A BRIT claims to have captured footage of what he believes is a big cat on the prowl in a countryside field.
Louis Dailly was on holiday with his family in Coniston, Cumbria on Sunday when he spotted a large mysterious creature in a field beyond their holiday cottage.
Baffled as to what he was seeing, the 21-year-old grabbed his partner Angel Webb’s iPad to film the animal, which disappeared again before he could show his family.
However, upon review of the footage Louis, from Wolverhampton, West Midlands, now reckons he’s caught a lynx on camera.
Grainy footage from the zoomed-in perspective of Angel’s iPad shows a medium-sized grey creature ambling through the grass in a nearby field.
The animal’s four legs pace slowly and methodically in its movement as though the creature is stalking something,
Louis took to social media on Sunday to share the footage and ask for advice on the mystery creature, simply writing: “Opinions?”
The post received hundreds of likes and comments as many attempted a guess at the unknown creature traipsing through the grass.
One person suggested: “Looks like a lynx to me, from the tail to the full fur, it moves like a lynx. They have a sort of heavy grace when walking. Well done.”
Another said: “Nice capture if genuine, why is there no sound?”
A third commented: “Looks like a bobcat to me. Footage, however, is grainy.
“Next time, please film on a better device. I would recommend the Canon EOS DSLR camera for mid-range shots such as this.”
A fourth added: “Good capture mate. Reckon people often comment, thinking everyone’s a digital expert these days.
“Most of us just like to capture something we feel is out of the ordinary and share it. Definitely looks like a lynx or similar [in my opinion].”
A fifth wrote: “It’s moving quite slowly and purposefully like it’s hunting. Are you able to get up to where it was to see if it’s left any footprints? Very lovely video.”
Speaking to Louis today, he said: “I was just relaxing in my room on a family holiday, and I looked out my window and saw it.
“I grabbed my girlfriend’s iPad and started to film. I ran to grab my family to show them, but by that time the cat had gone.
“I was amazed and shocked. It was a large grey, muscular animal walking like a cat – looking like it was stalking something.
“To me it looked like a lynx and [Angel] thinks the same thing.
“I’ve always been sceptical about big cats being in the UK. That’s the first thing I’ve ever seen close to one.
“I’ll be staying alert from now on to see if I can spot anything else but there’s a good chance there could be [more big cats in the UK].”
Lynx once existed in Great Britain, but are currently extinct, with the big cat having been hunted to extinction in western Europe in general.
Despite this, many Brits claim to have spotted the stealthy predator over the years – along with claims of sightings of other big cats such as panthers.
There are currently proposals to reintroduce the species back into the Scottish Highlands where it is thought that the countryside could support a population of up to 250 animals.
The lynx has already been reintroduced to several European countries including Germany, Switzerland and France.
