PROOF OF THE WILD PANTHER?
16 March 2006
A Gruesome attack in which a pregnant sheep was stripped to the bone could be conclusive proof that a big cat is prowling the Tamworth area.
Helen Machin
News Reporter
The savage incident comes in the same week as the Herald was passed pictures showing huge claw marks on a horse whose owner is convinced was the work of a wild panther-like animal.
Experts from Twycross Zoo were investigating the latest incident as the Herald went to press.
Farmer Cathy Pegg (41) of Austrey, discovered the remains of one of her ewes at the weekend.
She said: "I couldn't believe it, the sheep had been stripped down to the carcass and there was just a flap of skin hanging over.
"A fox couldn't have done this - a fox would have torn it apart and not eaten it all. A fox doesn't have an appetite like that.
"Several other farmers have come to have a look and none of them have ever seen anything like it."
"A fox might take the odd lamb, but never a whole sheep.
"I did have a couple of incidents where a sheep was chased through several fields and I found one of those ripped open in a ditch too."
Meanwhile a woman who keeps horses in fields nearby in Warton, told the Herald she is convinced a big cat was responsible for TWO vicious attacks on her lame horse which left it with bite marks to its neck and deep claw marks needing stitches.
Sheila Cherrington said: "Mindy was first attacked at the end of November and we weren't quite sure what had happened. She was the only one in the field targeted. We kept her in for around three weeks and the very day she was let out again she was quite savagely attacked. The vet said the injuries were bite marks and she had claw marks on her chest.
"I truly believe that this was the work of a big cat. Every day after the first incident the other horses broke though the wire in their field, and then three weeks later, as soon as Mindy was back out, she was attacked again."
l There have been well over 30 reported sightings of a big cat in the Tamworth area over the last couple of years, leading many animal experts and farmers to believe that a wild animal is roaming free.
http://www.tamworthherald.co.uk/dis...sourceNode=201964&home=yes&contentPK=14186852
16 March 2006
A Gruesome attack in which a pregnant sheep was stripped to the bone could be conclusive proof that a big cat is prowling the Tamworth area.
Helen Machin
News Reporter
The savage incident comes in the same week as the Herald was passed pictures showing huge claw marks on a horse whose owner is convinced was the work of a wild panther-like animal.
Experts from Twycross Zoo were investigating the latest incident as the Herald went to press.
Farmer Cathy Pegg (41) of Austrey, discovered the remains of one of her ewes at the weekend.
She said: "I couldn't believe it, the sheep had been stripped down to the carcass and there was just a flap of skin hanging over.
"A fox couldn't have done this - a fox would have torn it apart and not eaten it all. A fox doesn't have an appetite like that.
"Several other farmers have come to have a look and none of them have ever seen anything like it."
"A fox might take the odd lamb, but never a whole sheep.
"I did have a couple of incidents where a sheep was chased through several fields and I found one of those ripped open in a ditch too."
Meanwhile a woman who keeps horses in fields nearby in Warton, told the Herald she is convinced a big cat was responsible for TWO vicious attacks on her lame horse which left it with bite marks to its neck and deep claw marks needing stitches.
Sheila Cherrington said: "Mindy was first attacked at the end of November and we weren't quite sure what had happened. She was the only one in the field targeted. We kept her in for around three weeks and the very day she was let out again she was quite savagely attacked. The vet said the injuries were bite marks and she had claw marks on her chest.
"I truly believe that this was the work of a big cat. Every day after the first incident the other horses broke though the wire in their field, and then three weeks later, as soon as Mindy was back out, she was attacked again."
l There have been well over 30 reported sightings of a big cat in the Tamworth area over the last couple of years, leading many animal experts and farmers to believe that a wild animal is roaming free.
http://www.tamworthherald.co.uk/dis...sourceNode=201964&home=yes&contentPK=14186852
