-[ominous instrumental music] -[insects trilling]
[Phil Torres] Check it out.
There are no native species here that do that.
[Josh Gates] On this episode of Expedition X...
[Phil] Look at this, it's a skull.
[Josh] ...my team travels to Britain...
[Josh] ...to investigate reports of a monster cat
prowling the English countryside.
[Phil] Be careful because there could be a monster out there.
[Josh] Locals are on edge after a string of frightening close encounters.
Just... just sitting, staring at me.
It was stalking me.
[Josh] And during their hunt,
as Phil and Jess close in on the beast,
they capture shocking video evidence...
[Phil] Where did you go?
[Josh] ... that is truly astounding.
[Jessica] Oh, right there! Holy [bleep]
[theme music playing]
[Phil] When we were in England investigating the Hell-Fire Club,
I came across a headline in the newspaper that really stuck with me.
Look at this.
[Josh] All righty.
Supposedly monstrous beast stalking England.
-That'll stick with you. -Right?
I did some digging, and this isn't a one-off.
All across England, there are reports of people seeing monstrous beasts.
But, so, when you're saying "Monstrous beast,"
what exactly are we talking about here?
Like, something supernatural or something that's just, like, a gigantic animal.
Honestly, Jess, it depends on who you ask.
But there's a lot of reports, including some particularly interesting ones
from just the last couple of months.
So, I think this is something we need to take a look at.
So, you have definitely fallen down a serious black hole here...
-Yes. -...because there are, to Phil's point,
there are centuries of reports all across the UK
of these weird, larger than life,
and some would even say, demonic, animals.
From Sherlock Holmes' Hound of the Baskervilles in Devon
to Somerset's Gurt Dog,
to the sheep-slaying beast of Exmoor,
there are hundreds of stories about ominous encounters
with supernatural animals throughout British legend.
None is more famous than the rampage of the devil in the form of a dog,
Black Shuck.
During a thunderstorm in 1577,
a gigantic black canine beast reportedly burst into two English churches,
killing parishioners and causing a steeple to collapse.
Locals say you can still see his scorched claw marks
on the door of the church in Blythburgh.
For superstitious Brits, the appearance of a menacing dog
is thought to be an omen that you or someone close to you
will die within the year.
In the 1970s and '80s, sightings of black dog-like creatures begin to wane.
But, curiously, reports of a large black cat-like creature
stalking the British countryside begin to rise.
What makes this so disturbing is that no large feline predator
has been native to the British Isles
since the Eurasian lynx died out 1,300 years ago.
Then, in the late '90s and early 2000s,
several hikers in southern Scotland claimed to see a monstrous cat
that the press dubs the Galloway Puma.
Are these monstrous cats a continuation of the black beast legend,
something supernatural that portends ill fortune and death?
Or could there be a surprising scientific explanation?
Are there literal jaguars and pumas secretly stalking Britain?
[dramatic instrumental music]
There's some recent evidence I just got.
Take a look at this photo.
-Oh, whoa! -Wow!
[Phil] This was taken a week ago
by a farmer who lives right on the border
of northwest England and Wales,
which is a known hotspot of a lot of recent sightings.
He's actually seen a large black cat-like creature in the area,
and he got this photo of what he thinks are its tracks.
-That's about four inches wide. -That's big.
Oh, yeah. Especially for a feline.
That's, essentially, the size of a mountain lion track,
and there should not be any mountain lions in the UK.
That being said, as tracks in the snow melt,
they can appear wider than they originally were.
So, possibly, that happened here.
But, regardless, It's interesting.
I think the other thing that's fascinating here
is that whatever this is seems to be out prowling in the snow.
So, maybe, it has a den of some sort around here.
Maybe we could even catch it before it moves on.
And that's exactly why I think we need to get there soon.
Just the sheer variety of stories throughout the country,
says to me, there's definitely something unsettling out there.
It's just one of those situations
where I don't know if we really want to find
what we're out there to look for,
because I do not want to be eaten.
Yeah, I didn't think about that part.
Ah, you'll probably be fine.
The mission is, go to Great Britain, investigate this story,
see if you can capture on camera whatever this is.
And, hey, maybe you can prove to everybody in the UK
that there's been a mystery beast
living under their noses all along.
While you do that, I'll continue to gather
any other eyewitness reports here, and we'll stay in touch.
-Perfect. -Sounds good.
All right. Good luck and, uh... don't get eaten.
