Alien Big Cats just don't want to leave England! We can assume it's not for the food. A small strip of beach just north of Tredovoe on the southwestern tip of England served as the most recent sighting of an Alien Big Cat (ABC) on the British Isles. The large carnivorous cats, which are not native to the United Kingdom, have been spotted for centuries. In the 1770's, the first recorded sighting of a large cat was made by a boy named William Cobbett. Since then, rumors have persisted as far north as Thurso, Scotland, that wild cats were on the prowl on the small island.

Here Kitty Kitty: Cryptozoologist Rogers Searches London for her lost cat.

The Tredovoe sighting marks the first time that one of the cats has been sighted on a beach, and it raises some new questions as to their origin.

"There is overwhelming evidence that they exist, but this is the fist sighting round that part of the island," says Cryptozoologist Quenby Rogers (pictured, 35). "These animals aren't usually found on or near beaches, but I suppose one could find sustenance in the fish population down there..." Says Rogers, "Or I suppose one could just get lost. These cats, which we assume to be Pumas based on the descriptions, aren't the brightest creatures."

The "Creature of Penzance," as it's being called, was spotted by Edmond Riley, 58, a local fisherman on 12 April 1996. "My mate and I were setting out one morning, and I saw a strange movement about seven meters (21 feet) off, by the water's edge. It ran out of the water with something in its mouth, at least that's what it looked like. It saw us, crouched down on the beach for several seconds, then ran off in the other direction. I thought I must've been dreaming!" Rogers cites his description, claiming that it sounds like it had to be a puma. "It was about as big as a large hound, with a flat face and a straight tail, not bushy like a lion's." Says Riley.

The only corroborative evidence for Riley's claim can be found in the death of a domestic dog, "Wolfie," in the same community. "Whatever it was ripped my Wolfie to shreds," says Wolfie's owner Theo St. John. St. John, (54) a local school master, discovered that his dog had escaped his backyard two days before Riley's sighting. "We found him several streets over. He'd just been ripped, I don't know how else this could have happened." "Oddly, none of the strange animal howls often heard in areas where these cats are spotted were heard by anyone in the neighborhood," Says Rogers. "I just don't know what to make of it all."

A search for the cat commenced after the sighting. Feline-looking paw prints were found in the sand, and plaster casts were made. A small bushy area in the Tredovoe area was pressed down as if an animal had slept there, and some tan animal hairs were collected. An exhaustive search uncovered no further evidence that a Puma had taken up residence at the beach front city, and eventually the search was abandoned.

"We believe Edmond saw what he claims he saw," says town official James Wall, "We just had bigger fish to fry here at home. Besides Mr. St. John's pet, there seems to be little or no damage done, and whatever it is seems to have moved on from our little town."

The town may have given up the search, but thanks to the internet, the "Creature of Penzance" has joined the "Beast of Bodimin Moor," the "Surrey Puma," and the "Beast of Exmoor," in the annals of the British Big Cat. "Some people believe that in the eighteenth century a couple named Smythe released a couple of cubs they had been keeping as pets in the Northampton area of England, and all the cat sightings have been the progeny of those two," says Rogers. "I find that to be akin to the New York rumor of alligators or crocodiles in the sewer system." Still, dozens of private citizens on the ever-expanding internet have made pilgrimages to Tredovoe in hopes of finding one or more big cats.

"We have a small town here, with beautiful beaches and a thriving tourist trade. We don't want these pseudo-scientists frightening off our visitors. We would prefer it if people stopped coming here," says Wall.

sources

"Seafaring Cats," Esoterica magazine, June 1997, Volume 14 issue 140.