Cat Fight is the new novel from author Kit Conway which centres around big cat encounters in Kent, published in the UK in May and the US in June 2025. We speak to Kit about how Big Cat Conversations helped shape her ideas for the big cat aspects of the plot. The book has already been optioned as a future TV screenplay, and Kit discusses how she weaved big cat sightings into a novel about the developing frictions across a close community in south-east England. It is a rollercoaster of a story which explores people’s switch to wild behaviour on different levels.Our second guest Gary describes some big cat incidents in Surrey, just 50 miles west of where Cat Fight is set. He himself has twice observed a black panther in a neighbouring agricultural field, viewed from the same spot in his parents’ house. Believed by Gary to be a black leopard on each occasion, the sightings were 20 years apart in 2003 and 2023. Word of the week: rosetteCat Fight book availability in UK:https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/463613/cat-fight-by-conway-kit/9780857506597 Cat Fight book availability in North America: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Cat-Fight/Kit-Conway/9781668066348Copies of Cat Fight are available for UK and for North America listeners to win by emailing ‘word of the week’ suggestions – details in the podcast.Kit Conway, Cat Fight author’s website: https://www.kitconway.com/ 1st June 2025
John explores the wild forests and farmland of his local Scottish borders area. It’s a sparsely populated region where black panthers and lynx are quietly discussed by some of the locals. John takes us through various lynx encounters, including two of his own, and describes his three experiences with large black cats – one seen nearby from a slow moving train, and one unnervingly close at night. John starts the episode by explaining how his military background helps his observation and tracking skills. He also discusses lynx reintroduction proposals which have been considered for his part of Britain. John is a musician and with his wife & friends created his own outro track for this edition… Eyes Burning Bright. Words of the week: orienting response 9 May 2025
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BCC EP:124 Confronting a midlands panther - a five metre face-off
John met a “black panther” during his evening dog walks four times in 1996 in Staffordshire. On the first occasion he was confronted directly by the cat at close range. As the predator was poised, there seemed no easy way out. John explains his thoughts and the subliminal messages he received at that moment, as he reached in his pocket and unlatched his Swiss army knife… ‘Big Cat Mystery’ outro track courtesy of Lancashire band DRIVE. Words of the Week: beauty in the beast 17 April 2025
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BCC EP:123 A shot in the dark – green eyes through the snow
Bonus feature - British wolverines?Our first guest Darren was asked to despatch a troublesome fox in south Wales in 1998. In the snowy conditions he actually saw a puma though his gun sights – he re-lives the high emotions on the winter hillside as bright green eyeshine stared back. Rick and Darren also consider the prospects of a big cat being trapped, and they discuss an event in 2011, when the police and the Home Office verified a plaster cast as from a puma-like big cat.For our second guest we return to Exmoor Zoo, meeting owner Danny Reynolds. He briefs us on the new female black leopard, Bagheera. She is a lively three year old, who enjoys playful stalking of the visitors and keepers.Exmoor Zoo also hosts two wolverines, last known in Britain 8,000 years ago, or has this podcast found that they are back somehow? We discuss some footage which might hold the clues, with some extracted stills on the Big Cat Conversations website. Danny and Rick discuss the traits of wolverines, a big type of mustelid, both in the wild and at the zoo. Words of the week: talon & Gulo gulo26 March 2025
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BCC EP:122 The puma paradox – Australia’s roo slayers
Andrea is a podcast listener in Victoria, Australia. She didn’t expect to experience big cats on her land. But she explains how events and sightings have indicated she has visiting pumas, which seem to predate kangaroos, wallabies and rabbits. She looks after two pure dingoes, which have reacted to calls and movements of what appear to be a nearby big cat. Andrea discusses life with the dingoes, and her heightened awareness of new hidden predators in the local bushland. In the final section, British and SA tracker Mark Graves returns to discuss key issues which have cropped up in recent episodes, including the ‘clawed’ carcass, alarm calls from birds when predators are around, and why big cats’ fur can change in colder conditions. Rick describes two recent black panther-leopard reports from witnesses, and Mark explains how big cats drag their larger prey items. Words of the week: ‘upside down country’ & piloerection3 March 2025
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.
UK