Is Cannock Chase Panther A Wild Wolf?

[NiftyWolfie]

 

A new wave of sightings of a mysterious creature in the area has led to suggestions the fabled Chase Panther could, in fact, be a wild wolf.

Over the past decade, many eyewitnesses claim to have spied a big cat prowling the vast undergrowth of Cannock Chase - The Sunday Mercury even sent reporter Jonny Dangerous out to find the beast.

But this year, residents who have caught a glimpse of the Chase Beast claim the creature is more lupine than feline.

Resident Peter Derbyshire said he saw a wolf-like creature while driving near Pottal Pool.

“I was driving through the trees in the direction of Stafford when I saw something dark moving amongst the bushes on the right hand side of the car,” he said.

“I slowed down to get a better look. It was probably about 80 metres away. It was aware I had slowed down, but did not seem too fussed. It disappeared into the bushes and I lost sight of it.

“It was definitely not a cat, it had more of a dog’s characteristics. It had a long nose and sharp, pointy ears.

“It looked much larger than a dog, though - it had a long back and was dark black in colour.

“It could have been a wolf. It was certainly wolf-like. I think people may have been seeing this creature and believing they had seen a panther.

“It is quite a shock when you see it moving through the trees, because it is so large.”

Peter’s comments back up those of resident Jane McNally, who saw a wolf-like creature while out walking on the Chase.

“I was walking with my partner and his dog,” Jane said.

“We put the dog back on the lead as we thought in the distance there was an enormous ‘dog.’ As we approached the animal we realised this wasn’t a dog and it just stared at us for a while – I said I thought it looked like a fox, but the size of a lioness. It then turned into the wooded area, and we proceeded to walk on.

“As it turned its long, bushy black tipped tail, we realised it was definitely not a dog.

“I have just logged onto the net and went onto images of wolves, and can honestly say whatever we saw yesterday was the closest thing to a wolf.”

 

Article Link from 22-01-2010

 

To many people have seen the panther (me included) to mistake it for a wolf, if there is a wolf on the chase that could explain the panther moving closer to a built up area