This is something I've been wondering about for a while actually. There's an old disused railway line near me in Somerset and I've had two separate experiences near it over the past couple of years - odd sounds, strong animal smell, branches moving in a way that just didn't feel right for deer or foxes.
What I keep coming back to is whether the old rail corridors act as some kind of travel route for these things. They're overgrown, mostly undisturbed, and often cut through woodland that hasn't been properly managed in decades. Perfect cover basically.
I've also noticed that a lot of the American sightings people post about seem to cluster along old freight lines, particularly in the midwest. Is that just a reporting bias because more people live near them, or is there actually something to it?
Has anyone done any proper mapping of UK sightings against old rail infrastructure? Would be really interested to see if the pattern holds up over here the way it seems to in the US reports.