A woman has 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, a five-foot-long creature prowls around the bush in a farmers field just five minutes away from a reservoir in Empinham, Rutland of the east Midlands.
The big cat with black fur is seen 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 on Tuesday evening.
(Image: SWNS)
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.
(Image: SWNS)
“But I never dreamed in a million years I might see it from my own bedroom window.
“The Black Panther of Rutland is a bit of a local legend and there was have been numerous sightings over the years.”
Michelle was convinced that it was not a dog nor a domestic cat because its “long tail was curved downwards” and it prowled slowly around the area.
Michelle said her wildlife-mad son Bobby had been left excited by the rare big cat sighting near their rural home, which is surrounded by fields and woods.
(Image: Getty Images/Vetta)
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There have been numerous sightings of big cats in Rutland and nearby Northampton and Lincolnshire over the years.
In 2019, Kayleigh Holmes, 31, was walking her Labrador-cross Loki in woods near woods in Collyweston when her pet was attacked by a suspected panther.
The year before, Steve Kelly, of Stamford, snapped a picture of a large black cat as well as massive paw print in nearby woods.