probably the most famous legendary 'mystery cat' said to roam the countryside. Over the years hundreds of reports, theories and investigations have been tied to the animal. Now, a website has been constructed to chronicle all the sightings of the past and present, separating fact from fiction. Surrey Big Cat Research is the work of Neil Arnold, who, with twenty years experience, is a full-time researcher and author pertaining to sightings of large, exotic cats across the south-east. The website will not only feature press reports, but also many of Neil's files which he has accumulated over the years.

Stay tuned...

Sussex Big Cats...

A new website devoted to reports of 'big cat' sightings across Sussex has been constructed. SUSSEX BIG CAT RESEARCH will be the most comprehensive website devoted to the subject. The site is a result of Neil Arnold's twenty years of research into the county, with hundreds of reports emerging from his database. From the modern day to several centuries previous, the website will allow readers, enthusiasts, and even sceptics, access to a majority of reports which have not only appeared in the local press, but which Neil has investigated over the years.

Stay tuned...

Bears, monkeys and wolves...

Neil's latest CFZ blog speaks of a monkey hunt in Brighton, and a wolf once on the loose in Kent. Read it HERE

The case of the Sussex Spring-Heeled Jack!

Find out more at the CFZ

Man keeps crocodile in his bungalow.

Read more HERE