CALLS are being made for the police to take seriously reports of a big Black Cat roaming the hills above Loch Ness.

Residents believe the creature has already attacked animals and there are fears a person could be next.

Leading the campaign for action is senior Highland Councillor Margaret Davidson who believes recent incidents on the northern side of Loch Ness are credible.

The council’s unshakable housing and social work chairwoman first became aware of attacks on a dog and a lamb and has received photographs taken in the Bunloit area purporting to show large-sized paw prints.

“Then, I took it very seriously,” said Councillor Davidson, who runs Abriachan Nurseries by the side of Loch Ness.

“It seems to be a clear pattern is emerging. I have since heard tell of sighting on other hills on north Loch Ness and Glen Urquhart.”

The Aird and Loch Ness councillor continued: “I believe this is a public safety issue. The recent sightings are on a hill next to a chalet park and on the Great Glen Way.

“I believe the police need to take this similarly seriously and the animal or animals need to be captured.”

Katrina Wallace lives with husband, Jim, and their three young children at Bunloit.

The family say they are now afraid to go out at night after a series of incidents which have been reported to the police.

On one occasion, she claims her husband got a glimpse of a creature just outside the house.

“We have two black labradors and he thought it was one of those but then realised they were inside,” Mrs Wallace said. “He looked again and saw the animal’s tail.”

In February, one of the dogs had to be treated by the vet after being attacked one night in the garden. “The top part of its leg was grazed and the vet said it could only get an injury like that if it had been dragged.”

She also discovered a badly-mauled dead lamb which had a large puncture wound on the back of its neck while on another occasion she took photographs of large paw prints leading to the house from a nearby wooded area. “A friend of ours who does a lot of shooting and has tracked animals confirmed they are cat prints and a big one at that,” Mrs Wallace said.

She is now afraid a child could be attacked but feels some residents are reluctant to acknowledge the issue. “Nobody really wants to speak about it,” she said. “They don’t want to admit it is there.”

Northern Constabulary have told them nothing can be done without DNA evidence.

“Up until now not enough action has been taken,” said Mrs Wallace.

But a Northern Constabulary spokesman said the police do take such reports seriously. “Clearly there is a public safety issue and a welfare issue for the animal concerned,” he said.

“Where there is credible information that there may be a large animal in a specific area then we will work with our Scottish SPCA partners to try and recover it through the use of humane live traps.”

Is this the kind of creature thought to be in the hills above Loch Ness?

Was it really a leopard that was spotted?
Inverness Courier: Opinion (based on an earlier sighting elsewhere in the Highlands)

MYSTERIOUS animals strike a chord in our psyche and the Highlands has a rich tradition in such sightings. The newspapers last week featured the ‘beast of Embo’, sighted by sisters after 18 sheep had been killed.

It sent my mind whirring back to 1980 and the celebrated Cannich puma which generated the kind of tabloid frenzy nowadays generated by Jordan’s Hindenburg-like cleavage or Cheryl Cole’s latest lip gloss.

There had been mystery animal sightings in the North a long time previously. The Daily Express reported back in 1927 that in rural Inverness-shire sheep and goats had been attacked by an animal a shepherd described as “like a leopard but without spots”. A strange description unless it was the first case of a leopard actually changing his spots. Like the guy telling his mate: “I’ve just spotted a leopard” and his pal replying:”Don’t be daft, they’re born with spots”.

Anyway, The Express reported that traps were set and a creature was caught which was sent to London Zoo where it was identified as a lynx. Later it turned out London Zoo had no record of receiving any such animal. It was the biggest animal tall tale since there were three bears and one married a giraffe. The other two put him up to it.

In 1973 there was a “big cat” sighting in Strathnaver, Caithness, by a retired Glasgow police sergeant – and remember, those hardy guys in that era were not prone to dubious eyesight or wild flights of imagination unless giving evidence at a villain’s trial. The sergeant reckoned a puma with a rabbit in its mouth jumped in to the path of his car, almost colliding with it.

It was reported in 1977 that a man and his nephew at Farr, 10 miles from Inverness, “saw a lioness and two cubs” in a field and the next day a similar sighting was recorded at Culduthel. It definitely wasn’t a buffalo, which allows me to ask what did the buffalo say to his son when he was leaving?