Fingers crossed.
[Josh] From New York, Phil and Jess fly to Liverpool
and, then, travel by car over the border into Wales.
[renaissance music playing]
Then, they cut across a patchwork of forest and farmland
in the county of Flintshire,
where they'll meet the witness who found the paw prints.
[Jessica] Ooh, this is a beautiful landscape.
Really beautiful.
Why not live here as a...
-As a demon beast? -As a demon beast. [chuckling]
I mean, if you gotta demon beast anywhere, demon beast here.
[tense instrumental music]
What do you think this thing actually is, then?
Do you think it's a monster?
Do you think it's somebody's lost exotic pet?
I feel like we only have two options.
-Okay. -One is exotic pet
that's either released recently,
or maybe there's a population of them that have been living out here for years.
-[Jessica] Mmm-hmm. -And then, two,
it's all in people's heads.
But these tales have been happening for hundreds of years.
[Jessica] So, you know, where there's smoke, there's fire.
[Phil] Hey, Chris.
-Hi! I'm getting caught in the brambles. -[chuckling]
-[Phil] How are you? -I'm all right. Thank you.
-Hi. Jessica. -[Chris] Hi.
-Nice to see ya. -[Chris] Yeah.
[Phil exhales] So, we have the photo that you sent.
It's interesting.
Where did you find that?
I dropped this tree here on 16th of January.
[tense instrumental music]
It snowed that night.
Come back the following day,
I seen footprints.
And there wasn't a normal sized footprints.
[Jessica] Has anybody reported seeing anything that large in the area?
[Chris] Yeah, there's been several sightings around here.
Twice beyond the houses over there on the field.
It's been seen on top of the mountain.
Up the road here, at night,
a guy walking his dog.
So, have you ever laid eyes on this thing that's out there?
Yes. Not by myself.
Both times, I've had witnesses with me.
[dramatic instrumental music]
I was with me two sons.
[dog barking]
A guy who's farming up there...
[sheep bleating]
...he was losing lambs.
So, we asked to go over there with a rifle and see if we could help him out.
[ominous instrumental music]
We heard a strange, very deep howl.
And I thought, "Why is the dog down there?"
[barking]
It wasn't... The two dogs were sat alongside us.
This thing come along the hedge,
he just stood there looking at us.
[Phil] That's really weird.
So, how big are we talking?
Just about the size of a Labrador.
And, then, how long across from tip to tail, would you say?
[Chris] Four feet?
[Phil] I mean, I guess the big predators here
have been extinct for centuries now.
So, if it's not them,
then, what is this creature people are seeing around here?
I think it's inconclusive.
[tense instrumental music]
[Jessica] After leaving Chris, Phil and I hike into the woods towards Black Brook,
where he believes the creature may be living.
-I do find Chris very believable. -[Phil] Very believable.
And the fact that he has so many other eyewitnesses that he can point us.
[Phil] And he's spent so much time in this area
that, if anybody's gonna know, it's gonna be a guy like him.
We know whatever people are seeing out here, it is close.
[Jessica] What about this?
Is that something?
That could be something rooting around.
-That looks like a deer print, actually. -Yeah.
Anything in the mud.
[tense instrumental music]
Well, clearly, a lot of animals come down to this water
to get a drink.
And I'm guessing whatever it is we're after--
Look at the scratches on that log.
[Phil] Look at the scratches on that log.
-That's a good find. -[Jessica] Is it really?
[Phil] Yeah.
Oh, wow.
And they look really fresh.
There are no native species here that do that.
In America, it could be bears.
[ominous instrumental music]
[Jessica] All right, I'm looking for prints.
Ooh, look at this.
We got a set of feathers here.
It tells me something probably ate a bird right here.
Finding obliterated feathers means this area
is some creature's feeding ground.
Another feather right there.
But any number of small animals consume birds.
For me to check my skepticism at the door,
I'm going to need to see proof of bigger prey.
If it ate around here, we should look at the mud very carefully.
If Chris's reports are accurate, it should be out here.
Look at this, it's a skull.
[ominous instrumental music]
[Jessica] Ooh, that's a big one!
What is that, sheep skull?
-[Phil] Yeah, look at those teeth. -[Jessica] Yeah.
[Phil] Wow.
That's amazing.
-We have the scratch marks on the log you found. -[Jessica] Mmm-hmm.
A pile of feathers, fresh kill. And this.
