Debunking the latest Beast of Cumbria sighting

The latest big cat of Cumbria sighting and photograph is another fake. It is a ‘slow news day’ story.

It is clear to me that the photograph of a cat on top of a dry stone wall in Cumbria shows a domestic cat. Domestic cats can reach 48 inches in length. They are often 30 inches from head to the beginning of the tail.

The stones are about ten inches across judging by the photo of Roy on this page who took the photo with a camera trap we are told. On this basis and on my assessment the cat is about 30 inches in length excluding the tail.

If it was a true big cat such as a jaguar it would be up to 2 meters in length or 78 inches.

There is nothing more to say. I have debunked the silly theory. In fact just looking at the picture tells us all that it is a domestic cat, probably a black one. Medium sized and large wild cats are always more muscular in the limbs than domestic cats and their body confirmation is bulkier like middle-weight boxers compared to the relatively delicate domestic cat. The cat in the picture looks like a domestic cat tip-toeing over the top of the wall.

Useful links
Anxiety - reduce it
FULL Maine Coon guide - lots of pages
Children and cats - important



Useful tag. Click to see the articles: Cat behavior

Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.

Michael Broad

Hi, I'm a 74-year-old retired solicitor (attorney in the US). Before qualifying I worked in many jobs including professional photography. I love nature, cats and all animals. I am concerned about their welfare. If you want to read more click here.

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1 Response

  1. Jane says:

    People will see what they want to. To us it is an ordinary, large domestic cat. To Roy, who may hate cats/be scared/allergic/unfamilliar with the wide range of cat shapes and sizes, might be seeing a “beast”

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