Two separate big cat sightings have been reported near the Countess of Chester Country Park, both taking place in recent weeks, with both encounters involving a large, black animal with a very long tail.
At around 7:15 PM on Tuesday 23rd March, Kali Hagensweep was out walking his dogs on the abandoned Old Oaks golf course near Mollington. He believes he may have spotted a puma as it was going dark.
He said: “In the light on the brow of the hill I could see a long, dark figure, my dog is a Doberman and that must have sensed something but it cowered. Wouldn’t move.
“As quick as I got my phone out it ran over the other side of the hill, I was close enough to see how long the tail was and can tell you now this was no dog!! I can’t quite believe it, never believed in this stuff but I know what I just definitely saw!”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Following the lead of other public services including Network Rail, the Puma Watch website has been temporarily greyscaled as a mark of respect following the death of HRH Duke of Edinburgh. We’re aware this makes some aspects of the website, such as the map above, difficult to read and apologise for any inconvenience.
Just under a week later, around 6:45 AM on Monday 29th March, Stuart was walking along the canal approaching the country park, near Mollington Banastre hotel and Parkgate Road.
He said: “I looked over the fields on my left and saw a large black creature. I stopped to get a better look and the thing that got me was the size of it and the tail. It was a really long tail that I have never seen on any dog before, it also didn’t move like any dog.
“It kind of ‘slinked’ and you could see its shoulder blades moving. There was also a swish of its tail rather than a wag. There was an element of fear but more adrenaline.”
The two sightings come just a few weeks after two previous sightings on the same night, just a mile away at Blacon’s Gorse Hill, behind Sealand Road Asda.
A large, muscular black animal was spotted, and like the sightings near the Countess Country Park, one witness reported the animal had “a great big tail” and left his dog “frozen in shock”. The other witness said that: “after a Google search it was definitely what looks to be a puma”.
Big cat sightings are now commonplace in the Chester area. In December, an Uber Eats driver took a photo of a massive black cat on Chester Meadows. Weeks later, Imogen and her puppy Scibo were shaken by a ‘deep growl’ coming from thick undergrowth at the same location.
Last month, a big cat was spotted overnight on Plas Newton Lane, close to Chester Zoo, and Cheshire Live have shared a video of a suspected big cat filmed near the Chester branch of the Shropshire Union Canal in early January.
Also in recent weeks, a worker spotted a big cat a few miles away, when a footprint was also found at Ince Marshes. Way back in 2011, someone called 999 after spotting a tiger roaming wild along the River Dee, and last week we shared a historical report from Kate, who spotted a panther roaming fields on the outskirts of Chester back in 2000.
