My Big Cat Sightings
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  • Intro
    • Latest News
  • Croydon Hill - 1985
    • Bishops Lydeard - 2008 >
      • North Petherton - 2012
      • 'Britain's Big Cat Mystery' Trailer
  • South Devon - 2020
    • South Devon - 2021
  • Puma in a Devon Wood - 2022
    • Black Leopard Sighting in South Devon - 2023
  • Leopard Sawing in a Devon Wood
    • Leopard Growling in a South Devon Wood
    • Puma In A Devon Wood - 2025
    • Two Pumas In a Devon Wood - 2025
  • Wildcats in England
  • Big Cat Scats
    • Big Cat Claw Marks
    • Big Cat Footprints >
      • Big Cat Scrapes
      • Big Cat Dens
      • Safe Feeding Areas
  • Big Cat Talks
    • The Puma Skull Mystery
  • Are You A Big Cat Sceptic?
    • Big Cat Conversations with Rick Minter
    • Angela Boyd's Big Cat Sightings
    • Newspaper Reports
  • Films and Photos
    • Big Cat Scouting >
      • Big Cat Scouting In A Somerset Forest
      • What About Photos and Films of Big Cats? >
        • Big Cat Tent Photo Gallery
  • Why are Big Cats Living in the Wild in Great Britain?
  • Big Cats and Public Safety
    • BBC News Report >
      • Claire Balding - Ramblings - Big Cats! >
        • Big Cat Books
  • Contact

Puma Sighting in South Devon

Picture
On the evening of the 30th of April 2020 I was walking with my dog up a road on the edge of woodland in South Devon. Suddenly my dog  started pulling on the lead as we got to a gate leading to the woods. I knew immediately that he was onto something, then I heard what he must have heard!  What was it?  It was the high-pitched scream of a puma, echoing from the  woods nearby in the still night air! In all, I must have heard up to 30 such noises and the sound was crystal clear!  After this, it fell silent. I walked with my dog through the gate and stood on the grass beyond and moments later I saw something! In the fading light I could see that it was a powerfully-built tan-coloured animal and it was heading with purpose down a track in front of us about 70 feet away! My dog's view of it was obscured by a mound, so he did not react.  At that point I decided to head quickly back to the gate with my dog, as I did not have a torch or a strong stick with me!

We stood there for a few minutes and all was quiet. After a short while we headed back and stood motionless for several more minutes but whatever I had seen had gone, probably down a side path into the undergrowth to follow other scents! What had I seen?  It was the very puma that we had just heard!  

Picture
Puma scat in a South Devon wood. Copyright Alex Bowler 2020
Picture
Puma scat in a South Devon wood. Copyright Alex Bowler 2020.
Two fresh puma scats I photographed very nearby in 2020. Big cat scats have a distinctive and rather subtle musk smell,  and  contain prey hairs , especially deer hairs and can also contain the cat's own grooming hairs. (I have many more similar photos.)
Picture
Photos from ahisgett Tambako the Jaguar