Several witnesses have this week reported sightings of a mysterious beast on Cannock Chase that appeared to be a large black cat.
Trainee teacher Matthew Horeton described how the beast ran out in front of his car as he drove past the German War Cemetery.
“I saw something large and black dart out in front of my car about 50 metres in the distance,” Matthew said.
“At first I thought it was a deer, but as I got closer to the place it had disappeared. I saw something moving in the undergrowth.
“It was smaller than a deer, but it had a large black tail and was sort of slinking through the bracken.
“There was no way it was an average cat - it was much too large.”
Another witness, wishing to remain anonymous, gave this account.
“As I was driving back to the town from Rugeley I definitely saw something moving from the fields into the woods,” the person said.
“I was a fair distance away as I came over the brow of the hill, but this thing was not a deer. It moved in a slow and unhurried way. It was very low to the ground.
“I drive through the Chase regularly and I have never, ever seen anything like that.”
The Chase has a long history of beast sightings, among other strange occurrences. Earlier this month The Morningstarr* reported on the strange disappearances of family pets on the Chase, and the theory of subterranean stone age men prowling the area. The latest reports seem much more likely than cavemen, wildlife experts now agree that wild big cats are simply a part of the UK countryside. Big cats have been released or escaped into the wild over a number of years, Neil Arnold from Kent Big Cat Research had this to say on the subject.
“It’s time the public, especially sceptics, realised that large exotic cats are nothing unusual in the UK countryside any more - and that the only mystery is that they’ve become a mystery,” he said.
“These animals haven’t recently been released, but a steady influx of animals from private collections and travelling menageries over time has resulted in today’s populations.”
