That 'swimming' puma photo and theories...

'Cat' photograph copyright David Burr. Bewl Water photograph James Mitson.

This is the photograph a number of people have been raging, arguing and fussing over - taken by David Burr at Bewl Reservoir in Sussex on 7th June 2014 at 9pm. Davis did not see this 'object' until he returned home to his PC and downloaded the images as at the time he was looking through his viewfinder at the sunset. Many people have argued that the 'cat' - if it is a cat, is too high out of the water but we do not know the actual depth of this area, but there are certainly very shallow areas of Bewl Reservoir - see image provided by James Mitson. Some have argued that David was the victim of a hoax and that it's a cuddly toy, but the wake suggests a moving object - there were no boats to be seen dragging the object and it is too balanced to be merely a toy 'panther' which do not resemble this image anyway.

Others have suggested a grebe with its head turned away from the camera, but the grebe has a smaller body and a more slender neck. Seals and otters do not have ears like this, and deer and dogs have a muzzle whilst a domestic cat would be much smaller as this 'cat' is some fifty yards or so away. It could be a small puma that is swimming across the lake - cougars are known to swim with ease and at pace, or if this is shallower water it may simply be hunting fish although maybe we would expect more of a commotion in the water. As with many so called 'big cat' photographs they are open to debate and either way, whether 'big cat' or not they should be looked at with an open mind rather than dismissed out of hand or believed in to the point of thinking it is 100 a cat, but even so, the object resembles a cat especially in the head. Others have stated that maybe the cat was hunting ducks which were dotted around the lake which could of course explain the dark patch near the front of the object. 'Big cat' evidence in the shape of photographs will never please sceptics and this is understandable as they are rarely convincing. It's a shame that this was not a piece of film footage, but not everyone who carries a camera is fortunate enough to film a 'big cat' so clearly. This object was the last thing David expected to see whilst filming the beautiful sunset. To join in the debate join the BIG CATS IN KENT page on Facebook.