[Jessica] Just a few hours in the woods,
and we've already come across really good hits.
[Phil] There's no way to tell how long ago this sheep
met its presumably violent end.
With enough evidence to know there are predators in the area,
Jess and I decide it's time to lure one in.
We set up a perimeter of cameras.
At the center of the circle, we place a game caller,
which should entice any large creatures nearby,
and an 18-foot tree blind will give us full vantage of the forest.
One, two, three...
One more push. Ready?
As many carnivores hunt their prey nocturnally...
[Jessica] Straightening up.
[Phil] Our best bet is to investigate under the cover of darkness.
That is...
That is all you, Phil.
[Phil grunting] What do you mean? This looks totally stable.
So, these headlamps...
-[Jessica] Mmm-hmm. -[Phil] ...click three times, red light.
-Okay. -I think we should ditch the flashlights tonight,
use these.
And that'll make us a little bit less visible to any animals around here.
All right, that works for me.
All right, I'll head out there.
[Phil] Be careful.
[tense instrumental music]
[Jessica] Okay, Let's see. Let's set up...
by this tree.
Got the night vision goggles out.
Power that up right away.
So, that way, if Phil sees anything or notices anything,
I can use the night vision goggles and see if I can pick it off as well,
down here at ground level.
All right.
[Phil] Going up.
[creaking]
[tense instrumental music]
[on radio] All right, I've got the flare rolling and calibrated.
So, any animal that comes through here,
I will be able to light it up with this thing and get it on tape.
[Jessica on radio] Copy.
I have a question about rabbits.
What type of rabbit would live in this area?
Probably bigger than we're used to, rabbits. Like hares.
[Jessica] There's a devil hare,
an eastern cottontail...
Try the devil hare.
Will do.
Also, it's got a pretty dope name for being a rabbit.
Devil hare in three, two, one...
[hare squeaking on speaker]
Oh, sounds awful.
[squeaking sounds continue]
We just got a hit on the camera trap.
It is camera trap two. Just wait till you see this photo.
[Jessica] Why? What is it?
We got a badger.
And it looks pretty fluffy and cute,
even though they are fairly ferocious predators.
[Jessica] Well, that is adorable,
but that's not necessarily what we're looking for.
No, it is not, but it's a good start
that our cameras are in the right spot
to pick up anything going through here.
And maybe it was that rabbit distress call that flushed it out.
[Jessica] Well, if it is some sort of new, monstrous puma in the area,
I don't feel too great sitting here on the bottom of the forest floor
sending out bunny distress signals.
Well, if it's any comfort, if it is a cat, it can climb, and climb well.
You know what, that is a comfort. Thank you. [chuckles]
You're also upwind of me, so it wouldn't have drifted down to you.
So, you know, we'll see who survives tonight.
[Jessica] Whoever survives tonight has to buy the other one a G&T,
except that it can't actually happen, 'cause they'll be dead.
[laughs]
I'll pour it on your grave, Jess.
I'll pour it on your grave.
Okay. I might switch it up a little bit.
Stick with rabbits, just a different type.
[rabbit squeaking on speaker]
[Phil] Jess, I got a heat signature.
[Jessica on radio] Where is it coming from?
[Phil] It is behind me.
I can't quite make out what it is.
It seems to be behind a lot of brush
'cause this thing's having trouble focusing.
What the heck is that?
[Jessica] Is there a way you can direct me?
Maybe I can see it with my night vision goggles.
[Phil] I think it's northeast of where you are.
As far as I can tell, it's not moving right now.
[Jessica] Okay, I'm just gonna move slowly in that direction and see what I can see.
[Phil] Whatever it is, it looks big,
and it almost looks like it's going up a tree.
It almost looks like just warm tracks left over from something climbing.
[Jessica] Oh, [bleep] Okay. Checking the tops of the trees.
And so far, I am not seeing anything.
[Phil] Really having a hard time getting a good shot of it on the flare
because it's just behind so much debris, it's losing focus constantly.
So, I'd say, keep your eyes that way.
Maybe play it one more time and see if it moves.
[rabbit squeaking on speaker]
Whatever it was, I think I moved.
I lost it. I can't find it anymore.
[Jessica] Okay. Well, at least we know that something's out there.
That's two hits so far.
[Phil] It was weird that it didn't move at first.
It almost looked like just the thermal leftovers
of some animal moving on the tree.
