Big Cat Conversations

Jamie is a sheep and cattle farmer in Derbyshire. He’s experienced several big cat incidents, starting with seeing a black panther swat butterflies as a youngster while walking with his Grandmother. Jamie describes finding a cat’s lay-up spot with prey remains, being growled at, watching eyes like car headlights through night vision, and firing a warning shot beside a cat to make it retreat. Jamie is keen to learn more and content to live with big cats if they stick to natural prey. He describes two isolated cases of sheep and lamb kills, and considers what caused a big cat to prey-switch in those cases.   As the episode was being recorded, Don (our guest from ep 84) claimed to be watching a big cat elsewhere in Derbyshire on his thermal camera. See the footprint photo on our Refs & Links webpage, taken the next day at the spot where the animal was looking over a stone wall as Don observed it from distance. Words of the week:   Code Omerta 27 September 2026

Our First guest John Kirk is an experienced sheep and cattle farmer in the Cairngorms. His recent sighting of a black panther in the area prompted many more local reports on Facebook and to him direct. John also heard a description of a black panther fleeing the Cairngorms wildfires a week before this recording. John recounts his two other sightings of large cats in the area in the past. He explains his concerns on lynx reintroduction ideas, after attending a field trip on lynx issues in Switzerland.John also gives a farmer’s perspective on topical wildlife issues in his part of Scotland, from wildcats to sea eagles.Our second guest Megan has had two sightings of a large black panther in the south Wales valley where she lives. The first event was so close that it greatly influenced her, and she realises it was a leopard. Her interests have stirred the curiosity of her son Caleb and they often think about big cats on their walks in the area. Megan also explains how she judges the sheep carcasses she’s photographed that appear to be the result of big cat kills.   Word of the week:   hudoliaeth 26 August 2026

Our first guest Robin Baker describes three big black cat sightings from the Forest of Dean and two pieces of his resulting artwork which include black leopards. Robin also explains his ‘Big Five’ creatures of the Dean which feature in his artwork.Robin also explains the scowles of the Forest of Dean, a landform which inspired Tolkein’s Lord of the Ring’s Middle-earth landscape. The scowles are gullies in the woods, produced by ancient iron ore mining and now used as eerie backdrops to Star Wars and Harry Potter film scenes. These channels are also highly suited to big cats, for their routes and their ambush positions.Our second guest is Gary Ridley, back from episode 131. He fronted the recent Big Cat Investigator program in the BBC Our Lives series, available on I Player. Gary responds to podcast listeners’ different feedback on the program. The program had an emphasis of the quest rather than the proof, and Rick and Gary discuss a key item which didn’t make the final edit…   Word of the week:   scowles29 July 2026

Our first guest Ellie watched two pumas in Wiltshire in April this year. Still fresh from the excitement she describes the incident, and the new sense of wildness it brings to the British landscape for her. She also explains how this experience influences her work as an artist. She has recently seen a darker shaded puma in a sanctuary in Georgia, USA, that matches the colour tone of the Wiltshire ones.    Ellie has been invited to Wildside (ep 137 of our podcasts) to be an artist in residence, to illustrate pumas and other animals at the sanctuary. Some of Ellie’s working sketches and illustrations of the pumas are available to see on The Refs & Links page of the Big Cat Conversations website.Our second guest Sophie was staying at a property next to Wildside in Herefordshire last year. Her fish barbeque had already attracted two farm cats one evening, but then a much bigger one entered the grounds. The farm cats dived for cover, and Sophie discusses whether it was the barbecue smell that attracted the puma-like big cat, or the wailing sound coming from nearby at Wildside, that sounded like a puma on heat…  Words of the week:   rufous pelage 30 June 2026

We hear from several big cat witnesses at the Dean Heritage Centre, recorded at the Art & Science of British Big Cats event in April-May 2026. Key guests include Will, a 16-year-old investigator who has had three big cat encounters in the Forest of Dean area, and 10-year-old George, who travelled from Somerset with his mun Louise to take part. George looks for evidence in southwest England, and with his dad he recently observed a big cat skulk away at dusk as they were watching beavers.Artist Rob Amos describes chatting with visitors at the event while he produced his oil painting of a ‘Gloucestershire black leopard at dusk’ to engage people for the final three days. See photos on Big Cat Conversations website Refs & Links page, and a video with snippets from the event will soon be available via the Big Cat Conversations YouTube  channel. Words of the week:   weird is cool   31 May 2026

