A mother of eight from Northampton says she ran for her life after encountering a large black animal she believes was a panther near her home. Clare Hodges, 51, had stepped outside to put her bins out when a noise behind her caught her attention in the Ryehill area of Northampton.
Expecting to see a fox known to visit the neighbourhood, she instead spotted a large black creature with a long tail just yards from nearby homes. Clare managed to take a photograph before racing back inside, where she showed the startling image to her partner Joseph.
‘It was terrifying’
The full-time carer, who looks after her autistic 11-year-old daughter, said: “It was terrifying. I was putting the bins out when I heard a noise behind me.
“The neighbours had been leaving out some raw lamb for a lovely vixen we have in the area at the minute and we’d been trying to get a photo of it for some time so I had my camera ready already. So I thought it was the fox and turned to get a quick image and then within a second or so I thought ‘oh s**t, what is that?’.
“It was very big and I just ran quicker than I have ever done in my life into the house, shut the door and showed my partner Joseph. I thought it could be a big dog at first, like a Dalmatian with no spots, but then we saw the tail was not like a dog at all.”
Fears for children’s safety
Clare says she is now frightened about what could be roaming so close to families’ homes. She told Sell Your Story: “It’s actually terrifying how close to homes it has decided to get. Panthers can be extremely quick and could have got either one of us if it had wanted. I’m worried for the safety of my daughter and other children in the area now.
“She lives in her own little bubble due to her autism so it’s really aware of danger. The other weird thing is that all the cats in the area hadn’t been out for a few days before it happened. So I wonder if its been the area for some time. I think it must have been attracted to the meat which had been laid out in the street for the fox.”
Scepticism over image
Clare believes the animal may have made its way from Harlestone Firs Forest, a large area of woodland a couple of miles from her home where she says there have previously been rumours of big cat sightings. She added: “There have been rumours of big cat sightings up there before but what is worrying is how far it came into a built up area. Its a quiet area here but there’s still lots of houses and flats so it’s extremely worrying.”
But not everyone was convinced by Clare’s extraordinary picture after she shared it online, with some questioning whether the image had been created using artificial intelligence. Clare insists the photograph is genuine. She said: “Afterwards I posted the image on my Facebook page and while some people were amazed others didn’t believe me.
“Some said it was AI but it really isn’t - I wouldn’t know how to do that anyway and I don’t have the time to looking after my daughter. Put people can think what they like, but we know what we saw. A lot of people have pointed out the panther like features. Some said they had never seen a clearer picture of a big cat before and never before so close to homes.”
Big cat expert Tim Whittard said: “If authentic then this shows a very large feline animal alarmingly close to people’s homes.” The apparent sighting comes just weeks after another large cat was reportedly spotted elsewhere in Northamptonshire.
There have been a number of possible big cat sightings across Northamptonshire and neighbouring Rutland over the years, including tales surrounding the so-called Beast of Rutland. Northamptonshire Police confirmed they received a report on August 6 of a large cat seen in fields in a village near Corby but said Clare’s latest reported sighting had not been reported to the force.