So, what? Like, it was sitting there hunching there for a while,
and, then, left?
[Phil] Basically, yeah.
And, now that I can't find it anymore, I wonder if that just faded.
[Jessica] Maybe it was watching you
when you were getting up into the tree blind.
Or maybe, you know, the sound called it in,
and it was just checking things out.
All right, next one up.
What do you want?
[Phil] Does it have any sheep options?
[Jessica on radio] Under domestic,
distressed calf and lost sheep.
That sounds about, like, the perfect thing to put out into the air right now.
Let her rip
Lost sheep, it is.
[sheep bleating on speaker]
[bleating continues]
[tense instrumental music]
So, I think I might have eye shine.
[Phil] You got eye shine? What direction?
[Jessica] Straight in front of me.
It looks like it's bobbing back and forth between the trees.
Like, it's... Yeah, that it's checking us out and, then, hiding.
-[Phil] I'm hearing branches snapping. Sounds big. -[wood snapping]
[Jessica] Yeah, I just heard that one, too.
It might be two. It might be two of 'em.
One seems to be coming in and out of focus, like it's turning its head,
and one's staring directly at me.
[Phil] You're seeing two things out here?
[dramatic instrumental music]
That's creepy.
-[Phil] Oh, my God. -[Jessica] There might be two of 'em.
I think we need to get over there to try to get a closer look.
[on radio] I'm gonna head down.
Isolated in the forest and provoking a reputed monster,
Jess and I face the stark realization
that the beast we seek might be closer than we realize.
[whispering] Jess.
[Jessica] Hey. Yeah, so I saw the eye shine right around this area.
There was one that was steadily looking at me.
And, then, there was another one
that seemed to be, like, turning its head and walking away,
-or going into a tree. -[Phil] Okay.
[tense instrumental music]
[Jessica breathing heavily]
[Jessica] I'm not getting anything on my side.
-[Phil] I'm not seeing anything either. -[Jessica sighs]
Where did that go?
It seems like we lost its trail.
Going through my time in the Amazon, though,
I would find that jaguars
would like to observe you from afar and, then, they would move on.
-[Jessica] Hmm. -So...
-Honestly, that's kind of what just happened to us. -That's what I was gonna say.
That's exactly what just happened.
-I think you scared it off, though. -I think we scared it off.
[Jessica] I bet you anything that thing is watching us right now.
[Phil] After losing the visual, we hunkered down for a few more hours.
But whatever this animal is, it does not re-emerge.
[somber instrumental music]
I feel like we were close last night, Jess.
I think so, too.
And whatever we caught on camera, and the night vision goggles,
it was at least as tall, if not taller, than what Chris was describing.
We need more evidence to figure out what this thing is.
So, I arranged for us to meet with this guy, Leo,
-who's a conservation biologist in the area. -[Jessica] Mmm-hmm.
And he's collected a lot of data on the reports,
and I think he has some good information for us.
[tense instrumental music]
-Hey, Leo. -[Leo] Good to see you, man.
[Phil] Good to see you.
So, listen, when I first heard about these stories
of a black panther on the loose in the UK,
I mean, I guess it's kind of hard to believe
that either it could be true, or maybe it's just an elaborate hoax.
What makes you think it actually is true?
Yeah, I think stories on a case-by-case basis
really need to be questioned quite thoroughly.
So, what I'm trying to do is collect empirical data,
but my research is into toothpick analysis.
So, looking at bite marks on bones.
And, so, how are you able to figure that out with bite marks on bones?
So, the particular tooth that we're looking for
is called the upper carnassial.
The carnassials are like flesh shears.
So, they shear off the flesh from the bone.
Then, if one of these teeth catches on the bone,
it leaves a distinct three cusp pattern.
By measuring these three cusp patterns,
comparing them with control samples from museum specimens,
we're able to say, with quite a lot of confidence,
whether the bone was eaten by a cat or a dog of a certain size.
-That's pretty cool. -That's kind of fascinating.
So, you're basically unlocking a huge amount of information
-that's kind of been hidden out there until now. -[Leo] Mmm-hmm.
So, then, are you convinced that there's cats in the area?
[Leo] Yeah, I'm pretty convinced. Yeah.
I can tell you, one of these examples is from a jawbone,
a mandible of a wild boar.
And, obviously, wild boar, they're quite fearsome animals.
You know, not to be messed with.
But this one's got a huge crunch mark
with this distinct three cusp patterning.
