big cat

[ewt]

Today between Grange Park and Winchmore Hill I looked out the window into the trees and saw a really big black cat. Really. Big. As big as a golden retriever, I'd say.

Any ideas what it might have been? I'm sure it wasn't a dog, the shape was all wrong.

Comments

[arkady.livejournal.com]

Perceived size is deceptive in that sort of situation. It was probably just a very big black moggy. If you'd seen it on the ground it wouldn't have looked half as big.

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

It was on the ground among the trees, not up a tree.

[arkady.livejournal.com]

I haven't heard of any ABC (Alien Big Cat) sightings in that area; my past experience from investigating them (I used to be involved with several paranormal and cryptozoology groups back in Hertfordshire) has taught me that 99.9% of ABC sightings are just mistaken big domestic moggies.

The other 0.1% are the ones that get interesting, but I suspect yours is just a big moggy, I'm afraid. That particular area near Winchmore Hill is pretty well populatedand if there were a supposed ABC on the prowl it would have hit the news before now.

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

*nod*

Sorry, wasn't contesting that it could have just been a big black moggie; just pointing out that it wasn't up a tree.

:)

[arkady.livejournal.com]

Fair enough.

I kind of wish there had been sightings recently; ABCs (and cryptozoology in general) are one of my favourite areas of interest, and it would have been fun investigating - I lived in Winchmore Hill for about 2 years, so I know the area pretty well.

Ah well.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

This (http://www.guzer.com/pictures/largest_cat.php) big?

(And of course you should trust everything you see on the Net of a Thousand Lies...)

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

I would've said a little bigger than that, and not so fluffy. Hard to say from a distance though.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

My remaining cat is not far off that; sometimes they grow to enormous sizes. And he flollops when he walks, so that he looks even bigger.

[pfy.livejournal.com]

Is he a Maine Coon? I know they grow huge, and the long fur makes them look even bigger.

They're still not as big as Golden Retrievers, but if I caught a quick glimpse of a big one, from a moving train, without a reference dog to compare it to, I could easily think it was that large.

(It's also a breed known for its intelligence and manual dexterity. I sometimes wonder if the feline race is waiting for its messiah, the one who will teach them the Way of the Can-Opener)

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

I have been thinking he might be partially Maine Coon. He is very fluffy, and usually goes entirely limp when you pick him up, except if you try and disentangle his fur and then he rips your arm off. Intelligence...possibly. He may be very clever, but most of his time at home is spent sleeping. I'm not sure if he is particularly dexterous - he used to try and turn the dial that sets the setting on the cat flap from out only to out and in, but got it stuck on nobody goes anywhere instead, and sat outside my window howling instead. Now my mother lives in a different house without a cat flap. He also used to go fishing in many ingenious ways, though the latest one is to attempt to drink all the water in the fish pond, leap into the bottom and eat the flailing fish, which fails only through his lack of patience with repeated drinking and peeing.

[vashti.livejournal.com]

Was it a savannah cat (http://www.amirisavannahs.com/savannahpictures3.html)?

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

Don't think so; looked a bit bigger, and was all black with no spots.

[vashti.livejournal.com]

Well, they can be all black, like this one (http://www.nitewindes.com/jafar.html).

I agree they're probably a bit on the small size, although F1 savannahs are supposed to be the same height as a medium-sized dog.

[crankles.livejournal.com]

I once saw a really big black housecat walking down a hiking trail, and for a moment, the skewed perspective of the trees around it made me think that it was a panther. I hear about British big cat sightings all the time, but I don't know if they are in your area.