Big cat resembling 'puma or lynx' spotted on the loose in countryside
COULD this photo be proof a big cat is roaming the British countryside?
The big cat spotted in Devon resembled a puma
Office worker Carole Desforges saw the large figure from her living room and managed to get a snap of it before it fled.
It comes amid hundreds of reports in recent years that huge felines are walking free around the country.
Mrs Desforges, 59, said: "I guess it remains a mystery. I enjoy the speculation about it all.
"I don't know what it is, but people have been suggesting it could be some kind of big cat."
She said a puma or a lynx have been mentioned as possibilities as the mystery animal seen in Devon.
I was in the living room and saw something blurry outside through the living room door
She added: "I don't know what it is, but I have never seen anything like it before.
"I was in the living room and saw something blurry outside through the living room door.
"I grabbed my phone and took a picture. I originally thought it was a fox but, since I shared the photo, people have been having all sorts of ideas."
The photo is just the latest in a huge number of big cat sightings in the region.
Latest figures show 220 reports in just Devon and Cornwall over the last 13 years.
Among them was a member of the public convinced they saw a tiger.
Others have called police saying they had big cats in their properties, with a man in Plymouth convinced he found a Puma in his house.
The full photo of the big cat in Devon
Groups interested in the animals say they have also been informed of a large number of sightings.
Danny Bamping of the British Big Cat Society said he was convinced there are a number of huge felines roaming the country.
He added: "There's no doubt in my mind that there could be black leopards, but possibly a hybrid of a wild and domesticated cat."
Inspector Nick Whyte said: "We think [it was] a puma or something like that."