'Big cats' caught on camera across UK – from '5ft-long' beasts to 'black panthers'

dailystar.co.uk:

big cats like panthers and pumas are roaming our countryside, having escaped zoos or homes.While experts generally reject the views, those convinced by the theory often point to creatures caught on camera as "evidence".Here, Daily Star looks at some of the most bizarre sightings that and you can judge for yourself whether a dangerous predator is lurking right around the corner.A woman once spotted a massive cat that resembled the notorious "black panther of Rutland" lurking in a farmland near her home.Mum-of-three Michelle Lee, 36, believed the huge beast could be the mysterious beast she heard rumours of as a child.In the footage she recorded on her phone, what she claims to be a "five-foot-long creature" is seen prowling around the bush in a farmers field.Taken five minutes away from a reservoir in Empinham in Rutland, the clip shows a cat with black fur skulking through the undergrowth.The mobile hairdresser said she had been looking for bats from her bedroom window with her son Bobby, 12, when she noticed the creature.She said: "I zoomed in on my phone to see what it was – and it was this absolutely huge cat.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing."Because of the distance from my house, if it was a normal size cat or a dog, I wouldn't have spotted it, but it was so large.“I’ve never seen anything like it before, When I was growing up I remember hearing rumours of the Black Panther of Rutland from when I was aged about eight."Video proof goes a long way to helping people prove that they saw what they saw.Which was quite handy for one worker in Newcastle after he had heard about a "big cat" that had been prowling around the area.The video was captured by the worker who wants to remain anonymous, but he told ChronicleLive.