Beauty spot family snatch big cat snap

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THIS is the moment a family spotted a “big cat” prowling through the grass at a picnic site.

A mother and her 14-year-old daughter claim to have seen a panther-like creature while out enjoying the sunshine.

The mum, 32, who did not want to be named, said: “I could see something big and shining in the sun. It looked like it was hiding.

“The sun was shining off it in the distance, but the sun was in my eyes so I tried to look through the camera on my phone. “I just clicked hoping to get a pic.” She added: “I didn’t see it properly until I got home and started looking at the pic in a bigger size.

“I think it’s a big cat – a panther type thing. All my family did when I showed them the photo. They couldn’t believe it.”

The pair took snaps of the beast at Crowcombe Park Gate in the Quantock Hills in Somerset.

The mum sent the snap to BeastWatch UK, a group that probes reports of exotic wildlife. Members said it could be two dogs, a bear, a boar or a horse, but many agreed it looked like a big cat.

One member of the group wrote online: “Wow, this is the first time I’ve actually thought it could be a large feline.

“It’s very jaguar/panther shape, nice and chunky. Could do well in our climate too.”

Another said: “I’m 99.9% that it’s feline. Everything about it is like a jaguar.”

But another wrote: “Possibly just two dogs.

“I’m not saying it isn’t one animal, but I will always look at the most likely explanation first.”

Last year Avon and Somerset Police revealed they had been alerted to 13 sightings of big cats in the county, including reports of panthers, lions and pumas.

The “Beast of Wellington”, a black big cat, was last year blamed for a spike in domestic cat deaths in the Somerset town.