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Now Do You Believe There Are Big Cats Living In The Surrey Countryside?
IS this picture finally the proof the mythical Surrey puma exists? Probably not, but this video still, part of footage taken last week at Winkworth Arboretum, is definitely fodder for the argument.
The image shows a labrador- sized, sandy-coloured mammal sauntering along a path through the afternoon sunshine, oblivious it was being watched on camera.
Harry Fowler, of Beckingham Road, Guildford, captured the action on his camcorder at the arboretum, near Godalming, at 3.30pm last Monday afternoon.
The sighting follows a report in this newspaper two weeks ago about two dogs that chased a large cat-like animal up a tree on Whitmoor Common, near Guildford. Mr Fowler said he was standing on the Azalea Steps when a woman nearby pointed out the beast, which was walking away from him towards Phillimore Lake, near the boathouse.
On the video you can hear the woman say: "It's huge! It's walking like a.." before she cuts off.

A still from video footage of a large cat-like animal taken by Harry Fowler of Guildford at Winkworth Arboretum, Godalming.

Harry Fowler who filmed the mystery animal: He says: “It was too big to be a cat but it walked just like one.”

More sightings reported
FOLLOWING the spotting of what appears to be a lynx on Whitmoor Common, Surrey Advertiser readers have come forward and reported numerous sightings of big cats around the local countryside.
Callers have reported to the newsroom and to Surrey Wildlife Trust Countryside Service's ranger Mark Havler at least two varieties of large felines that have popped up around Guildford.
Mr Havler said he has taken more than 15 calls in two weeks from people describing exactly the same animal, sandy coloured and large cat-like, all bigger than a fox but smaller than an alsatian dog.
Many of the callers have logged sightings they made many years ago, saying they did not report the matter straight away because they feared ridicule.
Mr Havler said many of the reports have been around Whitmoor Common, including Kemishford and Rickford Commons.
Guildford resident Pat Bird said there had been dozens of sightings of a lynx up on The Mount around Henley Fort where she walks dogs.
She said: "I have been dog walking up there for years and one of the dogs I was walking chased it up a tree. It was definitely a lynx and it is very wary of people and dogs. When it was up the tree it was snarling and spitting."
Reports logged at what is quickly being dubbed The Big Cat HQ at the Surrey Advertiser offices in Stoke Mill suggest there could be more than one beast. Some have reported spots and a bob tail on the sandy-coloured animal, suggesting a lynx, others said there were no spots and a long tail, which could mean a puma.
Anthony Cox and his wife, of Holford Road, reported seeing a large black cat-like animal in Trodds Lane, Merrow, at 4pm on December 23 last year.
The animal ran out in front of their car. He said the way the animal leapt convinced him this was not a canine.
"I had always poo-pooed the idea there was a big cat out there.
"This was not my imagination. It wasn't Christmas Eve so I wasn't drunk."

No black leopards, but quietly confident a puma may survive
"PERSONALLY I believe there maybe a big cat somewhere but not leopards, and definitely not black ones, but I am quietly confident that a puma could survive."
This is the view of the animal information liaison officer at Marwell Zoo near Winchester, Bill Hall, who said he thought it was a 99-1 shot a black panther was strolling the Surrey Hills.
He said: "Black panthers are black because of a recessive gene, so you need two parents with this recessive gene released into the wild at the same time in the same area.
"If there are cats living in the wild nowadays they will be second or third generation animals so to keep this recessive gene in the wild here is unlikely, especially in Surrey."
However, lynx and puma are a possibility. Mr Hall said these cats come from similar climates as ours, and are a more inconspicuous brown colour.
He said these cats feed on rabbits, hares and small deer. Mr Hall added pumas were among the most popular big cats kept by private owners before the Dangerous Animals Act made private captivity harder. He added it would take six to eight animals living in the same area to keep a species line going, which makes the prospect of big cats in the Surrey countryside unlikely
"We get calls from people saying a big black animal jumped in front of the lights of their car what do we think it was, and I say it was probably a Labrador dog."

Comment - is the Surrey puma on the prowl again?
TALES of unidentified animals roaming parts of Britain are not unusual - definitive proof of the existence of the Beast of Bodmin Moor and the Loch Ness Monster has been sought for years.
While not having an enormous international profile, tales of the Surrey puma have become a local legend.
Our first recorded instance of a big cat sighting was more than 40 years ago when a Munstead workman, George Wisdom, saw a golden brown animal of around three to five feet in length while he was blackberrying one lunchtime. Plaster casts taken of the paw prints were said to be those of a "large member of the cat family".
Sightings continued throughout the sixties, prompting headlines such as "Puma could solve deer problem", "A plane may hunt the puma", "Green-keeper meets puma on the second tee" and the brilliant, "I trod on puma's tail - and hit its nose".
The story appeared to capture the imagination of Advertiser readers, as the many letters in its archives show. Photos of the beast started to appear as well, some blatantly cats, others barely visible.
Sightings in the 70s were few and far between compared to the preceding decade, and the paper even received this letter: "Sir-I am feeling horribly neglected; couldn't someone see me again soon? -Yours, etc. The Surrey Puma".
The 80s were a non-event for the big cat, just like it was for the rest of us, and only a handful of stories made it into the paper.
The 90s to marked a glorious return, and pictures and sightings dotted the decade.
After a short lull the beast has returned, and the myth lives on.
One question though. No-one has claimed there is a breeding pair, how long do these cats live?
Surrey Advertiser: 23rd May 2005