This sounds incredibly thorough, I gotta say.
[Leo] Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Our samples from our toothpick analysis
has been taken from the south of England
up to the very tip of Scotland.
All across the nation.
I actually sent you guys a video earlier.
I thought you could have a look at it. See what you think of that.
Yeah. So, I wanted to ask about this.
[Phil] First glance, I would say that looks like a black leopard with its...
-long tail. -Yeah. It's kind of crouching down.
Maybe it's chewing on something. His head's moving.
You can see, it kind of looks like we got a tail... long tail,
which is key in sightings popping off here.
So, this story was widely reported in newspapers.
And they all said what? That this was a black panther?
The witnesses said they watched it for about five minutes.
So, they got a pretty good look at it.
[Jessica] Ooh, what is that?
-[Phil] Where was this taken? -This is in the Peak District.
[Phil] So you think the Peak District is a good target for us,
that something could be hiding out there?
Peak District is a perfectly viable place for a big cat to be hiding out.
You know, there's not many people, lots of places to hide.
Lots of potential prey, as well.
Well, if we find anything, we'll definitely send it your way.
-[Leo] Fantastic. -[Jessica] Awesome. Cheers!
[Phil] If Leo's research is as solid as it sounds,
a huge cat may be roaming the British countryside.
If we can prove it,
it would upend so much of what we know about the natural world in the UK.
I need some help in the search for a suitable habitat for this creature,
which means it's time to check in with Josh.
-Hey, Josh. -Hi, Josh.
Hey, what's good in the Welsh woods?
Well, I'll tell you what,
we've got some really interesting heat signatures.
And, then, I actually caught some excellent eye shine
that matches the height of eyewitness reports.
Okay. So, what are we saying here?
There might actually be some kind of monstrous beast out there?
Well, Josh, we talked to this biologist named Leo,
who's pretty convinced that there is a big cat out here,
and he thinks where this thing could live
is in this area called the Peak District.
But it's pretty remote.
I've definitely heard of the Peak District.
That's actually England's oldest national park, I think.
Yeah. So, listen, Josh.
The Peak District is a big area.
Yes, go on.
And I think the best way to really nail down
-what habitat we should investigate... -[Josh] Mmm-hmm.
...is probably to see it from the air.
Phil, are you asking me for a helicopter?
Uh, yeah.
I will make a few calls.
-It's definitely coming out of your paycheck. -Ooh.
But if you do get up there, hopefully you can identify
a potential habitat from above. All right?
[clicks tongue] Sounds like a plan.
Awesome. Thanks, Josh.
[mimicking Arnold Schwarzenegger] Get to the chopper!
-[groans] Okay. -Good one. [chuckles]
Solid joke.
What? It's a classic.
All right. See ya.
[pensive instrumental music]
[Jessica] While Phil takes to the sky,
there's another lead I'm hunting down.
A local railway worker says he had a terrifying run-in with a monster cat
in the nearby village of Edale.
Hey!
[Jessica] Hey, nice to meet you.
[Jessica] Jess.
All right. So I heard you have quite the story to share.
So where did all this take place?
-Yeah, yeah. I'll follow you. -[Brown] Yeah, should we have a look, yeah.
[upbeat music playing]
-[Phil on radio] All right, let's go. - [pilot on radio] Let's do it.
[exclaims]
[Jessica] It's gorgeous.
[Brown speaking]
[Jessica] Yeah, this is really pretty.
So, in this direction?
Uh-huh.
-Jeez! -Yup.
How tall was this thing?
I mean, that's big. That's huge.
-How are you not utterly terrified? -[Brown chuckles]
[Jessica] And it just sat there the whole time?
[Jessica] Yeah.
Oh!
So, you were getting stalked?
[tense instrumental music]
[Phil speaking]
[Phil] Once back on the ground, I rendezvous with Jess...
[Jessica] All right, get ready.
[Phil] Get ready.
...and we swap our SUV for some all-terrain vehicles
more suited to reach the remote forest I geotagged.
[engines revving]
[Jessica] Oh [bleep]
You good, Jess?
[engine revving]
Go into one!
-[Jessica] Put it in one? -[Phil] You got this!
[Jessica] It's not budging.
Just getting myself in deeper.
[Phil] All right, I'm coming in. Let me help you out.
[engine revving]
-[Jessica] Nice! -[Phil whoops]
-All right, you know what you owe me, Jess. -[Jessica] Huh.
