M6 Puma (2021)
The following is extracted from a Gloucestershire Live article by Daisy Herman and Kim Horton, entitled ‘Big cat seen ‘waiting to pounce’ on side of motorway’ was published on 4 December 2021.
‘Out of place wildlife continues to be spotted in what should be the most unusual locations.
Earlier this year it was reported a wolf had been seen crossing a quiet M5 in the early hours of a wintry January morning.
However, on October 23, a man has claimed he saw a puma getting ready to pounce at 4pm on the M6 as he was coming to the Lymm junction.
Witness Phil said: ““I came off the junction at the M6 Lymm – I was heading North at the time.
“On my left-hand side, in a field, I saw a large black cat lay on its stomach, in the way cats do when they’re waiting to pounce on something.
“I suspect it was interested in the sheep.”
this is interesting and doesn’t surprise me at all.. A few years back, maybe 5 or 6 years ago, i went to have a look at one of my bottle digging sites situated in Portwood, Stockport.
It was just after a heavy rainfall and usually parts of the riverbank gets washed away and reveals fresh undug bottles without having to take a spade. the season was just coming into spring and the bushes start to get some thick growth that limits access on one of the paths leading to the riverbank..
As i walked towards the riverbank just behind a small factory unit, i decided to take the higher path as the lower path was looking far to wet and soggy for me in my trainers. But the higher path means forcing my way through the overgrowth. As i walked i had my head looking downwards being careful not to trip over the creeping thorny brambles that straddle the higher path from both sides, as i got nearer to where the trees growth blocks the path I prepared myself to go through. suddenly right in the middle of the path was a huge puddle and the ground was mushy soggy mud either side of the puddle.
I thought to myself Stockport must have got harder rainfall than we did in Manchester and wished i wore my boots now as there’s no way i can step either side of the path without sinking in the mud.
Then as i looked for a way to make delicate steps right at the edges of this soggy mud I noticed a paw print.. This was not the usual dog prints that i notice whenever its rained before, this looked like a cat print… The only problem is this, the cat print was huge and there was a few of them coming from out of the tree growth heading in the direction I’ve just come from. the paw prints very close together, and as i recall just like the footprints of wild cats of africa or the jungles of south america..
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and crouched down to place my hand above the paw prints.. As i placed my hand the prints were wider than my clenched fist, I opened my fist and placed my hand open with palms facing down and still the paw prints were wider that my open hand..
It was at this point I started to get sensations that right at that moment i was being watched. my heart racing. i thought i better forget going to the riverbank and get the heck out of there. As i Stepped away i thought maybe I’m wrong and its just a big dog, maybe someone walking a St Bernard or Great Dane, but they looked like cat paws, i headed home and went straight to my wildlife books. I opened the pages at the footprints of wildlife and there it was, a matching pad of a wild cat..
So whatever it was that had walked from the river bank was definitely a big wild cat of some sort. jaguar or just as this guy saw in Lymm. A Puma.
I’ve watched many documentaries about wild cats and the territory they would roam if in deepest jungles or the savannah of africa are huge, and the North West of England is a tiny area for them to roam. I’ve seen sheep in preston that definitely were not killed by dogs or humans, and the last sheep i saw stripped bare of all its meat was near Kinder Scout, the bone cleaned of its meat and clearly I could see the marks where teeth had been gnawing..
Without a doubt there is definitely huge wild cats roaming in the North West, but how many ? who knows … and this report above confirms that everything I’ve seen relates to a wild cat on the hunt in Stockport and surrounding areas..