A large cat-like creature reportedly responsible for the killing of many farm animals in South Molton, Devonshire, England.
Reports of the beast begun in the early 1970's, but in the spring of 1983, local farmer Eric Ley lost over one hundred of his sheep in a period of two and a half months. Eric noticed that the killer did not attack its victims like a dog or fox would, but rather like a lion or leopard by ripping out their throats. In 1987 the creature was blamed for over 200 farm animal deaths. More recent attacks were reported in August 1995 and January 2001.
Those who have researched the Exmoor beast suggest that it is a large, cat-like animal, either black or dark gray, with a long tail. It stands low to the ground but it has been known to jump 6-foot high fences. Some speculate that there is more than one cat, and that they are the descendants of an escaped black puma, which mated with another feline, thus creating a new species of cat.
Other researchers believe something more supernatural may be afoot, because of the fact that no one has ever caught one of these reported big cats. For example, during the British army's hunt for the Exmoor beast, the creature was trapped and surrounded in a barn. When the troopers went into the building, it was found to be empty. It has even been suggested that these creatures come from a parallel universe, slipping in and out of our dimension.
Photographic and film evidence has been attained throughout the years about the possible existence of these animals, but as far as physical evidence, very little had been presented. That was the case until recently, when a 14-year-old boy discovered a skull with large fangs in the River Fowey on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. The skull was taken to the Natural History Museum, where it was determined not to be from an animal commonly found in the English countryside, such as a badger or fox. She could also tell that the skull belonged to a member of the cat family, or Felidae.
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