“Bison”.

In July 1981 a workman coming off shift at the McDermott oil platform construction yard at Ardersier saw an animal “larger than an Alsatian, identical to a puma” come out of undergrowth and cross the road. On Christmas Eve the same year, again at the McDermott yard entrance, someone reported his headlights had caught a tan creature “larger and heavier built than a Labrador dog”. Yes, I know, some more sceptical readers might speculate whether these witnesses had, in fact, seen an Alsatian and a Labrador.

Then again, in July 1997 a man from Kirkintilloch who caused a three car pile-up on the A9 near Ralia, just south of Newtonmore, told police that he had seen a black and white creature “about the size of a Great Dane” jump out in front of his car, making him lose control. Some might suspect a shaggy dog story, but at Inverness Sheriff Court, Sheriff James Fraser found the charge of careless driving not proven.

Eleven years ago four golfers playing at Nairn Dunbar contacted police to say they had seen a large male lynx 30 yards from them as they stood on the seventh green. I know about birdies and eagles, but a lynx on the links?

All these pale into insignificance compared to the commotion at Cannich on 29th October, 1980. There had been cases of livestock harmed by a mystery cat in Glen Affric for a couple of years. Farmer Ted Noble, who died eight years later, erected a trap with a sprung door that was connected to a sheep’s head inside the cage and reported catching alive a fully grown female puma.

Cue a stampede up the glen of Her Majesty’s media as the event rapidly became UK-wide and international news. But there were different views. When the photograph of the puma’s face in a cage was published in two competing tabloids, one headline stated:”Grrr!”, but the rival headline was “Miaow”, claiming the animal was as tame as a tabby cat.

The Puma of the Glen was taken to a new home at Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig where the director Eddie Orbell stated that, in his view, the puma had never spent as long as 30 minutes in the wild. It refused to eat an unskinned rabbit and would only take prepared food. It was reported to be very overweight and tame.

This monstrously savage creature apparently enjoyed having its tummy tickled. And was named Felicity. Like mixing a hyena with gravy, it became a laughing stock.

Amidst widespread suspicion of a hoax, with one particular journalist the centre of suspicion, no proof of this was ever forthcoming. The huge publicity made Felicity a favourite with visitors to the park, where she remained until her death in January, 1985. Her body was stuffed and put on display at Inverness Museum.

What really happened in those eventful days in Cannich 31 years ago? And who do you believe? Some reckon Felicity arrived in the glen via Land Rover, others believe she was one of a family of pumas in the area. Karl Popper, the Austrian philosopher, said: “Ultimate truth is unattainable”. And maybe that’s true about how Felicity came to be in that hillside cage.

But the phenomena of mystery big cats continues, as the episode in Embo shows. It is suggested that new laws on the keeping of dangerous wild animals in the 1970s led to some owners turning their beasts out in to the wild. This could conceivably account for some sightings.

In recent years beavers have been reintroduced to Argyll and a Sutherland landowner wants to bring back wolves after a 400-year absence. The argument for wolves is that deer and rabbits cause great damage and nature, red in tooth and claw, taking its course might be beneficial. Those who keep sheep will be less relaxed.

But they say that on a cold night up Cannich way, particularly when strong drink is taken, you can hear on the soft breeze the haunting cry of a puma. Pining after its cousin, who has flitted to Embo.

More info on big cats in the Loch Ness area can be found here

Felicity - the Cannich Puma

Now this tells us a lot about how the attitude of people has changed over the years – for the better I think. More and more people these days are aware of the environment and how fragile the natural world can be. We could even attribute the lack of sightings of Nessie in recent years to this very reason – most sightings these days never get reported because most people prefer to leave her alone. 

Living at Loch Ness, we don't normally go out looking for Nessie and, even with camera in hand, prefer to film the wonderful (and popular) wildlife and fabulous scenery than train the camera on a local beastie. 9 out of 10 locals wouldnt expose Nessie even if she posed for them – they know it would only result in dozens of boats, scientists and camera crews trawling the loch just yearning to hold her up in the bright lights or get her in the lab or aquarium like an exhibit in the zoo!

