My Advice? Two Words: 'Silver Bullets'

What Kind of Animal Makes a Pawprint as Big As This?

from Macclesfield Express

SCOTLAND - Mystery surrounds the discovery of a giant pawprint in Bollington which was spotted by walkers just hours before a sheep was mauled to death.

The huge print, which measures about 6in wide and 8in long, was found embedded in a soggy cow pat close to the mutilated caracass on a quiet track just off Oakenbank Lane last Tuesday.

Ann Lovett from Kent was shocked when she saw the size of the print while walking with husband Philip and his uncle Brian Peacock, 70, while visiting Brian’s home on Oakenbank Lane in Bollington.

The group took a photograph of the print but didn't give it any more thought until the following morning when some guests were checking out of a holiday cottage owned by the Peacocks at their home at Higher Ingersley Farm.

Brian said: "They said there was a racket at 3am in one of the lower fields with growling and animal noises. When we went down there to have a look we saw a sheep that had been torn apart. The sheep carcass was very badly mauled and the missing flesh was quite considerable."

Dog expert and Macclesfield Express columnist Vic Barlow who studied a picture of the pawprint thought it may belong to a very big dog: "I doubt it is a cat as it is the wrong shape and size. My bet would be a German Shepherd, a Great Dane, a French Mastiff, or a hoax."

A spokesman from the National Museums of Scotland said he was unable to hazard a guess on what sort of creature left the print and the British Big Cats Society failed to respond.