Big Cat Sighting in Europe

45 year old Andrew Cleary was casually jogging on Thames street in South Oxfordshire when he saw something big and black cross his path, as reported by the Henley Standard. “It was much too big to be a house cat. It was about the size of a Labrador but it didn’t move anything like a dog. It moved like a cat and I could see its long tail as it disappeared into the bushes,” Cleary said. Although Mr. Cleary says he makes has no thoughts one way or another if all the big cat rumors around the area are true (which is now at 14 over the past 12 years), he firmly holds his stance on his personal sighting.

I don’t doubt this man’s sighting; however, I may doubt the size of the cat he claims to have seen. I think it is possible that in the excitement of seeing this it is likely his perception on the size may have distorted. It is possible for domestic cats to get quit large in the wild, plus there are cats that are fairly large in size to begin with, such as the Maine Coon cat, which are actually described as nearly dog-sized.

There are also hybrid cats, which can grow quite large. The Savannah Cat is created by breeding a African Wild Cat, called a Serval, and a domestic cat, usually an exotic looking domestic cat such as a Bengal, Oriental Shorthair, Egyptian Mau, or a Serengeti’s. There are claims these cats can get up to 40-55 pounds. That’s a big cat.

References:
http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/news.php?id=791506