This week we’ve been sinking our teeth into records of big cats and mysterious beasts prowling our green and pleasant countryside, writes Jasmine Carr.

While big cats are not native to the UK, there have been reports of sightings in the Surrey countryside for more than 60 years.

You may remember the “Walker claims he was mauled by ‘leopard’ in Surrey Hills attack” story we ran in the Haslemere Herald last September.

In that story a 69-year-old man reported injuries to his neck and shoulder, which he claimed was inflicted by a large, light-coloured animal, “with dark spots.”

It wasn’t the first to be reported in the Haslemere edition as back in January 1994 there was another sighting with “Alan comes ‘face to face with the Surrey Puma” being the eye-catching headline.

Alan Maitland was out walking his dogs on Hindhead Common when he was alerted by the sound of screeching, initially believing a “large dog” was stalking him.

“When I stopped walking so did it,” said Mr Maitland, who was then circled by the large animal that was “eyeing up one of his dogs.”

Maitland gave a vivid description of what he believed to be a mountain lion; greyish brown fur, muscular shoulders, a long tail that curves at the end, and large paws. This encounter ended with the animal diving into a nearby bush, with his dog following.

Surrey Police reviewed 362 listed sightings of big cats between September 1964 and August 1966.

Gary Ridley, a local resident who keeps a record of sightings on his ‘Surrey Panther Watch’ website, has spent 15 years investigating British big cats and believes five species are living wild in Surrey.

Ridley believes that deer carcasses found across Surrey are proof with 133 witness testimonials being logged on the website since August 2019.