-A dry sock. -Oh, no!
-You need taller boots, man. -[sighs]
That's disgusting.
[exhilarating instrumental music]
We finally reached the location Phil spotted from the air.
With water, tree cover, and ample food supply,
this parkland could conceivably be a place
that a large cat might call home.
-[Phil] You hear that stream? -[Jessica] I do.
This stream going through this forest
is gonna be the great connector
for all the wildlife around here.
Look, look, look.
-[bleating] -Why's that sheep running?
[Jessica] Just hauling ass.
There's another one right down there.
[Phil] Whatever they're running from, I wanna know.
[Jessica] Seeing anything yet?
[Phil] Nothing right now.
If there are large cats in the area,
the nearby grazing livestock would make for easy prey.
We need to be ready.
So, we have game camps.
-[Jessica] Yeah. -I also have hare traps.
-What are hare traps? -So, this when we were looking for the Ozark Howler,
we used to tape facing out on a tree.
[Jessica] Oh, yeah.
What I'm gonna do is put the sticky side out.
-[Jessica] Uh-huh. -Gonna wrap it around this tree.
Instead, what I have is the sticky side of Velcro
that we can wrap around a tree,
-and that'll really latch on to any hairs that go around. -Okay.
[Phil] And if we get a hair sample, we can get a DNA sample,
which could prove once and for all what this thing is.
And to draw it in,
a scent which is known to attract females and felines...
Calvin Klein Obsession for men.
-This has civetone in it... -[Jessica] Mmm-hmm.
...which is a synthetic version of what civets give out to attract a mate.
-And civets aren't exactly wild cats. -Mmm-hmm.
But it's been shown that this kind of gets the curiosity of wild cats.
They work 60% of the time?
-[Phil] Every time. -Every time. [laughs]
Fantastic.
So, we're gonna let this thing rip and see what we bring in.
We're setting a line of game cameras from the edge of the forest
back into the denser woods.
In front of each camera, we're spraying the civet scent
in hopes of drawing the creature within view.
[insects trilling]
-It's getting dark. -[Jessica] Yeah.
[Phil] Look at this.
[Jessica] Oh, yeah, that's another print!
[Phil] So, we have this here.
[Jessica] Oh, there's a bunch.
And look right here, a little bit of still water.
-[Jessica] Mmm-hmm. -[Phil] Might have been easy access
for a drink, rather than going all the way down to the street.
This is wild, Jess. Look at the size of this track.
[Jessica] That's big.
The roundness looks more feline, but I cannot be sure
what it is we're dealing with, other than to say this thing's huge.
You know what I was just realizing, too?
-[Jessica] Huh? -[Phil] These marks are fresh.
I think this is the best evidence yet.
[Jessica] Ooh, careful with your feet.
Soft around here.
Ooh, and this is freshwater that's running through here, too. Nice.
-[Phil] Check it out. -[Jessica] Whoa.
[Phil] That is a huge one.
[Jessica] Scratch marks, just like we saw at the other location.
While setting our final game cameras,
we find even more evidence of a possible large cat in the area.
If this is what we think it is, we'll set up a fur trap on here.
I'll give you one. You can set up on another tree,
in case this is a, you know,
big animal superhighway right here.
Then, we'll top it off with a few sprays of cologne.
-[Jessica] Yeah. -See what comes.
Sounds good.
-So, this one's fairly simple. -[Jessica] Mmm-hmm.
-It's got an adhesive on this backside. -[Jessica] Mmm-hmm.
So you put the adhesive to the tree and wrap it around.
-You want the sticky part of the Velcro out. -Okay. Got it.
Thank you.
[indistinct]
[Phil] Look, that's already picking up
little bits of the plants from around here,
-[insects trilling] -[cologne spritzing]
[Jessica sighs]
[thunder rumbling]
[Phil] It's raining steadily as we climb out of the ravine
and set up a hunting blind on higher,
but, sadly, not drier ground.
[Jessica] All right. That looks pretty good.
[Phil] It does look pretty good.
-You ready? -[Jessica] Yeah.
[ominous instrumental music]
[whispering] Okay. So I think, at this point, we need to be as quiet as possible.
[Jessica whispering] I agree.
-[rain pattering] -[insects trilling]
Hi, what, are you getting anything?
[Phil speaking]
-[Jessica] Me neither. -[Phil speaking]
Oh, great.
