BRITISH BIG CAT TALES :.

DEMON OF DARTMOOR CAPTURED - ON CAMERA

That's not the Beast of Dartmoor... it's my pet dog filed Aug.03.2007

Going by the legend, the creature seen prowling Dartmoor this summer could have been a four-legged beast with glowing eyes and a blood-curdling howl.

Instead, the 'Beast' of Dartmoor photographed at Hound Tor in June, is almost certainly a lovealbe Newfoundland dog called Troy, its owner says.

Dog lover Lucinda Reid instantly recognised the giant moving ball of fur as her beloved fluffy friend and family pet.

Twelve-stone Troy is the harmless hound and Ms Reid is convinced he's the canine creature behind recent sightings.

Yet falconer Martin Whitley, whose photo taken in early June has hit the national headlines, is adamant the mysterious creature isn't a dog.

Ms Reid said: "It made me laugh so much when I saw the photo in the paper. It certainly looks like Troy and we're always up on Dartmoor.

"A lot of people don't have a clue what he is because he's so big and black. He's 12 stone and comes up to my hip.

"People always joke that he's the Beast of Dartmoor, or they say it's like a bear coming towards them. He leaves huge footprints in the ground.

"Troy frightens the life out of everyone because of his size and he doesn't look like a dog from a distance.

"Newfoundlands move pretty slowly and don't run like normal dogs because they don't have masses of energy."

Ms Reid says her family take Troy up on the moors at least once a week, usually to Hound Tor, where the photograph was taken.

But the discovery of this latest beast's identity will not dispel local legend as Troy is only two-years-old.

Ms Reid added: "I cannot say Troy is responsible for the legend over the years but there could have been several Newfoundland dogs."

There have been sightings of mysterious creatures going back over the decades, often linked to the Whist Hounds or Hounds of Hell legend.

It tells of a huntsman with a pack of wild snarling black dogs with blood red tongues, who passes a drunken farmer on his way home from the market and gives him a package.

When the farmer returns to his farmhouse he discovers the package contains the body of his unbaptised baby. Ironically, Newfoundlands are known for their sweet temperament and are protective of children by nature.

Troy is a firm favourite of Lucinda's five-year-old daughter Summer, who likes to climb on top of him.

Ms Reid added: "He's a very friendly dog. We've got family in Canada who have always had Newfoundlands and we got attached to them.

"Over there they get mistaken for small bear cubs and sometimes get shot. They're quite well known in Canada but obviously not here in South Devon."

Martin Whitley, who took the snaps on Hound Tor, says other dog owners have also come forward claiming it's their pet pooch pictured.

He's adamant the creature he captured on film cannot be Troy because its coat was not pure black and featured patches of grey.

Mr Whitley explained: "We have most definitely discounted it as a Newfoundland. Its whole figure was wrong and the coat was a different texture.

"I'm absolutely certain it wasn't a dog I saw. I'm very familiar with dogs as I have lived and worked with them all my life.

"I can tell you what the creature isn't but would love to know what it is. I'm more or less certain it was a cat. The mystery continues."

Mr Whitley has even appeared on GMTV to debate his photograph and believes its captured everyone's imagination because people are intrigued by the unknown.

Legend has it that a four-legged fiend with glowing eyes and a blood-curdling howl stalks this very spot.

Which makes these pictures of a mystery creature taken near Hound Tor on Dartmoor more intriguing than ever.

Seen only yards away from a party of schoolchildren, the animal has a thick, shaggy coat, rounded ears and large front limbs which would be powerful enough to tear human flesh.

Some say it is a wild dog or cat. More fanciful theories include wolverine or bear.

Whatever its identity, the Beast of Dartmoor is giving some farmers sleepless nights because they fear it will prey on their stock.

Falconer Martin Whitley, who photographed the creature, said: "It was walking along a path about 200 yards away from me.

"It was black and grey and comparable in size to a miniature pony. It had very thick shoulders, a long, thick tail with a blunt end and small round ears.

"Its movements appeared feline, then bear-like sprang to mind. There was a party climbing on the tor opposite making a racket but it ignored them completely."

A pack of spectral dogs known as the Whist Hounds or Hounds of Hell is said to roam the area according to local folklore, which inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write the Sherlock Holmes mystery The Hound of the Baskervilles.

The author is said to have been inspired by the legend of Squire Richard Cabell, a keen hunter from Brook Manor, Buckfastleigh.

The squire was rumoured to have sold his soul to the Devil and after he died on July 5, 1677, a phantom pack of black hunting dogs with glowing red eyes is said to have raced across Dartmoor on the night of his interment, breathing fire and howling at his tomb.

According to local legend, the demonic hounds have roamed the moor ever since and can often be seen around the anniversary of his death prowling around the grave trying to get the promised soul for the Devil.

The founder of the national research network Big Cats in Britain, Mark Fraser, said: "It looks like a wolverine or a bear in some shots and a big wild dog in others. It is a very strange animal."

Mr Whitley is adamant that the creature is not a wild dog.

He added: "I have worked with dogs all my life and it was definitely not that.

"I have seen a collie-sized black cat in the area about ten years ago and it was not that - this was a lot bigger.

"You would be surprised at the number of people who have seen black big cats and something resembling a small bear in the area over the course of the years."

Disappointingly for those who possess a vivid imagination, the most likely explanation yesterday was that the Beast is nothing more supernatural than a large and hairy wild boar.

North Devon farmer Al Dedames lost more than 100 of his stock of boar in December 2005 when animal rights activists raided his farm and destroyed fencing.

Since then, more than half are thought to have died in road traffic accidents or been shot by farmers or hunters.

But those which survived have bred and up to 175 are said to be roaming the wilds of Devon and Somerset.

(Original headline: Demon of Dartmoor: Mystery beast seen at hell hound's haunt )

.:Story originally published by:.
Daily Mail London / England | Rebecca Camber- July 29.07

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

All Copyrights © are acknowledged.
Material reproduced here is for educational and research purposes only.