(Original headline: Second sighting of big cat in the area )
Another big cat sighting has been reported in West Devon following last week's article in the Times about a possible wild animal at large in the area.
Martin Heath, from Spreyton, contacted the Times after he came face to face with what he believes was an unidentified big cat in his garden on Saturday afternoon.
Martin was standing by the French doors, at about 3pm, when he spotted something at the other end of the garden.
He said: 'I saw something running really fast through the garden. Initially I thought it was a fox, because it was moving so fast.
'It didn?t dawn on me at first what it was. It was only when it leapt up into the tree that I thought, a fox wouldn't do that.
'It must have been chasing a tabby cat which I saw in the bushes, but instead of disappearing under the fence, it leapt up into a tree.
'It sat in the fork of the tree about seven foot off the ground.
'It was there in front of me for about half a minute and I saw clearly that it was some sort of big cat.'
Martin said the mystery cat was dark brindle in colour, about the size of an Alsatian with a foot-long bushy tail.
'It was quite a powerful creature. You could tell from the way it shot through the garden.'
Martin said that after leaping out of the tree, the creature ran off into the back of the garden again.
Martin, who has taken early retirement, moved to Spreyton from Crediton a few months ago. He said before he had thought about finding a camera to take a picture of the animal, it had disappeared.
He told his wife and his neighbours about the big cat, but no-one else had seen the animal, although he had reported the sighting to the police.
Last week, two children from Okehampton reported seeing a black, puma-type creature while out playing in wooded open ground at the end of Wonnacotts Road.
Defra has advised any member of the public who thinks they may have spotted a big cat to notify police.