We have red squirrels and deer in our garden – we walk around and carry on with our gardening and they go about their business and they know we are no threat to them. We stroll along the loch shore on quiet evenings and we just love being here – what we have seen in the loch I can't quite remember!! but it is always beautiful, rain or shine

This is a personal opinion – I don't want to draw attention to the Loch Ness Monster – she has been overdone in past years and I would prefer to just let her be content in her environment and not be alarmed in our presence – just like the deer and squirrels around us.

Visit Loch Ness it is beautiful, more so with a happy Nessie??

AN American writer hoping to publish a novel about the Loch Ness monster is donating his extensive collection and research on the subject to Inverness Library.

Nessie enthusiast James Jeffrey Paul has amassed a considerable amount of material in the last 40 years and has added to it in writing his book “Wonder of Ness”.

The 47-year-old is a freelance writer and lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, and his collection is now winging its way across the Atlantic to Inverness.

He was only seven years old when a family friend bought a book about Nessie which saw him captivated by the legend. “Over the years I’ve collected and studied just about every book on the subject ever written and just about every movie on the subject ever made,” he said.

Mr Paul decided to send his collection to the public library at Farraline Park as a late Christmas present because he wanted to give something back to the community which has provided Nessie with a “beautiful home” for so long.

All Mr Paul’s books, videos, DVDs and related materials have now been despatched from America and he is hopeful they will arrive in Inverness this week.

“The library had an adequate but by no means comprehensive selection of Nessie materials,” claimed Mr Paul, who first visited Loch Ness 10 years ago and has been back on another two occasions.

His information includes photographs, details about the loch’s underwater topography and sonar readings.

Loch Ness sparked a 40-year interest in American freelance writer. Alasdair Allen

Mr Paul hopes library users will learn more about Nessie and take pleasure out of his donation, which he admitted sending with a heavy heart.

The writer hopes to return to the area next year if his novel, which is set in the summer of 2007 and ends two years later, is published.

Inverness Library’s Gail Priddice said it was looking forward to discovering what was in the box of contents when they arrive.

Ms Priddice, a senior library assistant, said Mr Paul had been in contact several months ago with the offer and his collection was in the process of being transported by a courier company.

“We are expecting a big box of different things so it will be like a Christmas present,” she said. “We don’t know what to expect but it will be an addition to our collection.”

She said there was considerable interest in the library’s materials about the Loch Ness Monster from all around the world.

STV By Shiona McCallum
26 November 2010 10:57 GMT

The legend of Nessie has resurfaced with a new sighting and pictures of the Loch Ness monster.

Richard Preston, a landscape designer, has been the latest person to spot a mysterious shape that might be the Loch Ness monster and capture a series of images on camera.

While working on Aldourie Castle gardens on the banks of the Loch Ness, 27-year-old Mr Preston spotted a shape on the loch’s surface out of the corner of his eye.

He told STV News: “I was just walking through the castle gardens and I spotted something in the distance. When I looked closer I could clearly see the four hump-like features. I thought I’d take a picture of it, to see if there was anything in it, to see what others thought.

“I was surprised that it stayed there as long as it did. I took various shots of it before it suddenly disappeared. I literally just turned my back and it was gone.”

He showed one of his friends who was also convinced there was certainly some mystery in the pictures.

When asked whether or not he believed in the monster, Mr Preston said: “Well there’s definitely something in the myth.There were no ripples in the water, no boats, nothing around. I have no idea what it was, but it undoubtedly looks like Nessie.”

The latest sighting has brought hope to monster enthusiasts, as it had been a relatively quiet spell for spotting any activity in the Loch. Fears had been mounting that Nessie might be dead since reports of any sightings had been diminishing.

In July 1930, three people in a boat at the north end of the loch saw a 6m long hump-like shape travelling fast through the water. In April 1933, Aldie Mackay saw a violent disturbance in the water and a hump “like that of a whale” while driving along the north side of the loch.

