Were-Cats Myth or Reality?
People are believed not just to have transformed into wolves
(werewolves) but also into cats ,Were-Cats.The belief has persisted for
centuries.Were-cats could appear as domestic cats or as tigers,lions,leopards,panthers,
in fact any type of cat.
European folklore often has witches transforming
into domestic cats whereas African stories are concerned with wild cats such as
were-leopards or were-panthers.Were-Lions were thought to be have been members of
the royal family reincarnated.
In Africa, there are folk tales that speak of the
"Nunda," or the "Mngwa," a big cat of immense size that
stalks villages at night. Many of these tales say it is more ferocious than a
Lion and more agile than a Leopard,in fact a were-cat .In 1938 a British
Explorer William Hichens, whilst in Tanzania, was told by locals that a
monstrous cat had been attacking people at night. Huge paw prints were found to
be much larger than any known big-cat. William Hichens believed it more likely to be a lion
with gigantism.
In India the were-tiger is thought to be a sorcerer
who steals livestock or even is a man eater. In a certain part of Bangladesh in the
villages near Sunderban, there is a myth there that a certain type of man eater
tiger’s bite can turn a person into a were-tiger called 'Maya Bagh' .
Chinese legends often describe were-tigers as the
victims of either a hereditary curse or a vindictive ghost. Japanese folklore
there are creatures called bakeneko,cat spirit. In Thailand a tiger that eats humans
may become a were-tiger.
In South America in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican
cultures they believed in the were-jaguar.
Among the Aztecs, warriors dressed in jaguar skins and were called "jaguar
warriors" or "jaguar knights". Depictions of the jaguar and the were-jaguar
are among the common motifs found in
ancient ruins.
In the USA, urban legends tell of encounters with were-cats
as bipeds similar to Bigfoot but having cat heads, tails, and paws.
Two campers
on Mount t Tamalpais in Marin county California in 1964 claimed to have encountered two cat like entities
during the night.They could hear the creatures communicating with each other a
strange chattering sound in the darkness. Then one ventured into their camp.One
witness description stated " It's head
was close to it's body and below the shoulders it was very muscular and it was
bipedal."The witnesses estimated the weight of the creature at around 200
lbs.
In 1968 Connecticut bus driver claimed to see what he describes as a Tiger
walking on two legs down Valley Street
in New Haven .Police were unable to find the creature despite a search of the
area.
In 1969 a Chicago man driving at night down a road in Niels Michigan claimed to have
seen a strange cat like creature standing on two feet on the side of the road.
He slowed down to get a better look but the creature ran at his car and began
attacking it, punching his windshield .It had large clawed fists which broke the glass so he quickly drove away.He said the
cat like creature made a strange squealing sound .
On Friday April 10th 1970 Mike Busby was on his way to
Olive Branch Illinois heading down route 3. About a mile outside of Olive
Branch by the Shawnee National forest his car stalled so Busby pulled over and
get out to see what was wrong. Suddenly he heard movement on his left. Turning to face it he was startled to find two large green glowing
eyes shining in the dark.Then it moved heading
for him. He described it as six feet
tall( approx 2 meters) black and panther-like
but bipedal. The creature struck him in
the face with a massive paw, knocking him to the ground .With him on the floor,
it climbed on top of his chest and continued to hit him .Busby had injuries to his chest, abdomen and upper left
arm. He managed to grab the top and bottom of its jaws preventing it from going
for his throat. It had yellowish fangs and hair short and wiry like steel wool .Suddenly the headlights of an oncoming diesel truck
lit up the road and he could see the creature
more clearly. It had dark black fur and a long tail, just like a huge cat. The
lights or perhaps the noise of the truck frightened the creature and it it
loped off the highway running on two legs.
The
above account was featured on American TV.
In 1967 near the village of Blakeney in Norfolk England on
a cold dark winters night, a witness was
driving to Blakeney when she caught a brief glimpse of a creature standing by
the roadside.The woman said: “It stood like a person, but stooped, but had a
cats head. Even the pointed ears.” There was another report in the 1980s but I have been unable to verify
it
So could were-cats really exist? There was a 1942
Val Lewton film called Cat People ,in which a woman transformed into
a large cat which could have influenced some modern sightings.Could some modern
sightings be Alien Big Cats , long being reported in many areas? Certainly intriguing.
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