My Impressions Of The Big Cat Conference
By Lyndsey-Cope-Selby
I was only able to attend the final day of the conference but all the displays were still up. As I hadn’t been through Middlesbrough, where the conference was held, in over 20 years, it was decided Daughter would drive and I would navigate. We missed the turn off for the hotel and had to turn back (that road wasn’t there last time I came here ,I pointed out to daughter who just sighed)but made it about on time.
The room was upstairs ( I believe there was a lift for disabled access), however not wanting to appear an old crock, I struggled up the stairs. Daughter was about 3 miles ahead at this point and had found the room.
Walking in ,there was a desk and a lady with a smile ,who welcomed us and assured us we weren’t late. I had to of course buy a Tee shirt…been there ,done that , bought the tee shirt. The room was set out with displays all around the sides and a group of chairs in front of a flip chart. I got daughter taking photos whilst I stroked the model cats. (Well it was Mothering Sunday in the UK).
The day started with people voting, via filling in a chart, with what workshops they would like. All very democratic and nicely done. I noticed there were a lot more men than women present and estimated about 25 people were there ,possibly more.
The three workshops organised themselves and we attended the one on: Is there a viable population of Big Cats and if so should we do anything about it?
The two other workshops were: Field evidence what to look for and why is there an absent of bodies and photos. I noticed the field evidence one was all males.
Our workshop seemed to go well and no one seemed to mind me asking questions or taking notes. We came up with the answers you would expect that we need to prove they are here first .It was suggested a computer programme could be set up too look at probability of a population. As they are not causing a problem to humans or livestock nothing need be done.
The other workshops results were also fed back to the whole group.
Workshop Field evidence what to look for: Conclusion: problems of identification especially other animals being present .Johnathan Mc Gowan who lead the workshop seemed very well informed and professional.
Workshop Absent of bodies and photos. Conclusion : Low in numbers therefore not many bodies plus they tend to disappear(possibly road cleaners) . The use of poor equipment e.g. camera on phone photos not clear enough, and also the shock of seeing something unusual makes the photos shaky.
After a coffee break (as some dispute seemed to be going on over a photo being genuine or not), Two interesting people that I had talked to before coffee did their turn: Brian Percival and Sam Ingleston
These two artists who used their art as part of education, had done a performance art as big cat hunters. They were working with Bolton Museum. This lead to a cast of a big cat footprint being found at Bolton Museum which they used to involve local schools .Schools went big cat hunting and documented local flora and fauna and finding out of place animals. Displays and a book produced won the schools a prize. So Cryptozoology as an educational tool, which I found a great concept. The artists are now also making card and board games to use with groups to produce discussion and are basing one on Big Cat hunting.
Next up was Dr Peter Mc Cue a retired clinical psychologist who talked about Cannock Chase as a hot spot, a window for strange phenomena including big cats. Then we broke for lunch and I chatted to Peter over sandwiches and another interesting man whose back ground was micro biology. It was a very intriguing conversation.
After lunch it was Rick Minter who is a social scientist, who I believe works in ecology. He talked about big cats being out of people’s comfort zone and the difficultly to get people to report sightings. I pointed out that many people would not have said they were coming to this conference because anything seen as an interest in a fringe subject can impact on jobs and family. Unfortunately It was running quite late at this point so we had to leave so missed Jonathan McGowan’s talk on recognising signs of big cats.
Our overall impression was that there were good display materials and opportunities to ask questions and discuss aspects of the phenomena, without feeling intimidated. People came to talk to us about who we were and said what they did, and generally made us feel welcome. There was a great enthusiasm about people, and some wonderful characters. We enjoyed the day . Obviously, as in all conferences, there were undercurrents of different camps people belonged to and disputes , but on the whole it was good natured and certainly not as belligerent as some academic conferences I have attended.
   
Conference Review
Marton Country Club Teesside.
By Christine Hall B.A
It was relaxed and most people I spoke to were happy with it. I found the staff to be helpful and easy going, which made for a pleasurable weekend. Friday evening was spent firstly setting up the conference room which was large, light and airy with lots of wall space for all the posters and information that goes up at a gathering of Mark Fraser’s big cat tribe. The hotel itself was very large and informal and the staffs were helpful and pleasant. Following the setting up ritual Rick Minter the facilitator gave an introductory talk and the audience members all shared names and areas and generally got to know each other, Rick took us through the itinerary for the following two days. We then repaired to the restaurant for dinner, more talking and catching up of the past year.
