South Devon Coast -2020
On the evening of the 30th of April 2020 I took my Yorkshire Terrier for a walk and decided to go into a coastal grass and woodland area at around 9:15pm so I could put the dog bag in a bin. As we approached the gate he started pulling on the lead. I knew immediately that he was onto something! As we went through the gate I could hear what he must have heard! What was it? It was. I believe, the growl of a puma, echoing from the wooded cliff nearby in the still night air! In all, I must have heard up to 30 'grunty ' snarls and the sound was crystal clear! My dog and I walked to the bin and stood for a while there ….. and then 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 the path in front of us about 70 feet away! My dog's view of it was obscured, so he did not react. At that point I decided to head quickly back to the gate to keep us both safe, as I did not have a torch or a strong stick with me!
We stood by that gate for a few minutes and all was quiet. After a short while we headed back through the gate and stood motionless for several minutes but whatever I had seen had gone, probably down a side path into the undergrowth to follow other scents!
What had I seen? I can only say that it DEFINITELY wasn't a deer, a fox or a badger. It was either a tan-coloured dog on the loose on its own (!) on that damp and misty night …. or it was the very puma that I had just heard! I think the latter is the more likely and I'm hoping to hear it again and get a better view of it and record it and capture it on my camera next time!
What had I seen? I can only say that it DEFINITELY wasn't a deer, a fox or a badger. It was either a tan-coloured dog on the loose on its own (!) on that damp and misty night …. or it was the very puma that I had just heard! I think the latter is the more likely and I'm hoping to hear it again and get a better view of it and record it and capture it on my camera next time!
I have been informed by a number of local people that dogs have gone missing whilst out for walks with their owners on this stretch of the coast path. One dog owner told me that both his small dogs had run into the woods and only one had come back and even though he searched for it for several days it was of no avail, sadly It's possible that these dogs could have been taken by a big cat. They can rush out of the undergrowth and take a dog of any size with ease and you wouldn't necessarily even hear it bark because of the speed and ferocity of the attack.
I chatted to two ladies on the grassy area near the gate, who were out exercising their dogs and who told me told me that they had seen a large black animal in the woods, which crept up behind them! When they turned around it bounded away up the hill through the trees! What was it? Possibly it was a black panther!
A local lady I met on the coast path whilst walking her dog as I was walking mine, told me that she had been shocked to see dead sheep on several occasions further up the coast path, which had clearly been savaged, with their throats and chests eaten out by an animal! I would always advise people to use a certain amount of caution whilst walking through the woods here, even if you only ever see a mouse or a shrew or no wild animal at all! Remember, these big cats are extremely good at hiding and you could even walk up and down the coast path regularly for years and not see one. The fact that YOU haven't seen a big cat is not proof that that are no big cats in the vicinity!
It's interesting to note that it has been admitted by the perpetrators that pumas were let go in the nearby Dartmoor National Park a few years ago. Big cats can easily cover miles in a single night. Both pumas and black panthers have been seen in the wild across Devon, so keep your eyes open and your wits about you and you might just see a big cat in Devon yourself!
I chatted to two ladies on the grassy area near the gate, who were out exercising their dogs and who told me told me that they had seen a large black animal in the woods, which crept up behind them! When they turned around it bounded away up the hill through the trees! What was it? Possibly it was a black panther!
A local lady I met on the coast path whilst walking her dog as I was walking mine, told me that she had been shocked to see dead sheep on several occasions further up the coast path, which had clearly been savaged, with their throats and chests eaten out by an animal! I would always advise people to use a certain amount of caution whilst walking through the woods here, even if you only ever see a mouse or a shrew or no wild animal at all! Remember, these big cats are extremely good at hiding and you could even walk up and down the coast path regularly for years and not see one. The fact that YOU haven't seen a big cat is not proof that that are no big cats in the vicinity!
It's interesting to note that it has been admitted by the perpetrators that pumas were let go in the nearby Dartmoor National Park a few years ago. Big cats can easily cover miles in a single night. Both pumas and black panthers have been seen in the wild across Devon, so keep your eyes open and your wits about you and you might just see a big cat in Devon yourself!
