Woman and puppy terrified by 'deep growl' on Chester Meadows where 'big cat' was seen

The puppy's owner Imogen contacted Puma Watch North Wales after being being scared off Chester Meadows by a ‘really deep growl’ coming from dense undergrowth at about 8am on Thursday, January 14.

Skibo

Imogen, 28, who asked for her surname not to be published, was taking her new puppy Skibo, a flat-coated retriever, on her second walk when they sat on a bench. Her two other dogs, Skye and Pascoe, had run on ahead.

Then she and the puppy were startled by a growl from an unseen creature.

In the report to Puma Watch, Imogen said: “This sounds really crazy, but I was walking my dogs and our puppy wanted to be picked up as was her second walk. I had a blanket around me as a sling as she’s heavy. We sat down on a bench in front of dense trees and I tried to put her in the sling.

“We were alone and heard a really deep growl from behind us. The puppy and I both turned around immediately.”

Where Imogen heard the growl

They then made a quick exit from the area, only turning back to check that an animal or prankster hadn't emerged from the trees.

She doesn't think it was someone playing a joke as "no one was around and it’s so dense in that area”.

Speaking to the Chester Standard and Leader, Imogen said she doesn't know what she hear but both she and Scibo were terrified.

She said: "I hadn't told anyone about what had happened, but my friend posted a link to the sighting on Chester Meadows in our group chat. I read it and at first thought it was on the same day, and I thought oh my gosh I was on the Meadows at the same time that thing was there. I was absolutely terrified.

"People say it has been going on for years, people say its a big dog or a horse. I feel a bit silly reporting it, but I thought it might help someone. I'm keeping an open mind. I'm not saying its a puma, because I don't know, but I find it really interesting."

On the encounter itself, she added: "Skibo, who is Skye's puppy, was crying to be picked up. It was her second walk and she doesn't like the cold at this point so I had brought a large blanket to use as a sling to pick her up. She is a flat-coated retriever, so even as a puppy she is bloody heavy. I was trying to put her in the sling as she was crying, I sat on the bench and was only there for a minute. Behind the bench is really thick and thorny branches, nobody goes there. Then all of a sudden we both heard it. This low growl, is the only way I can describe it. I'm a young female on her own so I always have my alert on, but my hairs just stood on end. I just stood up immediately and waked away.

"I've never heard that noise come from a dog before. I thought it could be a man, but it was early and there was nobody about."

The previous report Imogen refers to is the sighting by food delivery rider Richard Evans of a mystery creature as he looked at Chester Meadows from the A51 near Barrel Well Hill and Mount Place at 3.45pm on December 13.

The photo taken by Richard Evans

Then Richard said: “I was out on my bike coming back into town after delivering someone’s McDonald’s when I spotted an enormous big cat across the river on the meadows. I pulled over to take a picture and tried to shout to a dog walker nearby but they couldn’t hear me.

“It was prowling along the edge of the long grass then disappeared into the undergrowth. It was absolutely massive though, like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

Chester’s meadows act as a floodplain for the River Dee and while surrounded by urban developments on three sides, they are contiguous with the fields and farmland south of the city.

Recently the area has been flooded in the wake of Storm Christoph.

Tony Jones, founder of Puma Watch, said the group has received reports from counties neighbouring North Wales, such as Cheshire and Shropshire.

After the December sighting, Tony said: "While it did surprise us to get a sighting reported so close to a busy city centre, Chester's meadows are at least 0.5km wide and extend for miles to the fields and rural estates south of the city. They're also on the 'Welsh' side of the river so places like Pontybodkin, where we've had a few recent sightings, are just 10 miles away without having to cross the river or move through any populated areas.

"Since getting this report, we've learnt that in September 2011 someone called 999 to report a tiger in the exact same location. They were walking along the River Dee in Chester when they said a tiger had walked through a late and looked at them before disappearing off into the bushes. This wasn't made public until 2014."