HAVE you seen the Brigsley Beast?
A mysterious cat was seen walking from Mill Close to Waltham Windmill one morning this week.
It was spotted by a man on Monday morning, who described the animal – which he thinks is a puma – as big and black.
"I think it was a puma. It was prowling around in the area for about 30 seconds. It didn't notice me but it was pretty big to be a domestic cat."
The man, who did not wish to be named, said: "It was walking in an unhurried way with ears on the side of its head, it was the size of two cats. I was shocked it was there, I couldn't believe it.
"It was 200 yards away from me, it looked very calm as it made its way onto the Waltham Windmill site. I didn't have my phone with me or I would have got a picture. I asked a woman to come look at it as well but I think she thought I was mad!"
Last year amateur wildlife watcher James Elliott says he saw a huge black cat while walking in a field in Brigsley.
In the following month, he found eight carcasses – six sheep and two deer – in the surrounding area near Barnoldby-le-Beck, and some large cat-like footprints, in the summer of 2011.
Rachel Shaw, from the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, said: "It's possible it could have been a big cat, however, little evidence exists in the UK of big cats living in the country. There are a lot of sightings all over, but often it turns out to be nothing more than a big domesticated cat or even a large black Labrador."
Anomalous, Big Cats or ABCs are cats spotted not native to Britain.
Their existence has not been proved, but there are many suggestions of how these animals might have come to inhabit Britain.
One theory is that they are animals released after the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 came into force, or that they are surviving Ice Age fauna. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
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