The speaker line up was as good as ever with Di Francis, Rick Minter, Jon McGowan, Dr. Peter McCue who introduced a new angle to things and gave a very interesting talk, Ian Bond, Chris Hall, Brian Percival and Sam. Lots of BCIB members attended, Cheryl, Bob, Heather and Marcus, (it was a loss not hearing Marcus give a talk) Rik Snook the new editor of the Crypto Felid magazine, Shaun, Jonathan. Virtually all Marks close family were there, his wife Hannah joint organiser, his mum, two sisters, daughter and son in law, nephew and Niece with her partner which made it a real family affair for Mark. This year attendance from the general public was good it was great to see them taking an interest in the subject. One gentleman from Northallerton had seen prints in the snow over the winter period and this got him intrigued. I spoke to him on a few occasions and he said he was really enjoying the weekend, as were the others.
Saturday morning commenced with a workshop and questions session were the group split into smaller ones and each tackled a particular question, as usual everyone got into it very enthusiastically and all participated. The first speaker of the weekend was Ian Bond. He talked about the sightings in the northeast which he had collated and plotted on a graph for us. He spoke about the Trimdon panther and other sightings. Following his talk we were treated to a wonderful classic bus outing
this was organised and funded for us by Chris Hall Teesside rep. As one of the founder members of the 500 group and owner of the classic northeast vehicle website he is in touch with various groups who buy and renovate old vehicles and take them to rally’s and shows. The bus (see pictures) was a 1939 Bristol K type from the Aycliffe and District bus preservation society, whose bus’s have been seen on Heartbeat. We were taken to Winyard which is a defunct railway station and scene of big cat sightings, (and ghosts) it’s now a visitor centre. Ian Bond gave a commentary on the journey pointing out all the areas were big cat reports had originated from. We took photos and Boris our black panther who attends all conferences and other events was placed in the trees for a little fun and some photos. The evening gazette interviewed Mark, Ian and Chris and this article is in the paper dated24/3/09. The speakers were of the usual high standard and new issues were raised as well as new discoveries.
As is usual with this very democratic group people disagree sometimes yet still manage to keep a very cohesive and unified atmosphere. The audience were lively with lots of questions, and the speakers as usual were up to the challenge. The disappointment for me was the fact that our yearbook had not been delivered in time for the weekend, as it is the first one published by BCIB and I was looking forward to reading it. However it will be with us soon and I hope that you will all be ordering your copy from Hannah. For those of you who didn’t subscribe to the magazine over the weekend please contact Hannah, there is lots of good stuff to come in it over the coming year. I, like many of you look forward to 2010 were we will have Loren Coleman speaking, what a coup.
Comments from participants:
- “Very enjoyable and interesting to hear the differing perspectives and experiences of others” Hannah Bangura.
- “As usual the conference has uncovered some new and interest “Eye opening and interesting to a new comer” Sean Trafford.
- “Good stuff, worth the trip” Di Francis.
- More irreverently from Mark Fraser, “the noisy Buggers” (we were gabbing in the restaurant at the time!)
- “Although I missed the opening evening today has been great and am looking forward to tomorrow.” Dane Edeson.
- “Excellent stuff” unsigned.
- “I have really enjoyed the conference, It’s amazing that a group of enthusiasts can continually enjoy the debate for3 days and not ever feel bored, it’s also a great family event” unsigned.
- “The bus tour was really interesting, I don’t know much about the cats so it was good to see the areas of sightings” unsigned
- “The conference was interesting and the bus was great, the lectures were fascinating, I’m certain the crucial evidence will come one day”
- “My first time to a big cats meeting I was very impressed would love to do something on a practical basis around this i.e. camping and tracking etc” Mike Bangura
- “It was good to see Di Francis who has now attended two of our three conferences as speaker all the members were very pleased to see her as she is a founding mover in the big cat world. Great, new people, new ideas, old friends, good chat, and content hope it gets even better.” Jon McGowan from Dorset.
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