by Chris Hunter

chunter@thekmgroup.co.uk

Poised on its haunches, a black cat-like beast stares into the night, planning... who knows what shadowy thoughts flicker in the mind of this midnight feline?

Sharon Ramsden thinks she has half an idea - she took the picture of the creature when she saw it lurking next to the fence in her back garden in Ulcombe - and thinks it had designs on her west highland terrier, George.

is this proof of big cats in kent?

while sharon ramsden’s photo might not be concrete proof, her reports are strengthened by other sightings in the area.

on tuesday evening, june 7, noel killick, 36, saw a large black cat - which he estimated to be about a metre high - run across the road in front of his car as he drove home along chartway street, near kingswood, about a mile from miss ramsden’s home.

he said the animal looked like it was “on the run” adding: “it was over the road in just a few strides and disappeared up the bank.

“it was quite a shock.”

last month neil arnold also reported that a woman in nearby langley had seen a puma walk across a field near her home, followed a few minutes later by two black leopards.

there have been further sightings in bearsted and aylesford.

dr ed jarzembowski, keeper of natural history at maidstone museum said it was unlikely a population of big cats was at large in the kent countryside, but did not rule out the possibility that an illegal exotic pet could have escaped and not been reported.

how long before conclusive proof of the kent’s big cats is finally captured?

"I would normally take my dog out, but it was just sitting there waiting for it," she said. "It was terrifying."

It wasn't the first time Miss Ramsden, 47, of Lodge Gardens, had seen the beast.

Over the past year she's been practically plagued by appearances of the creature - which she thinks could be one of a number living in the area - and has set about capturing proof of the animal's existence with a movement trigger camera.

The results of her efforts, though not entirely conclusive, have kept her fascination with the mysterious night visitor alive.

"My mum's 81 and she's really scared," she said. "We don't go out the back door in the dark any more - we don't dare.

"When I take the dog out it often starts whining and staring at the hedge, then starts walking backwards."

Scared as she is, Miss Ramsden also fears that if the authorities got involved the animal would be killed.

"I don't want anything to happen to it," she added.

Neil Arnold of Kent Big Cat Research, who has been to investigate at Lodge Gardens, said it was difficult to make cast iron conclusions from the photo, as the lower half of the cat is obscured in the image.

On the presumption that it was standing next to the fence, the beast would be between three and three and a half feet long.

"That would probably make it a black leopard," he said.

But then he added: "One guy I sent the picture to said it looks more like a large feral cat."

What do you think? Is there a shadowy beast roaming round Kent? Post your comments in the box below.

Send your big cat snaps to chunter@thekmgroup.co.uk