We hear from Paul, a retired woodsman from mid Suffolk. He has had three encounters with large cats, including one watching him through the bracken. He describes his own incidents and others he has heard.  Paul explains his tree management work across the local countryside and considers how big cats would use woods and features of the landscape.     Paul and Rick also discuss actions to get more evidence in Suffolk, including a ‘camera wall’ being set up across a nature reserve on a farm.Words of the week:   non-invasive study28 April 2026

Ian encountered two black leopards in a midlands wood at dusk, watching them rush through the dry reeds by a dyke.Ian discusses his close observation of the playful large cats, and mentions other snippets on similar big cats he has heard from the area. Our second guest Damian also keeps watch for big cat activity around Northamptonshire. He discusses a hoisted half-eaten roe deer carcass he found 8 foot up a tree. His interest in the topic began after driving around a road-kill black cat, the scale of a labrador. Then he started scanning the landscape for large cats during his drives in the following years.  One afternoon he got his reward…Word of the week:   unity31 March 2026

We return to Wildside Exotic Rescue in Herefordshire, where owner Lindsay Mckenna now cares for 11 pumas, a lynx, a serval and many other animals which were exotic captives needing new and better homes. Our 4 guests describe their own sightings of pumas wild in Britain, and compare them to the pumas at Wildside...   Jenny near Bath watched a puma exploring her garden at 6.30am in 2023 before it loped off into the adjacent wood. Tracey re-lives her close encounter with a grey-tone puma in Chile, and prompts discussion on pumas avoiding people even when close by. John Bilney explains how he sets up trail cams at woodland edges in the south Cotswolds, after he confronted two pumas on a cycle to work one morning.Jon from Carmarthen recounts the hissing puma in front of his car as it cornered a bend in south-west Wales, experienced just 5 days before the podcast recording.  The guests chat with Lindsay about the challenges of caring for pumas at Wildside, as we hear the puma sounds in the background as they feed on portions of locally culled fallow deer. Rick offered the pumas their first taste of boiled eggs…Website for Wildside Exotic Rescue, where we recorded this episode. Note the cottages for hire, the Open Days, and the Donations pages, as ways of supporting Wildside. https://www.wildsideexoticrescue.co.uk/ Words of the week:   coalition of cats 28 February 2026    

Our first guest Darren describes his investigations on local marshes in Cheshire, where he’s seen a black leopard, chased by his dog. This happened after his previous encounters with similar looking cats nearby, including on a disused golf course.  Some of Darren’s encounters have been close up, and most have involved dogs around as well. Darren explains how these events have motivated him to search for more evidence and do a Youtube channel.  For our second guest we have an update from Liz in Cumbria, where a mother and cub, presumed black leopards, have been visiting the area. Liz has six more big cat events to describe around her farmhouse from the past year. She discusses what appears to be a young male big black cat loitering around the property. It shows far less predictable behaviour than the mother’s calm vibes. Words of the week:   Panthera pardus Britannica5 February, 2026

Tracey had a prolonged and close view of a black panther outside her car at a forest edge in Gloucestershire in 2001. Two years later she was able to compare the cat with a black leopardess at Heythrop private zoo in the Cotswolds. Tracey recounts other big cat reports from family and friends, including from her sister who was a sceptic until seeing a black panther in the same general area, and from friends who were confronted by a puma on a cycleway near Stroud.Tracey has had two puma encounters herself. The first on a mountain path when trekking in Patagonia, and then in October 2025, when driving on the edge of Cirencester. Rick recalls past big cat sightings in precisely the same area of Cirencester, unknown to Tracey.  In a final segment we play voice messages from Craig in Herefordshire as he follows up ep129 when he reported a puma on one of his trail cams. In December Craig was charged by a puma just meters from that camera and he’s twice seen watching eye shine at close range. We then hear from Mark Graves, from ep 95, as he responds to Craig’s comments and queries about these recent events.  Word of the week:   zoophobia11 January 2026