Black Shuck sightings increase during autumn - coincidence or seasonal behaviour?

I've been compiling reports of Black Shuck sightings across East Anglia and the Midlands, and there's a very clear pattern: October through November are peak reporting months. The sightings drop off significantly after Christmas and don't pick up again until late September.

This could suggest a few things: 1) The creature is genuinely more active during autumn (hibernation or breeding season for other animals follows patterns), 2) People are spooked more easily in autumn because of cultural factors like Halloween, or 3) The nights are longer so there's more chance of nocturnal sightings.

Has anyone got historical records or personal sightings of Black Shuck or similar black dog cryptids? I'm trying to build a proper database because I think there's actual pattern here that deserves serious investigation.

Brilliant idea compiling the data like this. I'd argue it's not just cultural spookiness - black dogs are real animals and even regular dogs can seem terrifying in darkness. If these sightings are actual cryptids or hybrid creatures, they'd likely follow natural animal behaviour patterns. Autumn could be hunting season migration or territorial expansion.

I've got three Black Shuck sightings from my family across different decades, and they all happened in October or November. My nan swore blind she saw it crossing the road near Framlingham in 1967. The description was always the same: massive black dog, size of a pony, eyes like burning coal. If my nan and other witnesses independently described the same features, that's not just folklore.

Wouldn't autumn also be when farmers are doing harvest work? More people out at dusk and dawn means more chance encounters with any large animals. Could just be increased human activity in rural areas rather than increased cryptid activity.

Have you looked at whether the sightings correlate with any astronomical events? Autumn equinox to All Saints Day (Nov 1st) is a pretty specific window. That's traditionally when the veil is thin. Might not be about the creature's behaviour but about when it can actually cross over into our reality.

Please tell me you're going to make this database public when it's finished? Would be brilliant to have a proper digital archive of Black Shuck sightings with dates, locations, and descriptions. That would be genuinely valuable for cryptozoology research.