I believe you, Max Lury (A moment that changed me: I saw a big cat on Dartmoor – and no one believed me, 8 April). I was walking across Exmoor in 1982 as part of the outdoor education module in my teacher training. A college friend and I (we are both biologists) were walking across an area of rough grassland with shallow ditches running across and slightly down the slope, which had a mixture of overgrown heather and gorse along the top of the far side of the ditch.

We were in good visibility about 70 to 100 yards away from this particular ditch, mid-morning, when we saw a large, tan-coloured, low-slung animal running away from us down this ditch. It had a blunt face and a long tail with a bushy bit at the end. The tail curved upwards, and in the act of running, the creature arched its back to allow its front legs to project further forward.

We both saw this animal for about six to eight seconds before it disappeared. We then turned to each other and both said at the same time: “That’s a very large cat!”

We were convinced that it was a either a puma or a mountain lion. So there was definitely at least one big cat out there in the 1980s.
Steve Jones
Shobrooke, Devon