Every year reports come in of weird, sometimes unidentifiable, creatures in the British countryside
by RICHARD HOLLAND
In the March 2007 edition of ‘Fortean Times’ there is a letter from a Mr Tim Hill. Mr Hill writes:
‘Last autumn, my family and I went with friends on a canal boat along the Napton-Banbury [Oxfordshire] route. Heading north on 24 October, on the highest stretch of the canal we saw a huge creature on the sloping field to the right of us. I thought it was an adult deer with its legs tucked under, as they do. The colour and size were right, though the ears were rather big. My friend David and Mandy my wife both saw it through binoculars and got very excited as they described it as a giant rabbit. We saw it turn and hop/bound into a nearby hedge – too chubby and rounded to be a hare, not really like a wallaby or kangaroo … just like a domestic rabbit, only bigger.’
Mr Hill states that the monstrous bunny was ‘at least as big as an adult golden retriever’ and about the same colour. He adds sardonically: ‘Local people seemed unmoved by our report.’
Weird creatures have been reported in Britain for centuries and, as you can see, still are. They include the dragons of folklore, the unidentified, uncatchable Big Cats that prowl the headlines of our newspapers, and recognisable but exotic species of animal that unexpectedly turn up in the British countryside and then vanish again as mysteriously as they appeared.
A fair number of these can no doubt be explained as misidentification on the part of witnesses or maybe as escapes from private menageries (although personally, I’ve never seen a private zoo or know of any). However, many others, such as Mr Hill’s Big Bunny are entirely inexplicable. Every year there are reports of strange creatures patrolling our woods and fields, strange birds flying in our skies and sea serpents and other aquatic beasties swimming in our lakes and around our shores. Britain even has tales of Yeti-like half-humans (Wild Men or Wodewoses), to say nothing of the Giants of tradition.
Are these real, flesh-and-blood animals or apparitions as insubstantial as ghosts and fairies? Whatever the truth, British cryptozoology (the study of unidentified animals) is another fertile field for Uncanny UK to explore. Any personal encounters with Big Cats, Lake Monsters or other fabulous fauna will be gratefully received.
Mr Hill’s sighting sounds a lot like a Mara – a muntjac sized south American mammal {wikipedia has good pics}.
There are a number living feral in the Whipsnade area , just a thought ? ……