Its raining fish!

Though well known for its variety of weather, the British Isles occasionally find things stranger than rain, sleet or snow falling from the skies....

In Norfolk, during August 2002, it rained fish! This storm of two inch sprats fell upon the seaside town of Great Yarmouth. Other instances of strange things falling from the sky include:-

• 1841: Live fish fell from the sky in Aberdare

• At least four Scottish fish-falls recorded in the past 20 years - in Fife, Ross-shire, Perthshire and Argyll

• Falling frogs reported in Llanddewi, Wales, in 1996, and two years later in Croydon, south London

• A torrential downpour of goldfish and Koi carp amazed golfers on a Wiltshire golf course. Four golfers, playing on the Netherampton course, took cover in a shelter when it started raining. When they came out, the fairway was strewn with fish

Throughout history there have been many reports of such occurences, including 'falls' of frogs, fish, tomatoes and even coal.

The main theory to explain these, and other similar occurences, is that the objects are drawn up into a whirlwind, or a waterspout before being deposited elsewhere, sometimes miles away from the point where they were 'scooped up'. There are records of fish being emptied from bays, ponds being sucked dry and on at least one occasion, all water life being pulled from a lake in England, and then being deposited on dry land.

Some falls are slightly harder to explain than others. Arthur C. Clarke, in his book Mysterious World, told of a fall of hazelnuts in Bristol, England, on Sunday, March 13, 1977. The people who witnesses this said that hundreds of nuts showered down on their heads as they were coming home from church. It was especially strange since there were no nut trees in the area and hazelnuts aren’t in season until September and October. This event occurred in early spring.

Big Cats In The Countryside

Ever heard of the Beast of Bodmin Moor, the Fen Tiger or the Surrey Puma? These are all instances of big cats being spotted in the UK.

In recent years there have been numerous reports of large black and brown cats roaming the British countryside. These sightings are reported by people from all walks of life, and have at times been backed up by photographic evidence.

The main reason for these animals appearing in the wild seems to be due to the introduction of the 1976 dangerous animals act. During the sixties and seventies it was deemed fashionable to keep exotic animals as pets. However, once the dangerous animals act was introduced, many of the keepers of these cats were faced with a choice. They could either keep the pets in secure enclosures which had to meet certain criteria (incurring high costs), donate them to a wildlife park or zoo, or have their animals put down. Consequently, many of the owners chose a fourth less sensible option and released them into the British countryside. This has now led to the present problem of a large breeding population of big cats in the UK.

Most of the reported sightings describe large black cats or pumas, but there are many reports of other types of cat. The most likely cats to be roaming our countryside are the Black Panther, Puma, Jaguar, Lynx, Leopard, Ocelot and Jungle Cat.

Below is a list of some of the more recent sightings:-

• Portslade, England, April 12th, 2003.
  A milkman working near Brighton at 3.30am spotted what is believed to be a seven foot Black Panther. He described it as "extremely muscular and slender". Only hours later a woman reported another sighting.

• Johnstone, Scotland, November 26th, 2003.
  Whilst walking to Auchenlodment Primary School at 6am, Mary O'Connor came face to face with what is believed to be a black leopard. Mary, a cleaner at the school, ripped her clothes on fencing as she fled the animal. The scare came just two weeks after a big cat was seen prowling near the grounds of nearby Lochwinnoch Primary school.

• Cowling, England, December 19th, 2003.
  At 2.30am, a woman was driving home after a Christmas party in Burnley. Seeing what she presumed to be a dog's eyes in her headlights she slowed her car down and was shocked to see a very large cat. Judging by the stone wall she estimated that the top of the animal's head stood at around 3ft high, and it was a very dark brown to black colour, with small ears and a long tail.

• North Lincolnshire, England, December 29th, 2003.
  A member of the public contacted the local police to say that he had spotted what he believed to be a black panther at 8.20am, in the Winterton and Roxby area. He stated that the cat was silhouetted against the sky and described it as being the size of a large dog, but with the shape of a cat.

• Blairadam Forest, Scotland, January 16th, 2004.
  Iain Taylor was competing in a forest race, near Fife, when he saw what he believed to be a Black Panther crossing the path. Mr Taylor, who eventually crossed the finishing line 18 seconds ahead of his nearest rival, said ''I would say it was about two foot high, three foot long and was black. I'd never believed in the Beast of Blairadam but there is a big cat there. It's probably the reason I won the race.'"

• Dorset, England, April 4th, 2004.
  A Mrs Hayes reported that whilst out walking with her husband and a friend she heard what sounded like two cats fighting, although she added that the sounds were different from those of domestic cats. On approaching the tree from which the sound had been made, two large cats, one black, the other brown, fell from the tree caused by one of the branches breaking. The police later took photographs of paw prints at the scene.

• Camblesforth, England, July 5th, 2004.
  At approximately 6pm, Gordon Watson, a farmer living near Selby, spotted a large black cat whilst working his fields. He leapt from his tractor and gave chase to the animal, but it quickly out-ran him. He stated that he had previously been dismissive of other similar sightings, but was in no doubt as to what he had seen, “It was really big – bigger than a Labrador but it was definitely not a dog. There was no way it was a regular cat either. It had a long tail and was very black, and I watched it slithering through my field like it was hunting. I have read about all these people in the paper saying they have seen panthers and thought it was all nonsense, but now I’m going to have to believe them.” This is just one of the many sighting of panther-like creatures in the area.

The above are just a few examples of the numerous recent sightings. Many more have been reported, and perhaps the most concerning fact is that the frequency of these incidents seems to be increasing.

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