[thunder rumbling]
[Phil] Jess, just got a hit on the camera trap.
Oh, let me see. Let me see what you got.
Holy [bleep]
Oh, right there! You see it?
Yeah, look! Holy [bleep]
[Phil] Long black tail and eye shine!
[Jessica] That's it! That's it! That's it!
[Phil] That has to be a cat.
The Peak District is not the only part of the UK
plagued by reports of a monstrous cat.
Allegedly, prowling Cornwall is the Beast of Bodmin Moor,
a huge panther-like creature
that supposedly left a trail of slain livestock
mutilated by large claws.
Meanwhile, in Dartmoor, a huge, violent, feline-like creature
has also been sighted.
Residents there point to a tale from the 1600s
that says a local lord was cursed to be pursued by a pack of hell beasts.
But it's actually the region of Exmoor
that could boast the most bloodthirsty beast of all.
In the 1980s, a farmer reported 100 of his sheep
all had their throats violently ripped out.
Residents were so alarmed that the British military intervened.
But the soldiers' search came up empty...
meaning this monster cat,
just like all those others,
could still be out there today.
[Jessica] That was definitely a cat.
So, what direction was it?
-[Phil] Okay. -[Jessica] Like, right there?
[Phil] Okay.
Here's the trap.
[Jessica exhales] All right. Shh, just gonna do a quick scan.
[Phil] So, it was heading that way, just towards this trail I'm in.
[Jessica] Okay.
Don't see anything.
[Phil] It's not there.
Where did you go?
I'm wondering, if the direction it came from
could be right where our hair traps are.
-So, check the fur traps? -[Phil] I think we should check the fur traps.
Do you wanna check yours?
-[Jessica] Yeah. -[Phil] I'll run down there and check this one.
[insects trilling]
[Jessica] Okay.
[Phil] Jess, you got anything?
[Jessica] No. Nothing on my end. How about you?
-[Phil] Well... -[Jessica] You got something?
I think I got hair.
Jess, look at this.
Nice. Okay, hold on. I'm coming down.
Where? Oh, yeah, I see it.
That's a good one.
I mean, here's the thing, it could be anything, right?
I mean, there's sheep in the area.
-This seems too short for sheep. -It's too short for sheep?
Yeah. I mean, you used to have a cat. Does this look like cat hair to you?
I mean, it kind of looks like cat hair, yeah.
[Phil] Okay.
[Jessica] All right. Well, there you go. Something walked through here.
And, presumably, this is the same something that we got on the camera trap.
Yeah. No, I think you're right. It's gotta be.
And, obviously, it was curious enough to come here
and check it out in the first place.
Exactly.
So, do you wanna spritz down really hard, this whole area?
[Phil] You think I should just spray everything down?
Just douse it.
-I'm gonna go check the game cam. -[Phil] Okay.
[exhales]
All right. We're good on game cam.
[retches]
-Yeah. -[Jessica] My mouth was open.
[grunts]
All right. We're good to go on game cam.
They're up. We still have the hair traps out.
This whole area of England smells like cologne.
-[Jessica] It certainly does. -I think we're gonna draw whatever that was in, again.
[pensive instrumental music]
[Josh] We left our trail cameras running for three more days,
discovering plenty of animal activity.
Foxes, badgers, bunnies, squirrels,
even a few hikers who'd lost their way.
But, unfortunately, we weren't able to capture another clear image
of whatever large creature it was that Jess and Phil saw that night.
[Jessica] Oh, right there! Do you see it?
[Josh] We had our video enhanced.
And under detailed analysis, it does have a feline form,
but also appears significantly larger than any house cat.
And after testing the hair sample my team collected,
DNA results identified it as a positive match as feline,
but it did not conclusively line up with any known species of wild cat.
In a new development regarding the eyewitness video
of the purported large black cat,
further analysis has led us to officially debunk the footage.
The culprit, a cow bent in an unusual position.
Still, considering all of the evidence,
including the original footprint we set out to examine,
the prints and tree scratches we found...
[Jessica] Holy [bleep]
[Josh] ...our unexplained video evidence, and the mutilated bones...
[Jessica] What is that, sheep skull.
[Josh] ...we do believe that the footage my team captured
does indeed seem to prove there is some kind of
unidentified cat-like creature
stalking the British wilderness.
So, the next time you go for a hike in the Peak District,
stay on your toes.
It could still be out there.