Nessie? Taken from the banks of Loch Ness Pic: © Richard Preston

Original story here

I recall this man interviewing people at the Benleva Hotel, Drumnadrochit (where in reference to his small budget, the price of a pint & their malt of the month is surprisingly reasonable)  . I hope that his insurers aren’t reading as he’s let the cat (or the monster) out of the bag regarding the loss of his camera…. and we can only wonder what has become of Graham…

Cheers for the Giggle!

 That Guy: Nessie trip fails Loch, stock and whisky barrel
4:00AM Sunday Oct 11, 2009 – New Zealand Herald

As many of you are aware, I have been working on a groundbreaking TV show called Leigh Hart’s Mysterious Planet, in which I travel the world solving its greatest mysteries.

The programme is in post-production and is going very well. Bigfoot is already in the can, as is our in-depth investigation into the UFO crash at Roswell.

What follows are some excerpts from my director’s diary, taken while shooting the Loch Ness Monster episode in Scotland. They are brief notes but I think you can get an insight into what goes into a programme like this.

Day one: The Mysterious Planet team arrives at Loch Ness to begin investigation. Weather and conditions are perfect for “Nessie” hunting.

Day one (afternoon): “The Nessie Hunter” – our vessel for the investigation – has been double booked, meaning we are unable to get out on to the water until a primary school expedition from Inverness has finished using it. This won’t be until the following Thursday.

Day two: Another setback! An administrative error has meant that all our hi-tech sonar and underwater tracking equipment has accidentally been sent to the pyramids in Egypt; conversely all our sandrovers built specifically for the later Pyramids episode arrive on time at the shores of Loch Ness.

Day three: We meet Scottish cryptozoologist Graham Cosbee. He is to join the expedition as a consultant.

Days four to 11: Spent in local taverns interviewing witnesses. Some of this is productive but much of it isn’t and it could be argued that a couple of the crew went a little off the rails during this period.

We are forced to spend a good deal of the production budget on beer and Scots whisky to get people to talk to us. A cryptozoologist must have an open mind at all times, but it is very difficult to do this when you have a cracking hangover. We begin to see the first signs that everything is not well in Graham’s personal life. Graham is on the phone to his partner in Edinburgh, repeatedly trying to patch up his relationship. It is a well-known fact that cryptozoologists have a less than ideal track record on the marriage front, and Graham knew the risks when he got involved. Investigations that seldom ever get any results can take their toll on the cryptozoologist and those close to them. I try to reassure Graham that anything worthwhile is worth sticking with.

Day 12: Finally, we are able to get on to the Loch for the first time. George, our skipper, is very experienced and has seen the beast a number of times and he takes us to the hotspots.

That afternoon, another setback. One of our less experienced cameramen throws a $25,000 camera overboard, thinking that it is one of the waterproof models. It records for a few seconds but the footage is hardly worth the expense.

We spend the rest of the day coming up with a believable story to tell the insurance company.

Day 13: Graham’s relationship has taken a turn for the worse. His partner Jacinta is having a platonic relationship and, by the sounds, a very sexual one with an Edinburgh furniture upholsterer called Brian.

I waste a lot of valuable research time consoling Graham once he learns that Brian has moved into his house in Edinburgh. I convince him to stay with the team another couple of days.

Day 14: Nothing really happens.

Day 15: See above.

Day 16: Back out on the water at night, we dredge the water around the castle and snag something large! We eventually pull it aboard only to find it is a cable of some sort, so we cut it free, and by doing so accidentally cut off all the electricity to the south and west sides of the Loch.

Day 17: We interview legendary Loch Ness expert Adrian Shine. He adds a lot of much-needed credibility and factual information to the documentary.

Graham Cosbee, on the other hand, is unshaven and drinking heavily.

Day 22: After losing more hi-tech equipment overboard I catch the sonar team watching porn on the monitor designed to show images from the bottom of the Loch. It is a disappointing day all round.

Day 26: After a few more disaster-filled days I start to turn my focus to the Pyramids episode.

Day 27: Time to leave. While we are packing up the equipment and I am delivering my closing summary to camera, Graham Cosbee has a nervous breakdown and attacks me.

We escape in the Mysterious Planet rental car but not before Graham has thrown a tripod through the front windscreen.

We travel to Egypt.

