'˜Mystery' cat on the prowl in Rasen area?
The footage of the mystery animal came from a wildlife motion sensor camera which was set up at his father’s farm at roughly the same time as a suspected attack which left 26 sheep dead on another Osgodby farm in January.
The farmer, who did not want to be named, has an interest in local wildlife and purchased the camera after bait he left out to attract wildlife was taken.
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He also claims to have seen the infamous ‘Wolds’ Panther’ a ‘few years ago’ while out ‘lamping’ with a group of friends.
His wife also revealed she had seen some ‘big cat prints’ at North Kelsey.
As well as capturing footage and images of rabbits, foxes and birds, the wildlife camera picked up a short video of the mystery cat.
The farmer says it could be a ‘wild cat’.
The farmer said: “I was struck by the thickness of its tail and the markings on it and the way it curls up.
“It’s certainly not a fox.
“It [the animal] is solid and chunky.
“To me it just does not look like a domestic cat.
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“The lads working in the yard - and my neighbour - have seen it and they all agree.
“As soon as I showed them they said: ‘That’s definitely something - not a domestic cat!’
Speaking about an incident which left 26 sheep dead, he said: “It’s a coincidence that we’ve got this camera just as our neighbours had their problem.
“Nobody’s ever come forward to say it was dogs, or admitted to having dogs that caused it.
“You just don’t know what could be out there.”
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The sheep drowned in a water-filled ditch. The incident was reported to Lincolnshire Police.
He added: “My son and I know for a fact there is a panther out there.
“We were out one night, out lamping four or five years ago, and we saw the panther.
“There were three of us in the truck and we all saw it.
“We’d have put our lives on it that we saw a panther that night.”
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The Rasen Mail has spoken to several veterinary experts who have said that the footage is ‘inconclusive’.
‘Big cats’ in the region- the history
It’s not the first time people in the Market Rasen area have claimed to have glimpsed a big cat .
In 2004, then Mayor of Market Rasen, Derek Donner, said a ‘big black cat’ pounced across the road as he was driving through Friesthorpe.
He said: “We thought it was a fox, then a deer, then we realised what it was.
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“It was jet black and bigger than an alsatian and it’s the third time I’ve seen it.”
In 2006, a Rothwell resident claimed to have found evidence of a big cat when wood shavings appeared on his doorstep.
Three years ago, several readers contacted our sister paper the Horncastle News to report sightings of a big cat and claims of paw prints in a golf bunker.
Previous Rasen Mail reports: