Black Beast of Boreham Mere
Hey, I was just wondering if at anyone here has happened to hear of the Black Beast of Boreham Mere, which would be from Essex I believe. I know virtually nothing about it – the extent of my kinowledge is a bit of a newspaper clipping I saw in a book once.
Hey, I was just wondering if at anyone here has happened to hear of the Black Beast of Boreham Mere, which would be from Essex I believe. I know virtually nothing about it – the extent of my kinowledge is a bit of a newspaper clipping I saw in a book once. I can’t recall the name of the book, but recall it was about vampires, so I don’t know if some vampire legend was mixed up with the creature or not. There was a photograph reproduced that showed what looked like a fairly large winged creature – the wings seemed to resemble those of a bat. No head was visible, so I’m fairly sure it wasn’t any sort of heron or crane (not sure what of those species are native to the UK), although I can’t rule out another type of waterfowl. The picture, I believe, was from the early 1970s – thinking ’71, ’72, or ’73. Also if I recall it was supposed to make loud cries. I’ve searched for years for any information, but could never find any… which kind of leads me to believe it turned out to be some known species.
Re: Black Beast of Boreham Mere
Hi Andrew, you’ve got me stumped with this one. I’ll keep looking though 🙂
Re: Black Beast of Boreham Mere
If it wasn’t a hoax it was most likely a Marsh Harrier (Circus aeroginosus), probably a female since they are larger and much darker than males as is usual with harriers. In the early ’70s it was pretty much extint in Britain so it was a very uncommon sight.
In Distortion We Trust
Re: Black Beast of Boreham Mere
I, along with many other anglers used to fish at “the Mere” – days, nights, weeks from June through to March. There are loads of tales of weird things going on there. It certainly was one of the darkest places I’ve known at night (especially round the top end), and definately had a very intense atmoshphere at times.
I’d be keen to hear if you find the original reference!
Re: Black Beast of Boreham Mere
Fears that black panthers are roaming the Scottish countryside following the release of the Helensburgh mobile phone footage have been firmly debunked by international experts. According to big cat conservationist Dr Luke Hunter, And the lack of evidence leads Dr Hunter to remain unconvinced about the existence of big cats in Scotland.
But experts have examined the shaky footage and say the animal’s characteristics are typical of a domestic cat.
Rob Weaver, a BBC wildlife presenter and film-maker, said it would be very unusual for a big cat to calmly walk around in a public place.
“The small, almost dainty steps the creature takes along the rail are not characteristic of a puma, or a similar big cat, which tend to have a far more loping gait,” he said.
The footage looks very much like a very well fed domestic cat to me. ‘Leopards (black panthers are melanistic leopards) do not carry their tails upright, which you see in the footage, while domestic cats characteristically do. He added ‘I’ve seen big cats –leopards, lions, cheetahs, jaguars, tigers and cougars – in the wild thousands of times and nothing about this footage has the appearance or look and feel of any of those species. No way is this a big cat.’
Graham Law, a zoologist at Glasgow University who has worked with leopards for 23 years, also said the animal was more likely to be of the domestic variety.He said: “The video isn’t of a good enough quality to verify exactly what the animal is. A leopard would not confidently walk down a railway line. It would more likely move along the sleepers or stay in heavily forested areas.
Application of Locard’s Exchange Principle as well as the Application of the Simons Test. Then we have Dr Luke Hunter of Panthera (well respected) & Dr Alan Rabinowitz, as well as Dr Graham Law as well as Prof McDonald, and so on who disagree completely and have shown this in the Black Beast of Exmoor Documentary. Until there is fact and proof then this myth will continue as a crank subject. Even Mark Fraser said it was a crank subject before he closed down BCIB.
After all these years of these mythical big cat sightings in the UK and still no fact and proof. Tunbridge the so-called big cat tracker from Stroud still can not show any of his big cats. Then we have McGowan and the rest of the fantastists who swear that these cats are here and breeding? Such fools try to use ego, hype, big words and "I am an expert" or "I know what I am talking about" rubbish. They say big cats are breeding in the UK; big cats are doing this and that in the UK. BS..
Despite the usual dross from others saying that big cats frequent railway lines, really? Since when do cats read train time tables…? Saying that zoo keepers and the lady in the monster quest documentary taking about what is and is not a big cat. She never "forced" her opinion on anyone. Unless these UK big cat crypto groups and groupies can come up with real hard science fact and truth, showing that such mythical cats do exist. breeding and wild, then sadly they have no reply. No big cats..
Scott Lope of Big Cat Rescue, who was used on the MonsterQuest: Black Beast of Exmoor TV episode 2008 said: "these are seen as minor scratches, not consistent with any width or claws of any big cat or wild cat. I would seriously doubt that this was caused by a big cat other than a domestic cat or by oneself." Then we have Dr Luke Hunter of Panthera (well respected) & Dr Alan Rabinowitz, as well as Dr Graham Law as well as Prof McDonald, and so on, who all disagree with this myth hype.
Cryptozoology concerns itself with unknown species for which there are "myths" and with supposedly-extinct species. Strictly-speaking, a species that is simply unknown is not cryptozoological. Cryptozoology" is that it is not a legitimate field of science. Any idiot can call himself a cryptozoologist as if it means something important and it does not. A zoologist is a legitimate title, as is geologist, biologist, etc. Cryptozoologist means nothing.
Dr Nick Royle, a senior lecturer in Behavioural Ecology at Exeter University, said people could overestimate the size of animals, which could explain sightings.
He said that research conducted at the university had shown that when viewing an object that was the size and shape of a large domestic cat at a distance of 230ft (70m) from them 21% of people estimated the ‘cat’ to be the size of a leopard or larger.
Dr Royle said: "The research showed that people can estimate regular shapes such as rectangles of different sizes correctly at distance, but have difficulty estimating the size of cat-shaped objects.
Application of Locard’s Exchange Principle as well as the Application of the Simons Test. Then we have Dr Luke Hunter of Panthera (well respected) & Dr Alan Rabinowitz, as well as Dr Graham Law as well as Prof McDonald, and so on who disagree completely and have shown this in the Black Beast of Exmoor Documentary. Until there is fact and proof then this myth will continue as a crank subject. Even Mark Fraser said it was a crank subject before he closed down BCIB.
Sorry, but no "big cats" wild, free or breeding within the UK.