Something we missed at the end of last week (because we were too busy dreaming of the Bank Holiday weekend) was the 'Strange case of the Bexley beast'.
Apparently there have been a few 'big cat' sightings around the Bexley area over the past few years, but just recently the "large black panther" has been out and about a little more than usual.
Last week the 'beast' was spotted in Bexleyheath by "astonished care worker" Jim Hornby (although we're assuming he's not astonished permanently, just when he spies large cats):
It was some time between 11pm and midnight. I was in the utility room at the back of the building and standing next to the open door which leads onto the car park and then onto woods. I was chatting with the night superviser when I saw something out of the corner of my eye, moving in the car park. I turned and saw the shape of a big black cat, creeping along the ground on its belly by the side of my car, as if it was stalking something.
It's also reported that on seeing the cat Jim "was so surprised he swore."
Too f#*$!ing right! We'd swear if we happened across a large black panther out the back of the office.
As you can imagine, Jim's co-workers were a little sceptical of his story but they were soon silenced the following morning when "staff went out for another look and found a perfectly preserved, huge paw print in the sand. It was nearly 5in across and its depth indicated it was made by something heavy."
Today a follow up story has been printed which claims that 'mystery intruders' into the care home in Bexleyheath may actually have been large cats: "we were always amazed how they managed to disappear so quickly when we went outside after them, especially as they had to get over a 6ft fence. A big cat would explain how the intruder always managed to disappear without a trace."
Personally, Londonist is not ruling out the possibility that this could be a rare Manimal sighting.
And in other animal news...Alaska the Eagle is home safe. Ahhh. Although her keepers say that "It's only a matter of time before she flies off again". Err, great.
