What do cryptozoologists do? They are looking for and studying animals, the existence of which is not recognized by official science. In an overpopulated Europe, they seem to have nothing to explore. However, this is not quite the case, because something interesting for cryptozoologists can be found, for example, in England, in the county of Cornwall.
In 1995, something strange was happening in the marshes of Cornwall. Local farmers then missed 77 sheep and gobies. Judging by the paw prints on the ground, by the traces of claws and fangs on the bodies of killed animals, they became the prey of some huge predatory animals.
Hunters who went to the swamps to shoot game told that they met monstrous cats there. The animals did not attack them, but they behaved very bravely, so that some of them were photographed and even filmed. However, these photos and videos were not of good quality.
The collected materials were sent for examination to London, to the Ministry of Agriculture. However, despite numerous eyewitness accounts, photo and video documents confirming the authenticity of the facts, officials considered the existence of such animals unlikely. Two biologists who studied the sent materials were sent on a business trip to Bodmin, instructed, if possible, to track down the mysterious creatures. A couple of months later, the scientists provided their superiors with the results of their searches, namely videotape on which it was easy to recognize the harmless home purrs.
Bychkov, in their opinion, was pulled up and eaten by feral dogs. The ministry was quite satisfied with such conclusions of specialists and stopped searching for unknown monsters. But the people living next to the raised marshes of Cornwall continued to be afraid of predatory cats. The villagers still met monsters in the swamps, which, at the sight of people, silently removed in long leaps. At the sight of their round eyes burning in the dark, almost the size of a saucer, even the brave men felt frost on their skin.
In the scientific and pseudo-scientific environment, various assumptions began to appear. Someone spoke of mutations in common feral cats. In fact, the climate of Cornwall is favorable for the large size of living things. Suffice it to say that the Cornish people themselves, even by British standards, are considered to be tall people and with a powerful physique.
Animals also grow well there. In those places, rats the size of a cat are not uncommon, and this year in the town of Penryn they completely caught a rodent with a body half a human leg long and corresponding thickness. Even in the sea off the coast of the peninsula, giant sharks are often found. But to what extent domestic pussies had to be mutated to reach the size of a cougar or a leopard!
A very recent photo. Someone tore a fawn to pieces
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The curator of the London Zoo, Douglas Richardson, naturally suggested that the "monsters from the Cornish swamps" are most likely cougars or panthers. Richardson recalled that in 1976 the UK government issued a law according to which citizens who keep wild animals are required to register them and pay taxes for them.
Probably, the owners of wild animals, who did not want to pay for them, simply set their pets free. In the rather mild climate of England, some of the predatory overseas cats could survive and settle in the swamps of the County of Cornwall. However, even this assumption does not stand up to criticism on closer examination.
Saber-toothed tigers or ducal leopards?
Cornwall is located in the southwest of Great Britain. In terms of area, it ranks 9th among counties, and only 24th in terms of population. Thus, the population density here is low, and the vast territories occupied by swamps and wastelands allow the "evil spirits" to roam with might and main.
The first mentions of "cats from Cornwall" with all their terrifying paraphernalia, including half-meter fangs on the upper jaw date back to the Middle Ages. It was at this time that the poor kingdom was annexed to England. Cats, apparently, were there before. So it seems logical to assume that these monsters appeared there during the Ice Age and descend from the terrifying saber-toothed tigers and some black panther fossils.
In addition, there is a legend that as far back as the 12th century, the dukes of Cornwall kept black leopards. According to historical evidence, black ducal leopards left the castle for hunting and walking. Perhaps they could get used to the climate of Great Britain, multiply within the protected forest and then spread throughout the kingdom.
And in our time, the old people say that the bloodthirsty beast has lived on the peninsula since time immemorial and sent to the next world many great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers of the inhabitants of the surrounding villages. She appears in the forest only in leap years, and she is sure to kill someone. Those who have seen it from afar claim that the beast resembles a giant panther with huge, half a meter fangs, absolutely round eyes and spaniel ears.
A strange creature is capable of breaking the back of a cow or knocking down a pine tree with one paw. The mysterious cat especially loves to lie in wait for people at the fence of the abandoned Morwenstow castle. She feels herself the sovereign mistress here since she sent the former owners of the castle to the next world a couple of centuries ago. The heartless creature gnawed at the owner, drowned his wife in the pond, and threw the children out of the window. Since then, the castle has been uninhabited, and so far no one had a desire to acquire it.
Beyond folklore
Cornish cats were considered folklore characters until 1962. It was then that the first reports from farmers were received, which contained complaints about the killing of sheep by huge black cats. A spate of killings of sheep and other domestic animals lasted from 1962 to 1987. During this time, many descriptions of mysterious creatures and scraps of black wool were collected, allegedly belonging to them. There were raids, but the hunters were unable to kill a single cat.
Both the police and other representatives of the official authorities, as in the 1990s, blamed feral dogs for the murders of livestock, while reports of huge black cats were attributed to mass hysteria. It was during this period that the elusive predators began to be called "ghost cats" - as a sign that none of the many hunters was able to shoot any of the mysterious animals.
In 1987, the first cast of the footprint of the elusive beast was obtained. Specialists studying large species of cats, after examining the cast, came to the conclusion that the animal can be compared in size to a tiger, a large cougar or a leopard. In 2006, one of the security cameras near a car gas station finally received a high-quality image of a "ghost cat". The animal in the video is really impressive in size and resembles a large black leopard.
Not only cats
With the beginning of the XXI century, reports of mysterious monsters began to arrive from other counties of Great Britain. In Kent, an unknown beast got into the habit of roaming around residential villages at night and, driving frightened dogs into kennels, break into houses. Local residents began to reinforce doors and windows with dense shutters and metal bars. Increased precautions came in handy, and as a result of the raids of a forest neighbor, only one house was damaged, which was recently acquired by a city dweller as a summer residence.
The new owner of the house did not believe the local tales and as a result, one not the most beautiful night, he was awakened by a wild howl coming from the street. No sooner had the city dweller poked his head out from under the blanket, when glass rattled, and an animal muzzle was drawn in the window opening. The man instinctively dived under the blanket and, peeping through the crack, saw a real monster jump into the room.
It looked like a hellish cross between a wolf, a lion and a fur seal. Spanking with its paws like flippers, the monster snuffled and sniffed loudly, leaving long streaks of some kind of mucus on the floor. Having knocked over a couple of chairs, he disappeared into the next room, and in a second the whole house rumbled, rang and shuddered. The homeowner, bound by fear, could only pray to God that the uninvited guest would soon leave his home.
The next morning, the surviving poor fellow found that the maddened beast smashed all the furniture and trampled the expensive service into crumbs, smearing the walls and blinds with its slime. After assessing the damage, the victim quickly collected his things - and he was.
Judging by the testimony of eyewitnesses who had to deal with predators unknown to science, in Great Britain they were seen in the Lake District, and in the Grampian Mountains, and even in the waters of the English Channel. Outwardly, these monsters are completely different from each other, and they have only one common feature - they are all extremely ugly.
Some eyewitnesses claim that they saw a wolf with a lion's mane, others - a tiger with a dog's face, and still others - a hyena with leopard paws. Vile predators can not only roar, but also laugh, cry and even sing songs. One villager watched as the creepy monster that lifted a horse stood over its victim and howled what looked like a Christmas carol.
It is not known what is the reason for this delusional invasion, but now the work of British cryptozoologists has clearly increased.
Valdis PEYPINSH