By Tim Binnall
A pair of teenagers in England could not believe their eyes when they spotted a suspected big cat munching on a downed sheep. According to a local media report, the remarkable sighting occurred late last month as the two friends, Josh and Ben, were returning home from a camping trip in an area of the British highlands known as the Peak District. While walking past a field, the pair were stunned to see a rather sizeable creature off in the distance. "We were both confused when we first saw it," Josh recalled, "we stood staring at it and questioning what it could be for around five minutes before I decided to start recording" in order to "get a better look" at the mysterious beast.
The two teens attempted to draw the animal's attention to them, but that proved futile in identifying what the creature could have been, though the duo have a theory. "We honestly had no idea what it could be if not a big cat," Josh observed, noting that "it was in a field of sheep with no different animals around, and it appeared to have a long black tail, so it definitely wasn't a sheep." That said, they suspect that at least one unlucky livestock was in the vicinity as the pair heard a distinct crunching sound coming from the creature, which they believe was suspected feline "feeding on something like a dead animal – most likely a sheep."
Ironically, Josh recalled, the pair had previously talked about the possibility of encountering a big cat during their camping trip and so they found the sighting to be rather "eerie" as the creature casually feasted in the field. The pair eventually departed after about 10 minutes as the animal largely remained in the spot where they saw it, seemingly unbothered about having an audience. The rest of their walk home saw the two teens debate what exactly they had witnessed with Josh marveling that if it wasn't some kind of out-of-place big cat, "then what the hell is it?" Ultimately, the young man expressed relief that he had actually captured the strange sighting on film, since "nobody would believe me if I told them I had seen a panther in the Peak District."