Like the Loch Ness Monster – the NHS is something that you either believe in or don’t, but the world would be a poorer place if the idea of it did not exist.

Many have it that Patrick was born around 385 in Scotland, probably Kilpatrick. As a boy of fourteen or so, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. It is widely thought that Saint Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, drove the snakes out of Ireland into the sea. He can’t really take credit for that, as the Ice Age took care of snakes long before St. Patrick came along, but he can take credit for converting many Celtic pagans to Christianity during his life.

But he isnt alone! The patron saint of Scotland – Saint Andrew, was born in  Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee & Saint George, patron saint of England, was probably born in Palestine.

Which leaves us with St David – Patron saint of Wales who, for a change,  was actually born in Wales. Not very imaginative in the light of the other 3!

Finally – St Columba, who is said to have warded off the Loch Ness monster with the sign of the cross, was….wait for it…. Irish.

So all in all a fair trade!

A Scot gave the world one of the most widely celebrated Saint’s days in the world , and an Irishman helped launch the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster – one of the moth famous legends in the world!  Both synonymous with their adopted countries.

So regardless if you wear green or tartan, a shamrock or a thistle today in celebration of Saint Patrick day, have a good one!

Enjoy!

Click HERE

Lake‘s Nessie the shark

July 10, 2008 – 11:53AM (Sorry – I don’t have the original source)

It’s the talk of town, the Central Coast‘s own Loch Ness monster, but locals and experts are sceptical that a full-grown seven-metre great white shark could be lurking in Tuggerah Lake.

A commercial fisherman yesterday reported netting and releasing the monster while casting his fishing nets off Canton Beach, on Tuggerah Lake.

“He claimed that he actually caught the shark in his net and the shark came up and started thrashing about, and hit his boat,” said Chief Inspector Tim Winmill said.

A Tuggerah Lakes police spokesman today said there had been no further sightings of the shark.

“The Department of Primary Industries are running the operation, we’re not the shark liaison officers,” he said. The DPI has been contacted for comment.

But John West, Taronga Zoo’s shark expert, said: “I think it’s a hoax – great white’s don’t go into estuarine or lake systems. “In all my knowledge on shark biology and behaviour, that’s unlikely.

“It wouldn’t even fit in that lake, I don’t know how deep the entrance is but you’d need several metres for a shark that big to get into it.

“A large shark like that would stick out like dog’s b*lls.”

Soldiers Beach Surf Life Saving Club president Mick Crowe said the whopping carnivore was “the talk of the area”.

He was unsure if it had deterred holiday makers. “This time of year they don’t get too many people in the Lake anyway, other than a few diehards. It’s absolutely freezing cold and there’s a howling wind.”

He too was sceptical a great white could be in the lake.

“There’s no chance a shark that big could get into the entrance, you could just about walk across the entrance channel [because it's so shallow].”

Chief Inspector Tim Winmill said there had been reports of a baby great white shark in the lake a few years ago.

While stressing it was highly unlikely, Mr West said it was possible a baby great white may have snuck through the entrance to the lake.

“But if it got into there it would be trying to find its way out. They don’t tolerate the drops in salinity.

“It could probably survive for a period but how long I don’t know because they don’t go into those areas.”

Mr West said if there was a shark in the lake, it was more likely to be a bull shark.

“It’s part of a bull shark’s natural behaviour to move up into fresh water,” he said. “But they only grow up to three metres long.

“The fisherman saying it was seven metres could have been an exaggeration, but that’s a story he’ll have to explain.”

Could this be the Loch Ness Monster?

By Hannah Wood, Mirror.co.uk 2/07/2008

New video footage has emerged of a potential sighting of dinosaur-like creature the Loch Ness Monster.

David Garside and his dad Graham were on holiday in Scotland in April when they believe the creature of legend appeared to them.

During a tourist boat trip on the loch, they spotted something strange in the distance so zoomed in with their video camera to get a better look.

David, 31, said: “I couldn’t really see what it was but I thought it looked sort of like a crocodile’s back or something. I was videotaping the boat tour though so I used my zoom lens to get a closer look and luckily I caught it on camera.

See full article and video HERE