The Beast of the Moor

Photo from Google Images

I was supposed to have moved on from Westward Ho! on Monday and to have written a post from my next stop Wellington, but unfortunately there has been a delay in proceedings.

Some of you will have heard of The Beast of Bodmin Moor, but for those of you who haven't, Bodmin Moor is a National Park moorland in Cornwall situated to the south of Tintagel, north of Liskeard, east of Bodmin, and west of Launceston (see the map on the first link above).  The beast is a legendary big cat non-native to the UK and said to hunt sheep and other such animals grazing on the moor.  There are numerous images of supposed sightings of the animal taken over several decades, but lack of absolute evidence leaves the validity of these images in question along with an inability to confirm The Beast as real.

A little less well known big cat beast is The Beast of Exmoor, Exmoor lies further east and in Devon and Somerset, but again provides extensive moorland for such an animal to roam.  Sightings of big cats on Exmoor date back well into the 1970s, but also as recently as 2017.  It is thought that if these 'beasts' are real then they may be animals that had once been pets but released onto the moors when it became illegal to keep big cats as pets.  This change of the law occurred in the late 1960s.

Photo from Google Images

My current location of Westward Ho! is neither on Bodmin Moor nor Exmoor, but somewhere in between.  However, I have been delayed on my journey because I am the most recent victims of one of these big cats roaming the countryside.  I suspect it either got lost or fancied a change of scenery, but I can assure you that it is real!

Whether it was the roaming Beast of Bodmin Moor or the roaming Beast of Exmoor I don't know, or perhaps it's a new Beast of Westard Ho!  As much as I desperately wanted to continue with my cycle on Monday after the attack on Sunday, I had to return to the hospital for follow up treatment yesterday, and actually I felt exhausted from the shock of it, so I returned to The Waterfront Inn for some rest in my comfy and calming room.

Photo from Waterfront Inn website

I have to return to the hospital tomorrow morning for my wounds to be reviewed, checked for infection (my hand is quite swollen and very painful), and redressed.  They have so far been uncertain whether or not I will need to go to theatre to have my wounds deep cleaned, but I'm very much hoping that can be avoided and instead I'll be able to get on my way to Wellington.

I apologise profusely for the interruption in proceedings, but I promise you that I will be back on my bike as soon as possible. I will also be vigilant on the rest of my journey and on the look out for other big cats and beasts roaming the UK countryside. I might see if I can find a lion tamer to accompany me through the most remote areas.

I sense that some of you are sceptical about the cause of my injuries.  I don't know why.  I mean, it's not as though you have any evidence of my ever having stretched the truth before...

...What?  You've had doubts about several events on my blog? I'm shocked!  I'm hurt!

Okay, okay, I concede.  Here's what really happened on Sunday...
(What follows is not amusing and may be upsetting to some)

As background information you should know that I have a snow bengal cat who I don't let out to roam on her own because of the risk of being stolen.  However, I believe that cats should be able to go outside if they want to so I take my cat - Katinka - for walks on a harness and lead in one of the local parks.

I have to be somewhat careful because it can be quite a popular dog-walking area, but 99% of the time dog owners keep their animals under control and we never usually have a problem.

On Sunday I bumped into a friend, J, shortly before Katinka and I were going to leave the park, and while J and I chatted Katinka jumped off my lap and wandered around nearby.  I ought to have remained vigilant and still been checking for approaching dogs, but I hadn't seen J for a proper chat for ages and I was engrossed in conversation.  Before I could do anything about it a muzzled, but unleashed, greyhound was attacking Katinka.  The owners couldn't get hold of their dog and it continued to terrify and attack Katinka who was wild with terror.  Her claws were out, all her fur was on end, she was spitting and hissing, and rolling on the ground in fear of her life with legs everywhere.  If the dog hadn't been muzzled then Katinka would have been savaged.

In the commotion Katinka was tangling her lead around my wheelchair, which further limited what help I could give her, and whichever direction she went in the dog followed.  She was frantic.  I was frantic.  

The dog's owners eventually grabbed hold of their pet and sloped off, but J had tried to get hold of Katinka to stop her from tangling herself up any more.  I had just been about to say to J not to touch Katinka because she would be so panicked she'd attack, but I wasn't quick enough, and I feel terrible that J sustained quite serious injuries to her hand because I think Katinka must have thought that the greyhound had got her and she was fighting back.

