Big Cat Conversations

Rick Minter

The People's Podcast on Big Cat encounters in Britain. In each episode Rick Minter discusses big cat sightings with different witnesses, finding out what they saw or sensed, how they felt, and how these cases fit a bigger picture.

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142 episodes
Updated Wednesday

Episodes142

Newest first

Sep 14, 2022 · 1 hr 10 min
BCC EP:82 A face-off at dusk – confronting a west country leopard
Clare met a black leopard watching her from a ditch in a Somerset lane back in 1993. Her family’s dogs and horses had been spooked at the time, sensing a possible predator nearby. In a wide-ranging discussion including the wonders of the Zanzibar leopard and the search for the supposedly lost Thylacine, Clare discusses her experience working with leopards, puma and lynx at a zoo, and lessons she learnt about the traits of these cats for their behaviour in the wild in Britain. Words of the week: electromagnetic shielding 14 September 2022
Aug 28, 2022 · 1 hr 6 min
BCC EP:81 Welsh big cat tour – north to south
Darren Millar the Welsh Parliament Member for Clwyd West believes the Welsh Government should be researching big cats – we hear from Darren at the Denbigh and Flint Show in August 2022. We then hear from Carla who witnessed a black cat as big as her labrador dog in mid Wales in early August – when she returned to the spot the next day she was hissed at and fled the scene. Finally we hear from Michelle – she drove past a big cat’s body over 20 years ago and had a black panther sighting near Carmarthen in south west Wales in 2007. Words of the week: Magnus cattus 29 August 2022
Aug 8, 2022 · 1 hr 5 min
BCC EP:80 Kent’s large carnivores – a sleepy village life
Charlie watched a lynx sunning itself at the edge of his village in Kent, then two years later he had a close encounter with a puma on the other side of the village. Charlie compares the wild Kent puma with one he witnessed in Alberta, Canada, and one he studied at a big cat sanctuary. Charlie also discusses how he is naturally fearful of panthers due to the black colour, but he explains why the most dangerous local animal he’s encountered is a deer. Word of the week: Klandagi 8 August 2022
Jul 19, 2022 · 1 hr 10 min
BCC EP:79 Secret South Wales panthers
Kayleigh our first guest was driving when she and her dog both reacted to a large black panther in front of the car near forestry land in south west Wales in March 2022. Kayleigh feels that large black cats are now quietly accepted as part of the South Wales environment in some remote areas. Our second guest Adam was walking in the Rhonda area in south Wales with a friend in winter 2022 – they noticed a large black panther run down a track and make two attempts at sheep as it got disturbed. Although his friends scoff at the report, Adam is keen to understand more about the hidden big cats of South Wales. Word of the week: phenomenon 19 July 2022
Jul 4, 2022 · 54 min
BCC EP:78 Big cats amongst the treasure
Chris is a metal detectorist in North Wiltshire – he has had 3 big cat encounters including a puma descending a tree and warning him. We hear from an experienced detectorists as he explains highlights of his recent finds, including close views of three different big cats, and deer carcasses which have been examined for tooth pits… Word of the week: Cat-tecting 4 July 2022
Jun 20, 2022 · 1 hr 8 min
BCC EP:77 Too close for comfort?
Our first guest Martin describes seeing a black panther move towards his son who was cycling in front of him and unaware of the animal. In terms of public awareness, Martin is concerned at the fear that any big cat information signs could create. Our second guest John had a lynx come close to him in a Surrey woodland – he explains how he remained calm and avoided a possible confrontation. Earlier this year, close to the first sighting location, he saw a smaller lynx which bounded off, keeping away. John compares the two cats’ different behaviours and in discussing his close encounter, he is keen to avoid any alarmism. Word of the week: resilience 20 June 2022
Jun 5, 2022 · 1 hr 7 min
BCC EP:76 Panthera Celtica, Cougar Caledonia
Carole from Aberdeenshire was feeding farm feral cats in the 1990s when a sleek black panther turned up. In the following weeks she had four sightings of two different large black cats in the area, and took a photo which resulted in a distant blob. She has received many reports of similar cats in the region and has investigated carcasses of their suspected prey. She has also seen “Kellas cats” and thinks these could represent a mutant felis cat which roams parts of Britain. Word of the week: ailurophilia 5 June 2022
May 22, 2022 · 1 hr 19 min
BCC EP:75 View from the train – the peripheral panther
Mark our first guest watched a large black cat on his train journey in Cheshire, while Billy, our second guest, got a good view of a black panther from the front of his freight train in Yorkshire – he found other drivers had also seen such animals. Our guests describe both the close-up and the changing views they got from a moving train. By coincidence, both guests are interested in the topic of sasquatch, so compare their experiences with the study of North America’s great mystery creature, and consider how big cats and sasquatch can challenge our comfort zone. Word of the week: General Impression of Size and Shape (GISS), (see also episode 14) 22 May 2022
May 1, 2022 · 1 hr 5 min
BCC EP:74 Wild Sussex – panthers, pumas and mutant cats?
Charlie Bones is a long-term investigator covering East and West Sussex – he guides us through big cat reports from this area of South East England, starting with his own encounter in 2000. Charlie explains how he thinks the cats use the Sussex landscape through the seasons, based on the trend of reports he receives and his knowledge of the area’s terrain. He also discusses the quirks of the large black cats reported, suggesting there is more than one type of extra-large black feline … Word of the week: the Weald 2 May 2022
Apr 17, 2022 · 1 hr 19 min
BCC EP:73 Dark secrets of the nature reserve
Jonathan is ex-special forces, retired from the police, and an expedition leader who has encountered large predators across different continents. In the first half of the episode he describes his experiences overseas in the wild and explains how to stay confident amongst large carnivores. In the second half he re-lives his confrontation with a black panther outside his house in south Derbyshire in 2013 – a big cat could have explained the strange behaviour of local wildlife and pets at the time, and the spooked reaction of dogs to an invisible presence on the nearby nature reserve. Word of the week: ADVOKATE 17 April 2022
Apr 3, 2022 · 1 hr 7 min
BCC EP:72 Exmoor Beast – the untold stories
Craig encountered a black panther on Exmoor just before the main 1980s reports had begun in the area. He saw it when lamping foxes and later disturbed it in a sheep field eating a predated ewe. 15 years later he and his wife saw a similar big cat in the same area. Craig briefs us on farmers’ reactions to a big cat on Exmoor in the 1980s, and he reflects on the current big cat situation, from what he’s seen and heard about from his Herefordshire base today. Word of the week: Shippon 3 April 2022
Mar 20, 2022 · 1 hr 13 min
BCC EP:71 Nature’s deer cull
Amanda watched a black panther rush into position, then pursue a deer in Somerset in December 2021. She describes filming the final moments of the chase, and explains how she and her partner checked for large cat tooth pits on the eaten-out deer carcass found a few days later. We also speak to Will who watched a big cat close up, stalking deer in Gloucestershire in 2002 – Rick describes other reports in the same location that Will was unaware of. Words of the week: landscape of fear 20 March 2022
Mar 7, 2022 · 1 hr 7 min
BCC EP:70 Leopard rosettes & human goosebumps
Leopard specialist Sanjay Gubbi describes his work tracking, monitoring and camera-trapping leopards in India, and helping people live alongside these stealthy predators. Sanjay gives us highlights from his new book, Leopard Diaries and re-lives the moment he was attacked by a fleeing leopard which got trapped at school buildings. Word of the week: dvipin 7 March 2022
Feb 18, 2022 · 54 min
BCC EP:69 Dartmoor military big cat watch, & France panthers
Our first guest Rich explains his thermal camera view of a big cat during his military training on Dartmoor. Our second guests Gareth and Ray discuss a black panther sighting during their family break in France. Ray has unrivalled experience of French and British big cats – he also describes his view of a black panther from his motorhome in County Durham. Word of the week: Fusca 18 February 2022
Feb 2, 2022 · 1 hr 8 min
BCC EP:68 The panther, the huskies and the wolf moon
Jane and Ade are based at a chicken farm in Nottinghamshire – a black panther arrived on the scene in December 2021, witnessed several times so far, patrolling local fields and lanes. We hear from Jane and Ade about their encounters, the reactions of their huskies, and how Ade’s thermal camera helps survey the local fields at dawn and dusk. He explains how he has twice filmed what he believes to be the cat. Word of the week: thermography 2 February 2022
Jan 17, 2022 · 1 hr 29 min
BCC EP:67 Scotland, Somerset & Norfolk – 2021 investigators’ roundup
In part one David McEwan briefs us on key sightings from south Scotland in 2021, in part two Frank Tunbridge offers highlights from the 2021 big cat reports he received. Both guests also reflect on Jim Corbett, the tracker, hunter and naturalist who wrote about man-eating tigers and leopards in north India in the middle of the 20th century, while Frank also discusses Kenneth Anderson’s experience of tigers and leopards in southern India in the same era. Word of the week: ghooming 17 January 2021
Jan 1, 2022 · 1 hr 15 min
BCC EP:66 The goblin universe of big cat sightings
Our guests Annie Brazier and Shelly Coles discuss recent big cat encounters in Norfolk and in Ireland, as well as a shot cat from 2019 in Herefordshire. Annie and Shelly are both centrally involved in big cat sightings Facebook groups – they discuss the influence of Facebook on big cat reporting and they consider how the topic of big cats can affect people’s mental health. All photos, illustrations and videos discussed in this edition are available on the Big Cat Conversations web site: https://bigcatconversations.com/refs-links/ Word of the week: ocelli 1 January 2022
Dec 11, 2021 · 54 min
BCC EP:65 Suffolk marshes – a wild goose-chase
Frazier watched a big black cat hunt for geese in marshland at the Suffolk coast in November 2021 – he describes the spectacle of the autumn arrival of geese on the marsh, complete with the lurking predator. Words of the week: macan kumbang 11 December 2021
Nov 27, 2021 · 1 hr 1 min
BCC EP:64 Panthère noir – the French big cat mystery
In the first of two episodes featuring big cat reports of France, Michael describes watching a black panther creeping through summer pasture at the edge of his village in the Pas de Calais in 2020. We discuss why France has panther and puma reports and whether such cats could be breeding, or are released pets finding their feet in the French landscape. Words of the week: bêteséphémères 27 November 2021
Nov 12, 2021 · 55 min
BCC EP:63 Schoolboys & the patrolling puma
Frances explains what happened when she noticed a puma following 3 schoolboys in southern Lanarkshire, Scotland. She then cautiously asked around her village and learnt that big cat reports were nothing new. Word of the week: solipsism 12 November 2021