I accompanied J back to her home and made sure she was in the house with her husband before I left, but I knew she would have to go to hospital.  Until then my priority had had to be getting J home, and only after I'd left her could I tend to Katinka, trying to calm her and comfort her.  All her fur was still on end, her eyes were wide, her ears were back, her tail bushy.  She was very stressed, and now we were in a street that Katinka didn't know so she was even more anxious, but my gentle cuddles and calming voice seemed to help a little.

We got to the corner of the first road I knew she would recognise and I stopped again to try calming her some more. I felt her relax a little, but literally a second or two later she was startled by someone heaving a huge sack of onions onto their shoulder.  The unusual sound, movement, and size of the object freaked Katinka out completely and she lashed out at me, biting my hand.  I was bleeding, but mostly worried about Katinka and getting her home.  A car revved loudly, and Katinka went into a blind panic.  I have never really thought about that phrase until now - blind panic - but I really think that Katinka was so panicked and terrified that she couldn't see properly, couldn't recognise me.  We have a very close bond and she is usually extremely protective of me, but all of a sudden she was staring at me with wild eyes, hissing, spitting, and growling at me.  She lashed out, swiped my glasses off my face, caught my cheek, neck, and upper lip with her claws, sank her teeth into my hand again, and dug her claws into it deeply.  I needed to break that eye contact with her to break the threat she perceived, but I still needed to see what was happening so I raised my other arm to block her view of my eyes.  She eased off a little, but still had her claws in my hand and I was bleeding quite a bit from both my hand and my face.

Most unusually, there were very few pedestrians on the street, but eventually I was able to ask someone going into the nearby takeaway if they could pass me my glasses from the ground and if they had a tissue.  She retrieved my glasses and went into the takeaway.  A young man working in the takeaway came out with a wad of paper napkins and he passed them to me, but I told him to be careful and not to touch the cat because she was so stressed.  Katinka hissed at him, but still had her claws in my hand so didn't lash out at him.  He said he felt helpless because he couldn't get near me, but just his presence was reassuring to me, and the napkins helped to stem some of my bleeding.  He asked if there was anything at all he could do to help, but I knew that what I really needed was to get Katinka home to her own environment where she knew she was safe and there were no unusual noises or movements.

I eventually managed to pull my hand free of Katinka's claws and contained her anxieties and terror on our short trundle back home where my carer was waiting to be let in.  We got inside, I undid Katinka's harness, and let her realise she was now back home while I went to the bathroom to sort myself out.  The shock and horror of the whole series of events soon hit me and within a minute or so I was almost passing out, but I was able to call through to my carer who got me through to the bedroom, onto the bed, and then cleaned my wounds.  It was actually the near-passing out that seemed to bring Katinka back to herself, and suddenly she was protective of me again, sensing that all was not well with me, but it was still over an hour from the initial dog attack until Katinka relaxed her fur down and was more her normal self.

I rang NHS 111 for some advice, and they seriously did ask, 'Was it a normal sized cat or a big cat?'  They advised me to make my own way to hospital as soon as possible and definitely 'within the hour.'

Katinka couldn't settle properly that night, and I'm not surprised because it was such an horrendous event she'd suffered, but we did both eventually sleep after I'd got back from A&E/MIU, where I also saw J (not surprisingly).  I saw J briefly again when we both went for review yesterday at the hand trauma clinic, and I wonder if I will again tomorrow.

It was all so terrible for everyone.  I am immensely thankful that Katinka was physically unharmed, though I do think that any dog that needs to be muzzled should also be on a lead at all times because clearly they are prone to lashing out or chasing, particularly breeds such as greyhounds that are bred and trained to chase small creatures.  However, I don't blame the dog because it is just its instinct.  I don't blame Katinka either because she too reacted naturally out of abject terror.  Having said that, I can't help but feel some responsibility for J's injuries that are far worse than my own, but she too has generously said it's just one of those things.

Katinka is far from a beast.  She is a delight, and she is now recovering from her very traumatic experience.  I knew last night that she was going to be okay when we had cuddles and this is how relaxed she became...

So that is why I have been delayed doing the next leg of my journey, but I am hoping to get going tomorrow, albeit bandaged and sore.  As much as the prospect of cycling 87km fills me with trepidation, I'd much rather that than find myself needing surgery, which is the alternative.

I'll see you again when I get to Wellington